Record Reviews

FRANK ZAPPA ~ IMAGINARY DISEASES ZAPPA 20001 (Barcode: 824302000120) ~ USA ~ Big Band Jazz Recorded: 1972 Released: 2005 This is the 76th album by iconic American guitarist / composer / bandleader / visionary Frank ZappaFind albums by this artist, released posthumously in 2005. The album was prepared for release by Zappa before his death from material recorded during the 1972 “Petit Wazoo” tour. The album presents seven original compositions, five of which are lengthy pieces between ten and sixteen minutes in duration, all by Zappa. The music was recorded by a ten-piece band that included Zappa on guitar and vocals, who also conducted the band’s performances, trumpeters Malcolm McNabbFind albums by this artist and Gary BaroneFind albums by this artist, tuba player Tom MaloneFind albums by this artist, woodwinds player Earl DumlerFind albums by this artist, trombonists Glen FerrisFind albums by this artist and Bruce FowlerFind albums by this artist, slide guitarist Tony DuranFind albums by this artist, bassist Dave ParlatoFind albums by this artist and drummer Jim GordonFind albums by this artist. The music reflects Zappa’s interest in Jazz oriented Big Band / Orchestral music, which he recorded for “The Grand WazooFind albums with this title” and other albums at that period. This instrumental music is complex, multi-layered and light-years ahead of its time musically. Since there are no lyrics, the element of satire and social critique are absent on this album, but for enthusiasts of Zappa’s incredible guitar playing there are plenty of delights here. Overall, although five decades passed since this music was recorded, this album remains an absolute Classic in every respect, which stands proudly as an icon of superb music, which still shines brighter than almost anything else recorded since. Zappa’s early 1970s Jazz / Fusion oriented explorations remain as one of his absolute peak achievements.

Updated: 23/05/2022Posted: 23/05/2022

CD 1 Mini-Sleeve Recommend To A Friend

FRANK ZAPPA ~ LITTLE DOTS ZAPPA 20026 (Barcode: 824302002629) ~ USA ~ Big Band Jazz Recorded: 1972 Released: 2016 This is the 109th album by iconic American guitarist / composer / bandleader / visionary Frank ZappaFind albums by this artist, released posthumously in 2016. The album was prepared for release by Zappa before his death from material recorded during the 1972 “Petit Wazoo” tour and is the second album originating from the same material, following the “Imaginary DiseasesFind albums with this title” album from 2005. The album presents five original compositions, which are lengthy pieces between six and twenty-four minutes in duration, all by Zappa. The music was recorded by a ten-piece band that included Zappa on guitar and vocals, who also conducted the band’s performances, trumpeters Malcolm McNabbFind albums by this artist and Gary BaroneFind albums by this artist, tuba player Tom MaloneFind albums by this artist, woodwinds player Earl DumlerFind albums by this artist, trombonists Glen FerrisFind albums by this artist and Bruce FowlerFind albums by this artist, slide guitarist Tony DuranFind albums by this artist, bassist Dave ParlatoFind albums by this artist and drummer Jim GordonFind albums by this artist. The music reflects Zappa’s interest in Jazz oriented Big Band / Orchestral music, which he recorded for “The Grand WazooFind albums with this title” and other albums at that period. This instrumental music is complex, multi-layered and light-years ahead of its time musically. Since there are no lyrics, the element of satire and social critique are absent on this album, but for enthusiasts of Zappa’s incredible guitar playing there are plenty of delights here. Overall, although five decades passed since this music was recorded, this album remains an absolute Classic in every respect, which stands proudly as an icon of superb music, which still shines brighter than almost anything else recorded since. Zappa’s early 1970s Jazz / Fusion oriented explorations remain as one of his absolute peak achievements.

