Zappa News: Two new albums announced: Zappa in New York - 5CD Deluxe Edition and Zappa in New York - 3LP 40th Anniversary Edition. Release date for both of these: 3/29.
Here's the news article from zappa.com about it:
Frank Zappas Beloved Live Double Album 'Zappa In New York' Celebrated With Suite Of 40th Anniversary Releases
ORIGINAL MASTER MIX, NEWLY REMASTERED AND AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE ITS DEBUT
5-DISC COLLECTION FEATURES OVER THREE HOURS OF UNRELEASED PERFORMANCES FROM THE LEGENDARY 1976 FOUR-NIGHT STAND PLUS EXCLUSIVE MATERIAL FROM ZAPPAS VAULT
AVAILABLE ON MARCH 29 VIA ZAPPA RECORDS/UMe
PRE-ORDER LAUNCHES TODAY; DIGITAL PRE-ORDER INCLUDES INSTANT GRAT DOWNLOAD OF UNRELEASED RARITY THE PURPLE LAGOON/ANY KIND OF PAIN
Los Angeles January 24, 2019 In 1976, Frank Zappa played four historic sold-out concerts at The Palladium in New York City the week between Christmas and New Years. These thrilling shows described by band member Ruth Underwood as theatrical, outrageous and raucously funny, but also filled with startling and gorgeous music, dating from Franks 1960s output to literally the moment the curtain went up served as the source material for the live double album Zappa In New York which was constructed from the best-played performances with overdubs later recorded in the studio. Originally slated for release in 1977, the album was delayed for a year due to record label censorship issues, mostly over the controversial song Punkys Whips, and finally released in 1978. One of Zappas most beloved collections of songs, the now classic album included a sensational live version of Sofa alongside nine new compositions, including the complex percussion-based piece The Black Page, which has become infamous in the drum community as the ultimate challenge, the Devilish comedic sendup Titties & Beer, and the notorious aforementioned Punkys Whips about Punky Meadows, the flamboyant guitarist for the band Angel.
In celebration of its eventual release in 1978, Zappa In New York will be released on March 29 via Zappa Records/UMe as a suite of expanded anniversary editions to commemorate the albums recent 40th anniversary. Overseen by the Zappa Family Trust and produced by Ahmet Zappa and Vaultmeister Joe Travers, the expanded versions will be available as a 5CD box set, 3LP on 180-gram audiophile grade vinyl and digitally. The 5-disc collection, which will be housed in a limited-edition metal tin shaped like a NYC street manhole cover and includes a replica ticket from one of the shows, consists of the main album in its original mix, newly remastered by Bob Ludwig in 2018 and available for the first time since its debut. The four additional discs are loaded with relevant Vault nuggets and more than three hours of unreleased live performances from the NYC Palladium concerts, representing every composition played during the concerts and the best alternate performances of every tune Zappa picked for the original album, all newly mixed in 2018. To achieve the highest-level sound quality, the audio team went back to the original two-inch 24-track multi-track master tapes and transferred every reel at 96kHz 24-bit wavs.