Yogurt 2015

The band Yogurt played their debut show on February 19th, 2015 in a small club in Los Angeles called the Baked Potato. A lucky audience packed the cramped little club in Studio City in excited anticipation of a performance of Frank Zappa’s music. The band Yogurt was started by former Zappa Plays Zappa drummer Joe Travers and bassist Kurt Morgan. The lineup features all former and some current members of Zappa Plays Zappa-including Sheila Gonzalez (saxophone), Jaime Kime (guitar) and Jonathan Sindleman on keyboards. The debut performance was attended by the Frank’s wife, Gail.

This show was a memorable night of Zappa's boundary-obliterating, original music brought to life by people who love it and who have dedicated their lives to playing it, which is no small feat. Frank Zappa’s music is very challenging to play due to his unconventional use of every component of music including unusual, multiple time signatures, atonality, and wild arrays of voices and instruments.

At one moment in the show, the band mates were each given a chance to tell the crowd what playing Zappa’s music means to them. They all had heartfelt things to say including that they had a family within the band and that they feel close to Frank Zappa through his music. Kurt said that Frank Zappa was a “true American” who exercised his “true freedom” by relentlessly pushing boundaries in music.

The music was packed with energy and was impressive from a technical standpoint, but still loads of fun to listen to and watch. “Farther from Oblivion” featured a mind blowing, off-the-hook drum solo by Travers. Minds were blown. It was a great night.

This is no ordinary band, so when and if Yogurt plays a show near you-go see it!