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St. Alphonzo's Pancake Breakfast (excerpt)

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#frank zappa #the crux of the biscuit #st alphonzo's pancake breakfast #tom fowler #ralph humphrey #george duke #ruth underwood #ian underwood #bruce fowler #sal marquez #jean luc ponty

Frank Zappa: The Grand Wazoo (1972)

Here’s a Frank Zappa record that I simply wasn’t ready to comprehend or appreciate when I first experienced it on a mid ‘90s Rykodisc CD, but which proved a revelation to my slightly more evolved ears (more attuned to jazz and fusion) some 30 years later -- with the added benefit of vinyl.

1972’s The Grand Wazoo was the culmination of one of the most unusual years in Zappa’s long and unusual career; a year that saw the prolific composer largely confined to his Los Angeles home, recovering from serious injuries sustained from a cowardly on-stage assault in London.

Of course, being a control freak and workaholic of epic proportions, Zappa hated this enforced state of convalescing, so a month in the hospital followed by many more strapped to a wheelchair with his leg in a cast left him in such a foul mood that his family finally decided to stay out of his way so he could immerse himself in his work.

Which he did, first by finalizing the live Just Another Band from L.A. set, then revisiting the jazz fusion of Hot Rats with its semi-official sequel, Waka/Jawaka, and then by challenging his compositional and conducting skills with the year’s final studio effort, The Grand Wazoo.

Here, Zappa led a ‘big band jazz/rock’ ensemble featuring almost twenty skilled musicians, including former and future Mothers of Invention like George Duke, Don Preston, and Aynsley Dunbar, plus guitarist Tony Duran, trumpeter Sal Marquez (Waka/Jawaka’s arguable MVP), saxophonist Ernie Watts, and a half-dozen additional brass and woodwind players.

The end results, at their best, sounded something like Duke Ellington jamming with Jimi Hendrix, and artist Cal Schenkel’s cover illustration aptly paints this ‘battle royale’ between rock and jazz as a Mesopotamian allegory (also an Oz-like scientist on the rear sleeve)!

But I don’t think The Grand Wazoo didn’t put its best foot forward with “For Calvin (And His Next Two Hitch-Hikers),” which offers a typical variation on the Mothers’ avant-garde pastiche (half sophomoric humor, half sophisticated music), and I don’t blame whoever decided to bump it to second place in the Ryko CD reissue sequence. (*)

Much more suitable was the thirteen-minute title track, which literally swings into action and immediately fulfills those big band aspirations with several distinctive themes for the brass and woodwinds, all expertly intertwined with a rock band’s electric guitar, keys, bass, and drums, with room for soloing from both parties.

Next up, “Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus” distills all of the above into a tight, three-minute capsule topped by self-effacing “La-la-las,” and then we’re into straight-up fusion via the Mahavishnu-esque intensity of “Eat that Question,” where Frank’s heavy metal riff bookends raging improvisation (Dunbar’s jazz chops are especially awe-inspiring).

Last but not least, there’s the languid, soothing “Blessed Relief,” which takes a totally different tack by offsetting Duke’s supple electric piano and swirling snowflake synth flourishes with similarly restrained solos by Marquez and Zappa, culminating with fanciful flute runs from Mike Altschul.

All in all, I now see The Grand Wazoo as an unquestionable highlight of Frank Zappa’s vast catalog and an underrated testament to his creative genius ... as well as the oft-unpopular and uncompromising drive that saw him channeling this cantankerous, irascible nature into brilliant productivity.

And, once he was free of his cast and wheelchair, Zappa was so eager to get back on the road that he hastily assembled a ‘petit wazoo’ line-up for a one-off gig at the Hollywood Bowl, followed by an eight-stop European tour, and a run of U.S. dates, with little thought to the finances involved.

Later, he complained: “It only cost me $2,000. That’s how much I lost on the tour. The tour grossed $97,000, and the expenses exceeded that by $2,000. A group that size, carrying that much equipment, going to Europe, playing that few jobs in that amount of time cannot make money at all.”

Sure enough, 1973 would see a once again mobile Frank resuming the more traditional (in his untraditional way, that is) recording and performing regimen of a rock band on Over-nite Sensation, which launched the most commercially successful phase of his career, filled to stellar albums like Apostrophe (’), Roxy & Elsewhere, and One Size Fits All.

