By Scott McLennan

Bass-wielding provocateur Les Claypool is an expert at warping the seemingly conventional into carnivalesque oddity.

They’re back! Les Claypool and his Fearless Flying Frog Brigade. Photo: courtesy of the artist

As if fronting Primus weren’t enough of an opportunity to explore the intersections of alt-rock, prog-rock, improvisation, and heavy metal, bass-wielding provocateur Les Claypool is pushing even further towards the musical fringes this summer and fall by resurrecting his Fearless Flying Frog Brigade ensemble after a 20-year hiatus.

The colonel, as Claypool is often referred to when leading the Brigade, has some new-ish recruits on this tour of duty that makes stops in the Pines Theater at Look Park in Northampton on June 26 (with Neal Francis opening) and MGM Music Hall in Boston on June 29 (with Budos Band opening).

This iteration of the Fearless Flying Frog Brigade has added a son of a Beatle — Sean Lennon — playing guitar and a son of a Pink Floyd member — Harry Waters —  playing keyboards; and really, who better to have on hand in a program that features a complete reading of Pink Floyd’s Animals each night and has frequently featured performances of The Beatles “Tomorrow Never Knows”?

Punkadelick — Mike Dillon is in the middle. Photo:Joshua Marc Levy & Asheville Art Family

There may be new members, but returning Brigade member Mike Dillon, who plays vibes (or “the electric doorbell machine” as Claypool likes to say) and percussion, reported from the road that the chemistry in this troupe, rounded out with Paulo Baldi on drums, is real (Longtime Claypool collaborator Sherik was originally scheduled to be playing saxophone on the tour but has been forced off of the road due to a medical condition).

For starters, Claypool, Lennon, and Baldi first joined forces in 2015 as The Claypool Lennon Delirium, which has made two full-length psychedelic excursions and an E.P. so far.

Dillon and Claypool met when the vibraphone player’s old band Billy Goat opened concerts for Primus in 1990. That paved the way for Dillon to not only become a member of the Frog Brigade in 2002, but to also join other Claypool-led projects such as The Fancy Band and appear on other albums Claypool has made outside of Primus. When not busy working with Claypool, Dillon can be found in his own jazz-leaning group, Punkadelic, with drummer Nikki Glaspie and pianist Brian Haas or teaming with prog-jammers Lespecial for the supergroup Fackn’ A.

Waters is the wild card here. He has played with his father, Roger Waters, and is the young voice you hear on Pink Floyd’s The Wall proclaiming, “Look mummy, there’s an aeroplane up in the sky.”

The Brigade has long featured Pink Floyd material since its formation in 2000. The band released a live performance of Animals in 2001, though Claypool remains the only member of The Brigade who appears on that album and is participating on this tour.

Les Claypool — it is his vision and music. Photo: Jason Goodrich

The talent pool in the Frog Brigade is deep and varied, but there’s no denying who’s in charge.

“This is the colonel’s music and vision,” Dillon said. “It’s great to play with him because he’s such a unique songwriter and storyteller. I’m a fan of his music and I’m a fan of playing his music. It’s weird music and it’s fun music.”

Claypool is an expert at warping the seemingly conventional into carnivalesque oddity. TV newscasters, greasy-spoon diners, and roadkill are just some of the mundane topics that Claypool has whipped into vivid compositions with the Brigade and other solo outings he has done that provide material for this concert tour (don’t expect a Primus song, though a few have popped up in an occasional Brigade show).

Turning the prosaic into the psychedelic is a function of both composition and improvisation, Dillon explains. “Improvisation is just sped-up composition and composition is slowed-down improvisation. The solos are when it comes time to make a statement, not just show off. In this band, all this stuff works together.”

Scott McLennan covered music for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette from 1993 to 2008. He then contributed music reviews and features to the Boston Globe, Providence Journal, Portland Press Herald, and WGBH, as well as to the Arts Fuse. He also operated the NE Metal blog to provide in-depth coverage of the region’s heavy metal scene.