Zappa.com

She does get a lot of praise which is very good. She's probably the best mallet percussionist that Frank had. I love Ed's work on Alien Orifice, and Art does a good job on The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue.

Jeff Simmons, Ed Mann, and Chad Wackerman who made some nice solo albums.

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What's the ugliest part of your body ?

Jean Luc Ponty

how is ponty under rated? he moved on to become the top jazz/rock violinist in the world.
I really dig his album of zappa's music BTW it's some of my favorite renditions.

I saw a halloween zappa show at the paladium with adrian belew and denny walley in the back line ( not a bad little rhythm section right there!) denny walley got his little spot and whatever it was that he did with a slide and an electric guitar just floored me. time stood still for a moment.

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Stop Plate Techtonics!!
http://www.myspace.com/originalfacelift
http://www.balkanmusic.org/
http://thesurfonics.com/index.html

What about Robert Martin?

One of my favorites!

most under-rated hairdoo

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Not many folks talk about the bass playing of Scott Thunes. I really dig his interaction with FZ on guitar solos.

vcf

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There isn't much chance that you'll get people to like you. The best that most folks can hope for is that people will put up with their shit. MTF

Revel in your otherness. MK

STILL pissed at Tipper. VCF

Alex "Erroneous" Dmochowski (sp?). I love his real solid, yet basic playing on two of the most adventurous FZ albums of the '70s. Those wouldn't have sounded as good if he'd had a "busier" bassist on Waka/Jawaka & Grand Wazoo. Too much else going on in the music.

Jim Pons. For the most part I prefer the '70 Flo/Eddie lineup w/ Simmons & Duke, but Pons adds alot to the '71 band, especially the vocal harmonizing and the baritone voice.

Mike fucking Keneally. Sure the fans who are serious guitarists know, but he generally gets overlooked next to Vai's work in the early '80s. And the '88 stuff isn't as popular with some, because FZ changed his guitar sound and added more horns. When you first hear the '88 band, he seems to be more in the background than Vai was. He hardly takes any solos on the live sets, but the more you listen the more you pick up on what he's doing.
I think he's the best musician Frank ever had.

Agreed... I simply love the bass line going in the slide solo It might be a one-shot-deal... Ah... Heaven...

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The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true Art and Science. - Albert Einstein

Erroneous was the bass player on all the Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation albums as well. The boy had some strange clothing at an early age. I was very disappointed when he didn't show for The Grand Wazoo shows at Madison Square Garden's "Felt Forum". Dave Parlato was the bassist, and Jim Gordon instead of Doctor Dunbar. Another letdown

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The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true Art and Science. - Albert Einstein

That's a very tough question so I'll say Steve Vai just for kicks.

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http://adultworldnews.blogspot.com/
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. . . . . . .vai = most over-rated sideman

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Interesting thesis, slime. Heretical but true imo.

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What's the ugliest part of your body ?

Vai is a good guitar player. I'm not positive how I feel about his style yet. I like Passion and Warfare (or at least the few songs I've heard on it.)

Vai is a good guitarman, no doubt. His impossible guitar contributions on several FZ albums were good, too. But as a solo player he could better be a member of Van Halen.

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What's the ugliest part of your body ?

depending how you define good, there's no disputing the guy has talent, but he just doesn't get it


warren gets it
kenneally basically gets it
sorry steve sorry better try it again


too bad almost none of it rubbed off

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When I say good guitar player, I mean that he can manipulate that machine very well.

But he can't really improvise...too well, anyway.

I love Tommy Mars because he can create melodies that no other man could do. Watch Pound Bass/Keyboard Solo at Baby Snakes, watch Pound For A Brown at Paris 1980, listen to Tinseltown Rebellion. Tommy Mars does all the keyboards in the studio version of Easy Meat!!
His ElectroComp-brass sound is fantastic, he is a master of the Minimoog & the vocoder harmonies is beautiful!!
BTW, isn't Tommy Mars one of Zappa's most recorded sidemen?

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TB -

I hate the sound of Tommy Mars' synthesizers. Ugh. That fake trumpet sound, it was so overused in the 80s that it really escapes me how on earth no fucking keyboardist had a clue how cheesy it sounds!

/TB

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TB -

I'm with the kid giving the finger. Tommy Mars kicks ass, cheesy fake trumpets and all.

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Dung work for Yoda, dung, dung.

ah, more tastelessness demonstrated, need i say more?

Are you saying I'm a cheesy fake trumpet?

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Dung work for Yoda, dung, dung.

i've never appreciated the FZ lineups where there are too much guitars and too much keyboards. One keyboard player and not more than two guitarists is enough for me. Add woodwinds (one saxophone only, as played by the lead singer or keyboardist, doesn't count!), brass and mallet percussion and violin as a bonus point, and you're talking about precisely the sound picture that appeals to me!