But these LPs’ trademarked brand of comedic virtuosity also underscored the unique sounds and important legacy of The Grand Wazoo (and Hot Rats / Waka/Jawaka, before it) within Frank Zappa’s expansive career output.

* You can read the true story of Cal Schenkel and his hitch-hikers in the Zappa Wiki Jawaka, and diehard Zappa nerds will also recognize the song’s brief musical quote of the as-yet-unreleased “Adventures of Greggery Peccary.”

More Frank Zappa: Freak Out!, Absolutely Free, Lumpy Gravy, We’re Only in it for the Money, Cruising with Ruben and the Jets, Uncle Meat, Hot Rats, Burnt Weenie Sandwich, Weasels Ripped My Flesh, Chunga’s Revenge, Fillmore East – June 1971, 200 Motels, Just Another Band from L.A., Waka/Jawaka, Over-nite Sensation, Apostrophe (’), Roxy & Elsewhere, One Size Fits All, Bongo Fury, Zoot Allures, Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt, Sheik Yerbouti, Orchestral Favorites, Joe’s Garage Act I, Joe’s Garage Act II & III, “I Don’t Wanna Get Drafted,” Tinseltown Rebellion, You Are What You Is, Ship Arriving too Late to Save a Drowning Witch, The Man from Utopia, London Symphony Orchestra Vol. I, Them or Us, Meets the Mothers of Prevention, Jazz from Hell, You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore (Sampler), Broadway the Hard Way.

#frank zappa #jazz #fusion #classic rock #instrumental #vinyl #Mahavishnu Orchestra #Billy Cobham #miles davis #jean luc ponty #George Duke #sal marquez #duke ellington #Jimi Hendrix

Frank Zappa The Lost Episodes 1996 Rykodisc ——————————————————————— Tracks: 01. The Blackouts 02. Lost in a Whirlpool 03. Ronnie Sings? 04. Kenny’s Booger Story 05. Ronnie’s Booger Story 06. Mount St. Mary’s Concert Excerpt 07. Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance 08. Tiger Roach 09. Run Home Slow Theme 10. Fountain of Love 11. Run Home Cues, #2 12. Any Way the Wind Blows 13. Run Home Cues, #3 14. Charva 15. The Dick Kunc Story 16. Wedding Dress Song 17. Handsome Cabin Boy 18. Cops & Buns 19. The Big Squeeze 20. I’m a Band Leader 21. Alley Cat 22. The Grand Wazoo 23. Wonderful Wino 24. Kung Fu 25. RDNZL 26. Basement Music #1 27. Inca Roads 28. Lil’ Clanton Shuffle 29. I Don’t Wanna Get Drafted 30. Sharleena ———————————————————————

Dick Barber

Jimmy Carl Black

Dale Bozzio

Terry Bozzio

Paul Buff

Ray Collins

Don Christlieb

Pete Christlieb

Chuck Domanico

George Duke

Aynsley Dunbar

Erroneous

Roy Estrada

Chuck Foster

Bruce Fowler

John Guerin

Ralph Humprey

Dick Kunc

Sal Márquez

Malcolm McNab

Vic Mortenson

Jean-Luc Ponty

Chester Thompson

Art Tripp

Ian Underwood

Ruth Underwood

Don van Vliet “Captain Beefheart”

Frank Zappa

* Long Live Rock Archive

Album Review: Robby Krieger - The Ritual Begins at Sundown

After 10 years of studio silence, Robby Krieger returns with a killer Frank Zappa album.

The lede is not literal, of course. But the former Doors guitarist, in tandem with FZ alumni co-writer/co-producer Arthur Barrow, drummer Chad Wackerman, keyboardist Tommy Mars and horn players Jock Ellis and Sal Marquez, channel the head Mother shamelessly and with the chops to back it up on the Ritual Begins at Sundown.

Fine-tuned on stages before being transferred to the studio, the eight originals and two covers bear all sorts of Zappa hallmarks like odd time signatures, quirky tempo shifts and an overarching unconventional quality that keep them interesting over repeated spins.

Recalling the jazzy, instrumental stylings of 1982’s Versions, Krieger even plays like Zappa, taking occasional detours into Jeremy Spencer territory on the languid “Slide Home” and soaring like David Gilmour on his recasting of the Doors’ “Yes, the River Knows.”

