jimmie d killed the forum wrote:
.....and now.....Dweezil Zappa has stepped into the fray.....
SOME FRANK TALK
Dweezil Zappa discusses his father's legacy
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 08/3/07
by Ed Condran, Correspondent
"Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar" remains an exceptional concert document of Frank Zappa guitar solos from the '70s. When Zappa's son Dweezil Zappa and his group Zappa Plays Zappa performs Sunday at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, critics should shut up until they hear him play guitar.
Don't ask Zappa about the Frank Zappa tribute act Project Object's belief that Zappa Plays Zappa delivers his father's material too reverently.
"Our band is the closest to how (Frank) Zappa did it," Project Object's Andre Cholmondeley said. "We leave room for experimentation. Zappa plays Zappa plays it by the book. There's a gross misunderstanding there. Zappa kept it tight, but he kept a window open for improv."
Dweezil Zappa, who always called his father Frank, was less than thrilled to hear Cholmondeley's thoughts.
"There's no reason I should take anything they say as valid," Zappa said while calling from Chicago. "To try to turn this into a competition is stupid. They're trying to make a living off of material that's not their own, and they're doing a poor job. That's all I'm going to say about it."
Zappa Plays Zappa treats Frank Zappa's catalog in a manner akin to classical musicians. They replicate the sounds created by Zappa's legendary father.
"That makes total sense to me," Zappa said. "Do some of these bands think they're going to make my father's music better? That's not going to happen. Do orchestras take Mozart and rip it apart? Of course not! Frank did things a certain way, and that's the way we present the material. This project is so important to me."
Zappa formed the group in 2006 to preserve his father's rich legacy.
"I don't want Frank's music to be forgotten," Zappa said. "There are a lot of younger people who were never exposed to his music. And then there are the casual listeners who just know "Dancin' Fool,' "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow' and "Valley Girl.' Frank was much more than those songs. Those songs don't give you one sixty-fourth what he was all about."
Frank Zappa, who died at 53 in 1993 due to cancer, was an innovative, challenging and prolific composer who experimented with rock, jazz, funk, classical and doo wop. A master satirist, he arguably is the godfather of prog-rock, and some of his material is certainly proto-punk.
"There was no one like Frank, and there is no one remotely like him today," Dweezil Zappa said. "That's why I'm out there playing his music."
It isn't easy for Zappa to select tracks for his shows.
"(My father) composed and recorded so much music that what I can pick for shows is endless," Zappa said.
In light of the above post, I guarantee he'll be back. And soon. We'll can expect
several full blown dissertation/rants on this tortured topic.
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
