Planet Flippo

Description

Planet Flippo began in 1992 as "Flippomusic Globaljazz," a contemporary jazz ensemble designed to perform the original compositions and arrangements of Dr. Dave Flippo throughout the Chicagoland area. Over the years the band has explored many directions, from it's original world-jazz fusion phase to a wide range of vocal work and, most recently performing unique arrangements of contemporary treasures by artist from the 60's to the present including David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Lennon/McCartney, Joni Michel, Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan, Sly Stone, Amy Winehouse, Soundgarden, Radiohead. Their present program mixes in a little of all of this to create a musical adventure that includes both vocal and instrumental jazz in a multitude of styles, tempos and grooves. The band's recording of "If Six Was Nine" by Jimi Hendrix won them the "Jukebox Jury Award" by Jazz Connects and Jazz Times Magazine. This recording was from "Life on Mars"-the fifth of their six CD releases. The band continues to follow it's goal to help expand the legacy of jazz by following new musical directions and expanding the jazz repertoire into the rich body of contemporary music.

Work Sample

We present a whole collection of arrangements of great contemporary pieces by the Beatles, Hendrix, Dylan, Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Cream, Steely Dan, etc. This is an example of "Too High" by Stevie Wonder performed for a virtual library concert for Rolling Meadows Library on 1-/17/2021. The running time is 5:07. I should mention our bassist also plays wonderful acoustic bass. If we are in a tight space, he'll often use an electric or fretless bass, as in this concert.

We also continue to include arrangements of more modern contemporary pieces. We've found many of our older-aged listeners enjoy hearing these pieces and being exposed to well made modern pieces. This is my arrangement of "Karma Police" by Radiohead. We also have arrangements of tunes by Amy Winehouse, Soundgarden, and Flaming Lips. This was also from the Rolling Meadows virtual concert mentioned above. Running time is 5:45

This is a collection of pieces from our CD Release Party at Sketchbook Brewery in Skokie on July 3rd. We had a guest percussionist at this event, who wouldn't be part of our quartet performances. It does include myself on vocals and some of my original music to give you examples of two more elements we include in our program. (I also play melodica) The pieces are: "Freewheelin" and "Finch House" (Flippo), Norwegian Wood (Lennon/McCartney), "I'll Be There" (Gordy) which has vocals, and "Spiderman Theme" (Webster). Running Time: 2:14

I've selected these examples to show you the different areas we present in our program. "Too High" reflects the whole collection of contemporary arrangements; "Karma Police" reflects my goal to include more recent pieces that might connect with younger listeners while exposing older listeners to new music; the third collage includes some of my original works, which is and important part of our programs and the end of that clip features my singing, which can be featured in 1/3 or 1/2 of our programs. "Spiderman Theme" shows our fun-loving side. We like to enjoy ourselves and have fun and stay loose and hope the audience picks up on that and enjoys themselves. Our typical program does progress through a wide range of styles, tempos and moods, so it will stretch both the ears and the heart.

History

I moved to Chicago in 1987 after completing my D.M.A in music composition at the University of Michigan, where I also studied world music and performed as a jazz pianist. My goal was to form an ensemble to perform my compositions and arrangements. The band formed in 1992 reflecting my original theme of "globaljazz", a type of world jazz fusion. Since that time we have progressed through several phases such as focusing on vocal music (when I began singing) and creating arrangements of contemporary works, which offered a chance to arrange great pieces that weren't part of the regular jazz repertoire.
We also found it helped us connect to our audience, as they enjoyed hearing new versions of the music they grew up with. We've performed at most of the colleges and museums in the Chicago area and played in numerous festivals and libraries with various programs and have recorded six CD of our music that has been released and played nationally and internationally. Presently we perform as both a trio and quartet at area venues.

Artistic Vision

While I love and appreciate the traditional performers and styles of jazz, I have always felt my role was to help it evolve and explore new directions and techniques. It took me eleven years to achieve my Doctorate in Music Composition, but in those years, I learned about the styles of Western music from every period, the ethnic styles of African, Indian, South American, Middle Eastern music (and more), developed a deep love of melody, form and counterpoint and learned how music can tell stories and express ideas and philosophies to the listener. This was best achieved in my "Tao Tunes", which set 18 chapters of the Tao Te Ching in a wide range of styles and forms. I have made this text the center of my own spiritual core and felt a desire to bring the words and ideas to other listeners of all ages. Some of my other pieces, like "Third Eye Open" or "Metamorphosis" try to tell a story. "Third Eye" is built on a story of reaching for a goal, being interrupted by a sickness of the soul, recovering and finally reaching that goal. "Metamorphosis" is like a short story that tell the story of a lost, impetuous youth that meets a group of sages who converse and interact with him resulting in a kind of healing of the soul and allowing the youth to feel peace and successfully interact with the sages.

Programs for Specific Audience(s) Expertise

I've found the "senior audience" connects with much of the music from the 60's and 70's we perform. Many of our library concerts are attended by senior listeners, who often come up to talk with us after the show. We've also played at senior centers and retirement homes with wonderful results.