This month it’s all about the ZZYZX. Our longstanding columnist and former co-webmaster David Steinberg has been given the opportunity to manifest his dual passions for math and music (and math music but enough about fusion for now, buh duh boom). Indeed, as he chronicles in his current column, ZZYZX was tapped by Mr. Trey Anastasio to help with the cover art for his 18 Steps bonus disc.

David explains:

It turned out that Trey had an idea for an album cover. He was releasing a bonus EP 18 Steps for people who preordered his new album Bar 17. He was looking for something mathematical that would tie the two albums together; it should be confusing but yet actually mean something. Vague memories of my math skills apparently stuck in his head, because he figured that I could get him what he wanted.

In case you’re wondering what it feels like to be put in this role, it was like being a correspondent on The Daily Show. I may not be a Senior Papal Vacancy Expert, but I was Trey’s Senior Math Expert, which was nearly as cool.

So here are some of the images

No I don’t quite get it either (and I did score a 700-something on my GREs, by which I am further extolling ZZYZX’s math acumen and by no means crowing about my GRE scores. Telling you I received a 800 in English would be crowing…but for the fact I have a couple friends who scored three perfect 800’s who schooled me, not that I remember such things 15 years later)…

I do appreciate the exclamation point after the 3 though. Three rocks! (yes, yes, factorials, I know).
Anyhow, kudos to ZZYZX who aside from being a man of math also is known to wear some of the shiniest clothes on tour (whatever tour that may be).

I also mention David because he recently sent me an email suggesting that the 100th monthly issue of Jambands.com is looming. And as with all things numerical, he is correct. We launched Jambands.com on Sep 15, 1998 and have delivered monthly content ever since (along with daily news and the like…okay including certain columns that, ahem, seem to be bi-monthly or tri-monthly on occasion). So how should we mark the occasion, which will arrive in December? The return of Mikey, my crappy comic from days long past? Thankfully, no.

I’m not quite sure, although some sort of retrospective seems in order, no? I’m on it, I promise (although if you have any ideas toss them my way).

Anyhow, all hail ZZYZX. Be sure, to check out his column where he will elegantly prove the irrationality of the square root of 2. Indeed!

Later days and peace,
Dean