Don Preston
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Don Preston | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | September 21, 1932 Flint, Michigan |
| Genre(s) | Rock, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Band leader, Session musician |
| Instrument(s) | Piano, keyboards, Moog synthesizer |
| Years active | 1950s-present |
| Associated acts | Frank Zappa, The Mothers of Invention |
Donald Ward Preston also known as Dom DeWilde or Biff Debrie born September 21, 1932 in Flint, Michigan. Preston is an American rock and roll musician.
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[edit] Biography
Preston was born into a family of musicians and began studying music at an early age. His father was the composer-in-residence for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
At 12 years old he was thrown out of school for hypnotizing several students and a nun. The nuns used to beat his hands with a big ruler when he made mistakes playing the piano. Because of this weird treatment he began to like strange and dissonant music.
Preston later did a stint in the army, serving in Trieste, Italy. Upon his return to Detroit during the early '50s, Preston associated with pianist Tommy Flanagan. He also sat in with Elvin Jones and others at the city's West End Cafe where Yusef Lateef conducted twice-a-week jam sessions with Milt Jackson's brother, bassist Ollie Jackson.
Preston moved to Los Angeles in 1957 where he hooked up with pianist Paul Bley, bassist Charlie Haden, and others who were hearing jazz in new ways.
Many will recognize Preston from his long collaboration with Frank Zappa as the keyboardist and one of the original members of the Mothers of Invention. Preston performed and recorded with Zappa until 1974.
He is a co-founder of the Grande Mothers and still active with the band, completing an extensive tour in Summer-Fall 2000 and later tours through til 2008.
Preston also appeared on-stage as a guest keyboardist with the Zappa tribute band Project/Object (featuring Zappa Band alumni Ike Willis and Napoleon Murphy-Brock) for several shows in 2001 and 2002.
Often compared to Cecil Taylor for his style of attacking the keys with intense passion, Preston’s solos also reflect intellect, technical skills and a storyteller's way with a line. His playing, like his compositions, ranges across panoramas of mood and emotion, all colored with the freedom that comes from possessing remarkable facility.
He also has scored more than 20 feature film scores and 14 plays. He's the winner of numerous awards, and has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and London Philharmonic. Known to jazz and keyboard aficionados for his pioneering contributions in the use of synthesizers and piano, legendary clarinetist and composer John Carter dubbed Don Preston the "father of modern synthesis."
Don has performed with artists like: Frank Zappa, Lou Rawls, Al Jarreau, Nat King Cole, Billy Daniels, Johnnie Ray, Vaughn Monroe, Connie Francis, Herbie Mann, Elvin Jones, Charlie Haden, Art Davis, Paul Bley, Carla Bley, Joe Beck, Shorty Rogers, Leo Sayer, Charles Lloyd, Nelson Riddle, J.R. Montrose, Flo and Eddie (Howard Kaylan & Mark Volman of The Turtles) Yusef Lateef, Don Ellis, Meredith Monk, Bobby Bradford, Michael Mantler, John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
Don Preston is no relation to the Don Preston who played lead guitar for Joe Cocker and Leon Russell in the 1970s, and who appeared with Russell at the Concert for Bangladesh. However, the former has admitted to accidentally receiving and unwittingly cashing a royalty check intended for the latter some years ago.[1]
In 2002, Don Preston joined forces with fellow M.O.I. Roy Estrada, and Napoleon Murphy Brock, from 3 very different legacies of Frank Zappa alumni along with guitarist Ken Rosser, and drummer/percussionist Christopher Garcia to form the Grande Mothers Re:Invented.
Since then they have performed at numerous concerts and festivals throughout America, Canada and Europe, including Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, England, Germany, Holland, Italy, Norway, and Switzerland. (In 2005, guitarist, Miroslav Tadic replaced Ken Rosser in the lineup.)