Updated: 16/06/2022Posted: 16/06/2022

CD 1 Mini-Sleeve Remastered Recommend To A Friend

FRANK ZAPPA ~ WAKA / WAZOO ZAPPA 20041 (Barcode: 602448169594) ~ USA ~ Avant-Garde Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 1972 Released: 2022 This is the 124th album by iconic American guitarist / composer / bandleader / visionary Frank ZappaFind albums by this artist, released posthumously in 2022. The album presents music recorded during the April / May 1972 recording sessions at the Paramount Studios, which produced the iconic “Waka / JawakaFind albums with this title” and “The Grand WazooFind albums with this title” albums and celebrates the 50th Anniversary of these sessions. The Box Set includes 4 CDs and 1 Blu-ray Audio disc. The music was recorded by two lineups, the ten piece (called Petit Wazoo) and the twenty-piece (called Grand Wazoo) ensembles / orchestras, which epitomize Zappa’s fascination with Jazz music and Orchestral music, offering some of the most intricate performances Zappa and his ensembles ever recorded. The two ensembles had a common core / rhythm section, with in addition to Zappa on guitar and vocals, included also slide guitarist Tony DuranFind albums by this artist, keyboardists George DukeFind albums by this artist and Don PrestonFind albums by this artist, bassist Alex DmochowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Aynsley DunbarFind albums by this artist (the last two were of course British). A long list of brass and woodwinds players, some famous from their Jazz careers, played in both ensembles. CD1 and CD2 present outtakes and alternate versions of the material recorded during the sessions, which were not used on the final version of the two albums. CD3 presents a series of demos Zappa and Duke recorded for a potential album by Duke, which produced four demos and three outtakes of music written by Duke (in one case co-written with Zappa). The 8th track presents a live appearance of the Grand Wazoo band live in Boston, edited in studio and previously unreleased. The entire Boston show was released in 2007 as the “WazooFind albums with this title” album. The last two tracks on this CD present the first part of the Petit Wazoo band live at the Winterland Ballroom in SF. CD4 presents five additional tracks from the Winterland Ballroom concert Blu-ray Audio presents new Dolby Atmos, 5.1 Surround Sound and PCM Stereo versions of the “Waka / Jawaka” and “The Grand Wazoo” albums, which I personally regard as completely redundant. Overall, this is an absolutely essential piece of the Frank Zappa legacy and a fitting tribute to his brilliance. The intricacy and multi-layered arrangements, brilliantly executed by his ensembles, are amongst the most interesting American recordings ever and considering that all this happened fifty years ago clearly proves that Zappa was a visionary / prophetic Genius.

Updated: 14/01/2023Posted: 14/01/2023

4CD+BD 5 Box Set Remastered Recommend To A Friend

FRANK ZAPPA ~ WAZOO VAULTERNATIVE 20072 (Barcode: 824302007228) ~ JAPAN ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 1972 Released: 2007 This is the 82nd official release by iconic American guitarist / composer / bandleader / visionary Frank ZappaFind albums by this artist. It is an archival album recorded live on September 24, 1972 at Music Hall in Boston, MA. The 2CD album includes all the music played during the show that night, lasting together for over one and a half hour, all of which was previously unreleased. The album was released posthumously in 2007 as the third in the Vaulternative series of complete live concerts, which also includes “FZ:OZFind albums with this title”, “BuffaloFind albums with this title”, “Philly `76Find albums with this title”, “Hammersmith OdeonFind albums with this title”, “Carnegie HallFind albums with this title” and “Chicago `78Find albums with this title”. The music was compiled from several sources to reconstruct the show in its entirety. All the music was composed by Zappa. The lineup of the musicians playing in the band, which played this concert consists, in addition to Zappa on guitar and vocals of course, of guitarist Tony DuranFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Ian UnderwoodFind albums by this artist, bassist Dave ParlatoFind albums by this artist, drummer Jim GordonFind albums by this artist, percussionist Ruth UnderwoodFind albums by this artist, vibraphonist Tom RaneyFind albums by this artist, cellist Jerry KesslerFind albums by this artist and a twelve members brass section, altogether twenty musicians. The repertoire covers Zappa’s ambitious orchestral Jazz oriented works from “Waka / JawakaFind albums with this title”, “The Grand WazooFind albums with this title” and later “Studio TanFind albums with this title” albums. The music, as I have already stated repeatedly, is beyond categorization, being first and foremost the idiosyncratic creation of Zappa’s musical Genius. Of course every new piece of reissued vault material by Zappa expands the portrait of one of the paramount musical Geniuses of the 20th Century. I still label it as Jazz-Rock Fusion, as it embraces the wide perspective of these two genres. After all it is no less than one and a half hour of the best music money can buy, brilliantly recorded and carefully put together for you listening pleasure. Overall, this a superb and highly detailed document of the way Zappa created his masterpieces, and of course a testimony to his musical out of the box thinking and creativity. As far as concert recordings, this is an extraordinary example of Zappa’s ability to run a tight ship, perhaps tighter than any other. Despite the complexity of the material, Swiss watchmakers are using this music to synchronize their watches by.

Updated: 15/02/2022Posted: 15/02/2022

CD 2 Mini-Sleeve Recommend To A Friend