Record Reviews

FRANK ZAPPA ~ THE MOTHERS 1970 ZAPPA 20033 (Barcode: 824302003329) ~ USA ~ Avant-Garde Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 1970 Released: 2020 This is a wonderful archival Box Set, which collects the recordings by the short lived lineup of the MothersFind albums by this artist, led by Frank ZappaFind albums by this artist between May and December of 1970 and celebrates its 50th Anniversary. The material includes studio and concert recordings from the Zappa vault and most of the material is previously unreleased. This particular lineup of the Mothers included the two ex-TurtlesFind albums by this artist vocalists Mark VolmanFind albums by this artist and Howard KaylanFind albums by this artist (a.k.a. Flo & EddieFind albums by this artist), Jazz keyboardist George DukeFind albums by this artist, who arrived via Jean-Luc PontyFind albums by this artist and the brilliant “King KongFind albums with this title” album from 1969, multi-instrumentalist Ian UnderwoodFind albums by this artist (the only original Mother), bassist Jeff SimmonsFind albums by this artist and British drummer Aynsley DunbarFind albums by this artist. Shortly before Zappa disbanded the original Mothers Of InventionFind albums by this artist, he released the seminal solo album “Hot RatsFind albums with this title”, was involved in cross-genre meeting with Zubin MehtaFind albums by this artist and in parallel started to produce the “Uncle MeatFind albums with this title” movie, a typical Zappa mayhem, emphasizing his feverish creativity. The music is, as always, completely Zappaesque, with brilliant melodic contents, weird polyrhythmic approach, which was always his forte, a Rock oriented rhythm section and Jazz oriented instrumental layers, topped with superb vocal harmonies and Zappa’s angelic / devilish guitar work, which remains unparalleled. As the time moves on and Zappa’s music is now well into its sixth decade, it becomes more and more apparent that he was an absolute singularity on the 20th Century music scene. No other musician managed to create such a vast body of music so diverse and aesthetically perfect as Zappa. He was also one of the very few musicians with an outlook on the world politics and the sickness of American society, and surely the only one that was not afraid to publicly mock it. His sharp sense of humor cut deeply like a surgeon’s scalpel, but the political establishment managed to present him to the public as a weirdo rather than a sage. One of the few things that I regret in the course of my musical adventures is the fact that I met Frank only a couple of times over the years, as I’d love to have talked with him in depth. It was not to be and his premature death closed the window of opportunity forever. For the many Zappa fans this Box Set is of course a must, as everything else that emerges from his vault. It is absolutely blissful that his vault is so well looked after and new material emerges from it periodically and continuously, especially in times were new music is hardly worth any attention. Pass the word and enjoy!

Updated: 19/01/2022Posted: 30/05/2021

CD 4 Mini-Sleeve Box Set Remastered Recommend To A Friend

FRANK ZAPPA ~ THE ROXY PERFORMANCES ZAPPA 20028 (Barcode: 824302002827) ~ USA ~ Avant-Garde Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 1973 Released: 2018 This incredible Box Set presents all the music recorded by Frank ZappaFind albums by this artist and his group MothersFind albums by this artist between December 8th and December 12th 1973, which includes the four shows at the Roxy Theater on Sunset Strip, West Hollywood on December 9th and 10th (two shows daily), the Roxy Theater rehearsals on December 8th and 12th, the Bolic Sound studio recording from December 12th and one previously unreleased track, altogether about eight hours of pure unadulterated Zappa Genius. Parts of these recordings were released, some of them overdubbed, on the "Roxy & ElsewhereFind albums with this title" double LP album and later on the "You Can`t Do That On Stage AnymoreFind albums with this title" series of albums and the "Roxy By ProxyFind albums with this title" album, but this Box Set is the only compilation of the entire proceedings in their original form. The Mothers featured on these tracks were: keyboardist George DukeFind albums by this artist, bassist Tom FowlerFind albums by this artist, percussionist Ruth UnderwoodFind albums by this artist, trombonist Bruce FowlerFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Napoleon Murphy BrockFind albums by this artist and drummers Ralph HumphreyFind albums by this artist and Chester ThompsonFind albums by this artist; a hyper talented, highly experienced and superbly collegial bunch of musicians, who under Zappa´s leadership were practically capable of playing anything, including the most unearthly and bizarre inventions that Zappa managed to come up with. The music, or rather the phenomenon, which these recordings document, is beyond any classification and spans such diverse genres as Jazz, Fusion, Rock, Classical Music, Cabaret, Vaudeville, Circus Music, Pop and basically every form of music known to man, all this thanks to Zappa´s completely original approach to music creating, which a priori avoided any classifications or limitations and led to Cultural cross-pollination never before or after achieved in music by anybody else. Although the Mothers present herein were quite Jazz oriented, with excellent improvisational skills, the music pushed them well beyond the Jazz tradition, employing a plethora of compositional tools, which were mostly Zappa´s inventions. Of all American composers / musicians Zappa always was the most non-American one, with aesthetics much closer to the European music spheres, which exploded with new ideas right about the time when American Jazz froze following the Free Jazz / Improvised Music apogee, which terminated with the death of John ColtraneFind albums by this artist. Zappa, who was quite aware of the developments in American Jazz, did not follow the Free path, in fact he chose the complete opposite direction and his music, which became in time ever more complex, was in fact ever more organized and composed. Zappa found his expression of Freedom in the complexity of his music, parallel to his outspoken anti-American views about political / social / cultural hypocrisy, which he loved to mock, criticize and hate. Although this Box Set includes several versions of the same tunes, the comparison of these tunes is a highly educational exercise, which proves the amount of spontaneity, inventiveness and instant composition that goes on during these performances. Not only are the individual solos different, bit often the entire approach to the music changes on the fly, which of course was one of the Zappa trademarks. As a result the eight hours of music do not become repetitious or tiresome at any time and often the listener might have the impression of listening to several different albums one after another. As time passes by and the date this music was made goes further back in time (almost 45 years before these words are being written), it becomes painfully obvious that music of that intensity, artistry and sophistication is not being made any more, which is actually pretty depressing. Zappa was surely the last great Artist to come up from the decaying American Culture (is there any Culture left there any more?) and his contributions, which this Box Set superbly represents, are all Cultural Treasures, which some people still cherish, even in the US of A. An interesting question that arises as a result of this beautiful trip back in time is how much if at all Zappa and his music influenced future generations? I have been often wandering about that and I hope someone, who truly understands music, writes a thesis about this. Personally I think that Zappa was simply living and making music way ahead of his time and most of the mankind has not arrived yet at a time frame when his music can be properly understood, and perhaps never will? One thing is sure, like all music Geniuses, Zappa was definitely an Alien. So if you really love music, take a day off, put theses seven CDs on one after another and have a Zappa Day!

Updated: 23/01/2022Posted: 19/05/2018

CD 7 Mini-Sleeve Box Set Remastered Bonus Tracks Essential Recommend To A Friend