A very nice arrangement on one of my favorite Zappa instrumentals...



...Black Napkins.



tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

The Black Page...



...performed by Terry Bozzio.



Once Zappa had someone who could play the original percussion composition...



...then came a more full blown arrangement


Another stellar instrumental.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

This is probably my favorite Zappa track.

The Zappa Audition Experience




...Steve Vai




...Terry Bozzio


Vinnie Colaiuta...

VC: I had always been a big fan of Zappa's and had every record. In fact, I had just bought Live in New York and loved it. It was funny and it was musically great. The irony is that I called the office and bugged the hell out of them, asking if I could bring a tape by. They said, "No tapes", but I dropped one by anyway. I'd go there every day until one day they called and said "Alright, Mr. Zappa will listen to you Wednesday night." My heart dropped and I literally sank to the floor. I was so happy, not just at the prospect of a gig, but because it was him!


RF: What was the audition like?

VC: I just went in there with the attitude that I was going to shoot my shot and not going to get real uptight because it Zappa. I would just go for it. This was it and I was going to put it all forward. I went there and was watching these people audition. The average time they lasted was like fifteen seconds.


RF: Why do you think they weren't cutting it? What was lacking?

VC: It seemed as though they just couldn't go through with what Frank wanted out of a musician. Frank would put this music in front of you that was ridiculously difficult, like equally on par with 20th-century compositional kind of stuff, and rhythmically it was incredible. These guys would sit there and they could play grooves but they couldn't read or vice versa. He looks for a special combination of elements in a person and I guess they weren’t there. I auditioned on Bozzio's drums. I had never played on two bass drums, but I said, "Screw it-I'm going for it!" He put this thing in front of me, "Pedro's Dowry," and it was the melodic part that I had to sight read in unison with the marimba. So I sight read a little bit of that. I just had to concentrate on it completely, and to my surprise, I didn't make any mistakes. He was about to give me "The Black Page." I had tried my hand at transcribing it, so I had it memorized and before he gave me the music, I started playing it. I got about two-thirds through it and I guess he had heard enough because he said, "Okay, yes, you can read." Then he started playing this thing in 21/16 and he wanted me to play along. I grasped it; it was all subdivided in threes and twos. Then he told me to take a solo, so I played on it. Then he came back in and played and said, "Okay, that's enough of that." He started throwing tune after tune and we went through about four tunes. The whole thing lasted about fifteen minutes, which was like a record. Then he pulled me aside and asked me when I could start. I turned white and said, "Anytime." And that was it. That bailed me out of my whole living and financial si tuation.


RF: Terry Bozzio said he almost felt at times that Zappa would write these ridiculously difficult things to taunt his players to see if they could actually do what he'd written. Although I'm sure some of what Bozzio said was tongue-in-cheek, how do you feel about that?

VC: I've seen situations like that where I've pondered the same thing. But I don't doubt the sheer musicality of it for one second. I think it's brilliant and as far as I'm concerned, Frank is one of the most gifted composers of all time. I don't think he's been duly recognized as such.

...http://www.vinniecolaiuta...mer82.aspx
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The dude ain't screwin' around when it comes to playing his music.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWWW!!!!!

That performance is awesome. And so high quality!

It seemse like DVD quality, but I don't have this on DVD. Is it officially released anywhere?

savoirfaire said:

The full band performance appears to be from a 1988 Barcelona concert.
There are some DVDs available titled Zappa In Barcelona but not having seen them, I can't vouch for their quality.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

Fuck me if this isn't the funniest thing I've ever seen!!

....Oh, & Prince gets a mention. .....But I'm not sure Frank's a fan.

TyphoonTip said:

Perhaps never in human history has so much ignorance been crammed into so little a space.

No one can deal with all that. I'm surprised Frank's head didn't explode.

Frank Zappa - The Lost Interview (1990)

Not sure if this has been posted here before. If so, it's worth another listen.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The total interview runs about an hour and covers music politics and popular culture from 1950s through 1990. This interview was never released. It was recorded in 3 segments 1990 in LA, but never completed as a final project. Intended to be kind of retrospect of what happened to the personal growth and idealism of 60’s as it whitewashed into the self indulgence of the 70s and 80s and the corporatism of America. It was never completed upon his death.

http://www.killuglyradio....interview/

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=



...Early Influences




...McCarthy - Elvis - Racism




...The Presidential Elections




...Beatles - Stones - Censorship




...Hendrix - UFOs - Sex




...Problems with Democracy




...Message to the Future

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

Pulling this altogether for us is VERY much appreciated, tA.

Thoroughly enjoyed.

Brendan said:

Glad you enjoyed it, I know I did.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

Enjoy if you will. 1998 Zappa Stunt Guitarist Mr. Mike Keneally.

Zappa was an absolute genius.

There is NOBODY alive anywhere near zappa.

paligap said:

yes, of what I've heard (which is just a small part of his music) Apostrophe is a very good starting point. A perfect representation of my own personal view of what is classic Zappa.

A more difficult listen for me, and maybe a more rewarding one was We're Only In It For the Money