Cat No ZEN2001

· “Strange News from Mars” is a concept album by Norwegian guitarist, composer, painter, surrealist & Frank Zappa fan, Jon Larsen - recorded with some of the musicians from The Mothers of Invention : Tommy Mars, Bruce Fowler, Jimmy Carl Black and Arthur Barrow

· The album, a debut release on the new Zonic Entertainment label, tells the story of the spacecraft Big Ear III’s voyage to the red planet. It was recorded in Los Angeles and although the compositions are all Larsen’s, there is no doubt that the spirit of Zappa infuses the album. Also involved are top Norwegian musicians such as Knut Reiersrud, (guitar/harmonica), Rob Waring (marimba), Ole Morten Vågan (bass), and Håkon Mjåset Johansen (drums).

· Zappa’s old musicians were so taken by the project and the sessions that they immediately requested a sophomore - and now the plan as to make it a trilogy! Tours are already in the planning.

· Jon Larsen is best known perhaps from his legendary Django-ensemble Hot Club de Norvège, which he founded way back in 1979. The band has had an astonishing success in Norway and worldwide, releasing 25 albums and collaborating, across genres, with elite musicians and all kinds of ensembles and orchestras.