[edit] Discography
- 1992: Dom De Wilde speaks interview
- 1993: Vile Foamy Ectoplasm
- 1997: Hear Me Out
- 2001: Io Landscapes
- 2001: Corpus Transfixum
- 2001: Music from Blood Diner & other films
- 2001: Trans Form
- ????: Transcendence
As Don Preston Trio
- 2001: Transformation - Don Preston
As Don Preston's The Akashic Ensemble
- 2003: Inner Realities Of Evolution
As The Don & Bunk Show
- 2000: Necessity Is... - The Don & Bunk Show
- 2002: Joined At The Hip - The Don & Bunk Show
With Frank Zappa/Mothers Of Invention/The Mothers
- 1967: Absolutely Free
- 1968: We're Only In It For The Money
- 1968: Cruising with Ruben & the Jets
- 1969: Mothermania
- 1969: Uncle Meat
- 1970: Burnt Weeny Sandwich
- 1970: Weasels Ripped My Flesh
- 1971: Fillmore East - June 1971
- 1972: Just Another Band From L.A.
- 1972: Waka/Jawaka
- 1972: The Grand Wazoo
- 1974: Roxy & Elsewhere
- 1985: The Old Masters Box One Mystery Disc
- 1986: The Old Masters Box Two Mystery Disc
- 1988: You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Sampler
- 1988: You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1
- 1989: You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 3
- 1991: You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 4
- 1992: You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 5
- 1992: You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6
- 1992: Playground Psychotics
- 1993: Ahead Of Their Time
- 1996: The Lost Episodes
- 2004: QuAUDIOPHILIAc
- 1991: Beat the Boots: The Ark
- 1991: Beat the Boots: Unmitigated Audacity
- 1991: Beat the Boots: 'Tis The Season To Be Jelly
- 1992: Beat the Boots II: Electric Aunt Jemima
- 1992: Beat the Boots II: Swiss Cheese / Fire!
- 1992: Beat the Boots II: Our Man In Nirvana
With The Grandmothers
- 1981: The Grandmothers
- 1982: Looking Up Granny's Dress
- 1983: Fan Club Talk Lp
- 1994: Who Could Imagine
- 2001: Eating The Astoria
- 2001: 20 Year Anthology of the Grandmothers
- 2001: The Eternal Question
- 2003: A Grande Mothers Night At The Gewandhaus with Napoleon Murphy Brock and Roy Estrada
Other people's albums
- 1969: Trout Mask Replica - Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
- 1969: Permanent Damage - The GTOs
- 1971: The Visit - Bob Smith
- 1971: Escalator Over The Hill - Carla Bley/Paul Haines
- 1972: Some Time in New York City - John Lennon
- 1972: The Phlorescent Leech & Eddie - Flo & Eddie
- 1972: Geronimo Black - Geronimo Black
- 1979: Eskimo - The Residents
- 19??: Versions - Robbie Krieger
- 19??: Robbie Krieger - Robbie Krieger
- 1979: Apocalypse Now - Soundtrack
- 1985: Alien - Michael Mantler
- 1987: Dance Of The Love Ghost - John Carter
- 1987: Live - Michael Mantler/Nick Mason
- 1988: Shadows On A Wall - John Carter
- 1989: Comin' On - Bobby Bradford/John Carter Quintet
- 1988: Shadows On A Wall - John Carter/Bobby Bradford
- 1989: Ivo - John Patitucci/Peter Erskine/Airto/Ivo Pearlman
- 1989: Where Flamingos Fly - Gil Evans
- 1989: Aurora - Peter Erskine/Buell Neidlinger
- 1990: Fields - John Carter
- 1992: Jefferson Airplane Loves You - Jefferson Airplane
- 1991: Ono Box - Yoko Ono
- 1993: 10 Most Wanted - Eugene Chadbourne
- 1993: Snorks And Wheezes - Ant-Bee
- 1993: The *#!%%? of Ant-Bee - Rarities vol.3 - Ant-Bee
- 1994: The Bizarre German E.P. - Ant-Bee
- 1994: With my favorite "Vegetables" and other Bizarre music - Ant-Bee
- 1994: Locked In A Dutch Coffeeshop - Eugene Chadbourne/Jimmy Carl Black
- 1995: Who the fuck is Sandro Oliva - Sandro Oliva
- 1995: Lunar Muzik - Ant-Bee
- 1999: God Shave The Queen - The Muffin Men
- 2003: On Time - Arthur Barrow
- 2004: Heavy Lightning - Sandro Oliva
[edit] References
- ^ Don Preston. United Mutations. Retrieved on 2007-07-03.
