*** Frank Zappa ***

[AllenLowe]

I'm arriving late to the brawl - one thing that always occurs to me when listening to Zappa's gutiar solos is that they tend to fall into scale/interval patterns - not the work of a true improviser - though I love his music just the same -

[7/4]

I'm arriving late to the brawl - one thing that always occurs to me when listening to Zappa's gutiar solos is that they tend to fall into scale/interval patterns - not the work of a true improviser - though I love his music just the same -

I wouldn't describe him as a Jazz musican, more of a Prog Rock musican. And dey ain't Jazz.

[Jazzdog]

Who freaking CARES if he could play over changes or not. He wouldn't give a shit, why should any of us?

The fact is that he could play over changes, ever heard of a little ditty called Sleep Dirt?

[7/4]

Who freaking CARES if he could play over changes or not. He wouldn't give a shit, why should any of us?

The fact is that he could play over changes, ever heard of a little ditty called Sleep Dirt?

Good example. Any others?

[Ken Dryden]

A little late in my reply, but...

I own a VHS copy of 200 Motels and also the live bootleg of the "premiere" concert with Zubin Mehta conducting the L.A. Philharmonic, plus FZ and a specially assembled group of Mothers. The fidelity is so-so, the jam upon "King Kong" (including some of the orchestra members) was unfortunately not recorded.

There str also a few songs floating around that were destined for the film version of 200 Motels but didn't make it including "Interview" (heard on the boot Remington Electric Razor). One other song (the title is not clear) is in the movie, not on the soundtrack, on a live bootleg (Safe Muffinz) but not listed on the cover.

[porter_esq]

Who says playing over some changes is the mark of a great improviser? That's like trying to convince yourself you still fit into that tuxedo from 20 years ago. So what?

Get it? "So what?"

FZ was a modal vamp soloist, exploring harmony through melody and tension through rhythm. His interplay with drummers is legendary, and although his vamps are very often two chords, that's because they are in the middle of goddam rock tunes. Through the 80's he developed the "non-vamp" which has the band laying down sustained, non-metric, polytonal arpeggiated figures, offering the solosit complete freedom from meter, tempo and other Western music constraints.

Forget all that though. Zappa could play mean, unmitigated blues. And he had guys like George Duke in the band, who did play over changes like those in Inca Roads.

[AllenLowe]

Zappa was a good blues player, that is true - but, as I said before, if you listen to his guitar solos they tend to be mechanical repetitions of scales -

[porter_esq]

if you listen to his guitar solos they tend to be mechanical repetitions of scales -

I don't know about that. They certainly can be analyzed differently:

http://www.zappateers.com/diapo.php?cat=17&expand=15

[7/4]

if you listen to his guitar solos they tend to be mechanical repetitions of scales -

I don't know about that. They certainly can be analyzed differently:

http://www.zappateers.com/diapo.php?cat=17&expand=15

Rhythmically complex!

[Sundog]

Zappa's gutiar solos....tend to fall into scale/interval patterns

Certain Pat Martino solo's could be described in this very way. For me, in general it's not so much "what" is played, it's the "how" that really matters. Zappa's "how" is unique.

To further illustrate my point have you ever critically listened to a bassline by Jerry Jemmott? On the surface there pretty simple. Try playing one, paying very close attention to getting the articulations (feel) just right. Not an easy thing. Jerry's "how" is unique.

[porter_esq]

Zappa's "how" is unique.

I believe that's what he called, "putting the eyebrows on it."

[md655321]

Anyone checking this tour out:

http://www.zappa.com/cheezoid/whatsnew/zpz/

Looks enticing.

[7/4]

Anyone checking this tour out:

http://www.zappa.com/cheezoid/whatsnew/zpz/

Looks enticing.

I should.

[Sundog]

The most recent edition of "Relix" magazine (the one with Zappa on the cover) has a decent article about the Zappa Plays Zappa Tour. Also, Gail talks about upcoming releases from the archive. She's whacked!

[Д.Д.]

Also, Gail talks about upcoming releases from the archive. She's whacked!

Gail is good at talking. Execution suffers a bit, but talking is good.

[7/4]

June 14, 2006

Music Review

Zappa Plays Zappa: Best Band He Never Heard in His Life

By NATE CHINEN, NY Times

The bad news is that the band featured in Zappa Plays Zappa, the sprawling tribute that touched down at the Beacon Theater on Monday night, was upstaged by an opening act. The good news is that the opening act was Frank Zappa.

No, he didn't materialize. But as the house lights darkened for some rarely seen video of Zappa and the Mothers of Invention at the Roxy in 1973, the effect was more than a little séancelike. There he was, a study in lanky gravity, deadpanning about dental floss on "Montana" and developing a corkscrew guitar solo on "Dupree's Paradise." The video ran longer than a half-hour, long enough for the audience to feel transported.

