Fred Händl - Pianist - The Hague, Netherlands

Fred Händl is a pianist, composer, and educator living in The Netherlands. Among many videos of solo piano renditions of Frank Zappa pieces, he’s recorded lovely videos of pieces of mine including “Miles Behind” and several of the musical nameplate rewards from the Kickstarter. He has a really big heart and he loves the piano and Zappa music. We’re just real glad he’s around. His website is www.nightpianist.com. Here’s what he has to say about the new album!

Chamber Music From Hell - Chris Opperman w/ Kurt Morgan

Kicking this review off by saying that this album is no less than a genuine work of art. On all accounts. It's been a while since I heard something this amazing. I kid you not.

That said, I can only add that you should get yourself a copy of it, for you won't regret it.

And why is that? Well, allow me to elaborate.

Once every so often, one comes across an album that really stands out. And by standing out, I really mean STANDING OUT. Chris Opperman and Kurt Morgan have, as they stated on their Kickstarter campaign (where they set a goal of exactly one US dollar - but raked in over $9K), that with this album they wanted to “step into the footsteps” of their idol Frank Zappa. Both admirers of Zappa, both composers and performing musicians, they teamed up and created Chamber Music From Hell (the title winking at Jazz From Hell, Zappa's 1986 Grammy-award winning instrumental album).

Despite its title, Chamber Music From Hell turned out more like Zappa's posthumous album release called Civilization: Phaze III (released on Halloween, 1994); with many short tracks, samples, and avant-garde compositions.

I dare say that Chamber Music From Hell easily continues Frank Zappa's musical legacy without sounding like a cloned version of anything Zappa did. As a great admirer of Zappa's work myself, I can not shake off the sentiment of listening to yet another album by him. And even though I do not know if Chamber Music From Hell was intended to be an album that could've been Zappa's, it surely does sound like it. And that is, to me, nothing I felt and/or experienced before.

Feeling blessed by knowing both Chris and Kurt personally, and knowing what amazing musicians they are, superlatives fail me to say how fucking fabulous this album actually turned out! Again, it's not an album that has copied Zappa's music, but it's an addition to his (Zappa's) oeuvre. It fits like a glove.

If you are a fan of Zappa's music, you simply need to own Chamber Music From Hell. If you are a fan of contemporary classical music, you simply need to own Chamber Music From Hell. If you have no idea who Frank Zappa is, you simply need to own Chamber Music From Hell. If you don't know what contemporary classical music is, you simply need to own Chamber Music From Hell.

If you are reading this, you simply need to own Chamber Music From Hell.

~ Fred