But even without a carbon copy of “Chunga’s Revenge,” it would be hard to call the Ritual Begins at Sundown anything but an homage to Zappa, something Krieger and his bandmates seem to allude to on the opening track, when the LP’s only words, also the song’s title - What was that? - pop out of the speakers.

It wasn’t Zappa. But the Ritual Begins at Sundown sure sounds like him.

Grade card: Robby Krieger - The Ritual Begins at Sundown - A-

9/1/20

#robby krieger #the doors #the ritual begins at sundown #arthur barrow #chad wackerman #tommy mars #frank zappa #jeremy spencer #fleetwood mac #jock ellis #sal marquez #2020 albums #david gilmour

Frank Zappa: Waka/Jawaka (1972)

Following a vicious, on-stage assault in London that left him with a fractured skull, ribs, and leg, Frank Zappa spent much of 1972 confined to a wheelchair in his Los Angeles home, and he was clearly not very happy about it -- just look at his grumpy, frumpy demeanor above.

But nothing could stop Frank from composing (as his hero Edgard Varèse once said, “the modern day composer refuses to die!”), recording, and releasing several albums into that difficult year, the second of which, Waka/Jawaka, arrived in the summer of ‘72.

Allegedly named after a cryptic ouija board message, this was the de facto successor to ‘69’s critically acclaimed Hot Rats (it’s written right there on the faucet handles) and it saw Frank recruiting a fearsome cutting crew (George Duke, Aynsley Dunbar, ‘Sneaky’ Pete Kleinow, etc.) to flesh out his vision.

In keeping with Hot Rats, said vision was largely focused on instrumental jazz and jazz fusion, with the 17-minute suite, “Big Swifty,” dominating all of side one with a string of spectacular solos from Zappa, Duke, and, most impressive of all, trumpeter Sal Marquez (he plays, he sings, even suggested the cover art!) -- all of them book-ended by a sinister horn-backed theme.

Vocals and rock elements return for a pair of conventionally-sized cuts: “Your Mouth” and “It Just Might Be a One-Shot Deal,” which sound like poorly resolved comedy numbers from the Flo & Eddie era and the 200 Motels soundtrack -- at least until Sneaky Pete’s country-flavored pedal steel and Jeff Simmons’ Hawaiian guitar slip and slide everywhere.

Then it’s back to extended experimental jazz -- half-orchestrated, half-improvised -- via the eleven-minute title track, which once again stars Marquez (this time on flugelhorn, followed by a Dunbar solo, to boot) and stakes Waka/Jawaka’s claim as perhaps Zappa’s deepest foray into full-on fusion.

Just a few months later, he would tip the improvised/composed scale in the latter direction with an even larger ensemble for The Grand Wazoo, and this concert footage from ‘73 shows a once-again-upright Frank tearing it up with a short-lived Mothers of Invention line-up including French violin wiz Jean-Luc Ponty.

But subsequent LPs like Over-nite Sensation and Apostrophe (‘) witnessed a calculated retreat into rock and comedy-laced virtuosity -- not just for obvious commercial considerations (a man’s gotta eat!), but also as if Zappa was saying “I’m not taking this all that seriously, and neither should you.”

Which, as it turns out, has become a frequent complaint from new fans taking their first, tentative look into Frank Zappa’s dauntingly large, incomparably eclectic, and undeniably confusing discography, where an adventurous album like Waka/Jawaka can be easily overlooked and underrated.

More Frank Zappa: Freak Out!, Absolutely Free, Lumpy Gravy, We’re Only in it for the Money, Cruising with Ruben and the Jets, Uncle Meat, Hot Rats, Burnt Weenie Sandwich, Weasels Ripped My Flesh, Chunga’s Revenge, Fillmore East – June 1971, 200 Motels, Just Another Band from L.A., The Grand Wazoo, Over-nite Sensation, Apostrophe (’), Roxy & Elsewhere, One Size Fits All, Bongo Fury, Zoot Allures, Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt, Sheik Yerbouti, Orchestral Favorites, Joe’s Garage Act I, Joe’s Garage Act II & III, “I Don’t Wanna Get Drafted,” Tinseltown Rebellion, You Are What You Is, Ship Arriving too Late to Save a Drowning Witch, The Man from Utopia, London Symphony Orchestra Vol. I, Them or Us, Meets the Mothers of Prevention, Jazz from Hell, You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore (Sampler), Broadway the Hard Way.