The guitarist Dweezil Zappa, Frank Zappa's son, knew exactly what he was doing when he arranged for this overture. Mr. Zappa has described his touring production as more than the first family-sanctioned salute to his father, who died in 1993. It's intended as an argument for Frank Zappa's legitimacy as a composer and as an outreach to a new generation of listeners.

On Monday it was all those things, to varying degrees. (The outreach was the least successful effort; most of the crowd looked old enough to have been at that Roxy show.) Mr. Zappa led a sharp assemblage of musicians in a program complete with harrowing intricacies, inscrutable grandiosities and several of his father's alumni as featured guests.

Chief among them was the saxophonist and flutist Napoleon Murphy Brock, who handled lead vocals for most of the night. Mr. Brock sounded comfortable even with the music's most angular intervals. And he was deliciously goofy and sardonic, often bounding or whirling about the stage.

Those energies helped compensate for Mr. Zappa's demeanor, which was serious, even studious, in tone. His lone attempt at conducting doubled as a dose of audience participation and underscored his father's superior authority in both areas.

But Mr. Zappa's guitar playing was duly impressive — he imbued "Inca Roads" with the proper combination of spacey atmosphere and feverish technique — and his careful organization of the concert was evident. Moreover, his egoless approach cleared a space for Mr. Brock and the other guests, the drummer Terry Bozzio and the guitarist Steve Vai.

Mr. Bozzio's natural showpiece was "Black Page," a drum feature originally composed with him in mind, and he handled its notorious convolutions — what Frank Zappa once called its "statistical density" — with power and flair. Mr. Vai was equally gripping, and more musical, on a medley of "Montana," a bucolic "Village of the Sun" and a tricky "Echidna's Arf (Of You)."

But again, the biggest guest was Frank Zappa himself, who reappeared onscreen more than three hours into the concert. This time he played a guitar solo on "Chunga's Revenge," and his son's musical coterie supported him, so to speak, with unobtrusive passion.

The tour runs through June 24. A list of dates can be found at zappa.com/zpz/tourdates.html.

[Д.Д.]

But as the house lights darkened for some rarely seen video of Zappa and the Mothers of Invention at the Roxy in 1973, the effect was more than a little séancelike.

This is the long-promised Roxy DVD material, I guess. Gail keeps complaining about commercial challenges of making new FZ material available, but if ZFT had the DVD available during the concerts, they would sell like hot cakes with no overhead costs...

[DatDere]

The ZFT had also promised to have 'Trance-Fusion' on sale during the gigs initially, but that announcement also mysteriously disappeared from the Z site, a few days before the tour started. Anyway, take all their promises with a huge amount of salt until you actually have the product in your own hands. The Roxy footage they showed was great btw, Montana and a nice extended version of Dupree's Paradise.

[Rooster_Ties]

I saw Brock (and Ike Willis too) guesting with the Zappa tribute band Project/Object a couple years ago here in KC, and all involved were pretty close to amazing. Willis is a monster singer ( always has been, in my book), and Brock was impressive too.

If this new group comes to town (with Brock primarily on lead vocals), I'll sure try like heck to catch 'em. Should be a good time, all around.

[Sundog]

FYI- Good interview with Dweezil in the August "Guitar Player" now on newstands. Also, a nice spread on some of Frank's guitars.

[Chuck Nessa]

After all this time I have to butt in and say Frank's music has always seemed to be "smart-ass frat boy" stuff by someone misunderstanding the "real deal". AND he was a real asshole in person.

This is what happens when "universal literacy" reaches the masses.

He was a bright guy without inspiration IMHO - just like the kid next door.

[GregK]

After all this time I have to butt in and say Frank's music has always seemed to be "smart-ass frat boy" stuff by someone misunderstanding the "real deal". AND he was a real asshole in person.

Harsh. Did you know him? What's that based on?

[Chuck Nessa]

After all this time I have to butt in and say Frank's music has always seemed to be "smart-ass frat boy" stuff by someone misunderstanding the "real deal". AND he was a real asshole in person.

Harsh. Did you know him? What's that based on?

It is based on my personal understanding of music and the value system commonly accepted/adopted (by me at least). I had a nasty personal relationship with him and still don't like his music. Had "nasty relationships" with a few other artists and still love their work.

Please advise me of his "masterwork" so I can see/hear what I missed.

[Chuck Nessa]

Chuck, have you heard "Grand Wazoo" or "Waka/Jawaka"?

Only a gazillion times.

[JSngry]

I'm pretty much w/Chuck on this, except that I still enjoy the work of the "original" Mothers (up to and including the Burnt Weenie-era large group). But ti seems to me that the inability of that band to break through brought Zappa's cynicism to the fore and that it then became the main element of even his most "serious" work. And that just does not appeal to me.

Frustration's a bitch, I know, but...