Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention - Grand Wazoo
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Free Music Notes for Grand Wazoo
Free Music Review: Just Ignore The Title And Surrender To The Splendor
Hit: 5 Stars
For a microcosm of the contradiction that was Frank Zappa, compare this CD's title with its music. The title is infantile, deliberately offensive, smutty, and obvious. The music is sublime, highly intelligent, dense, sophisticated, and thoroughly original.
Zappa gave his socio-political-lambasting-musical-theatre-of-the-absurd-dog-and-three-legged-pony-show a well-earned rest and concentrated on doing what he did best, arranging. In Hot Rats he did this in the rock idiom, in GW the emphasis is on jazz/funk horns and tight orchestration.
The title track starts well but outstays its welcome; large sections sound like a duck call repair shop in the midst of its busy season. From there it gets much better. For Calvin is inspired, the mildly sinister vocal introduction ushers you into a splendid, multi-layered descent that feels random but is, in fact, precisely controlled - nice.
Cletus is hilarious, the maniacally cheerful voices will be familiar to veteran Zappa listeners and can be heard on 200 Motels, Uncle Meat, and elsewhere. This is Zappa you can hum on the way home.
Next comes the pick of the litter, Eat That Question. George Duke really puts on a jazz/funk clinic, teasing his electric piano mercilessly. The initial melody, mighty and infectious, bobs and weaves throughout the piece. Great ensemble playing. Wow.
The closer, Blessed Relief, is probably the prettiest thing Zappa ever recorded - it's a delight to know he was capable of un-ironic beauty. Music to enjoy in July when you're driving by the sea in a convertible. This CD is highly recommended.
Free Music Review: The apex of Zappa's Jazz/Rock experimentations... !
Hit: 5 Stars
Zappa was a man who refused to be pigeonholed... just when you'd find him go in one direction, he'd go in a totally other, and most of his fans were more than willing to follow.
Of Zappa's early/mid-70's Jazz/Rock experimentations this album is unique in that its not just the Mother's stretched out and playing Jazzy, but an actual arranged and scored big band - - a format that he'd return to on his last tour. - - The band is brassy, at times even happy and bouncy - - and of course, includes some of the trademark Zappa'isms (the forays into sillyness and absurdity) that you'd expect... and though the album doesn't have the upfront vocal satire present on APOSTROPHE and OVERNIGHT SENSATION, it is definitely a product of that era.
Key things to listen for: great solos from the entire band and a really tight rhythm section... when the band grooves, they really get down and funky... as you listen to the solos you can't help but get into it, even as the band goes in directions that only Zappa could go... Fans of "Electric Miles" and Sun Ra might even appreciate it, though there's one catch - - typical to Zappa, no matter how complex his music became it was never pretentious or directionless... or in that case predictable.
If you like this album and are new to Zappa, I assume you've already heard APOSTROPHE and OVERNIGHT...
WAKA JAWAKA might be next up (though I like this one better) - - after, HOT RATS and ROXY are probably the next stops to take... though you'll probably also enjoy the recordings from his latter BROADWAY THE HARD WAY TOUR including MAKE A JAZZ NOISE HERE.
Free Music Review: One of the Best Jazz Fusion Albums of All 5 Stars
Simply put: THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST JAZZ FUSION ALBUMS EVER. Any fan of jazz or jazz-rock will undoubtedly love this album. I own many be-bop jazz, jazz-fusion, and funk/jazz albums but never have I heard such amazing and complex compositions as on The Grand Wazoo. "The Grand Wazoo" could possibly be the best jazz-fusion song ever written, complete with big band sounding horn arrangements, funky guitar riffs, and extended trumpet and sax solos all within the same song."For Calvin and his Next Two Hitch-hikers" and "Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus" retain the sound of some of Frank Zappa's more experimental early stuff, i.e. "We're Only In it For the Money" and "Absolutely Free", while still incorporating experimental, big band, and free jazz in the songs.
"Eat That Question" is the greatest riff I've ever heard in my life, along wtih some amazing guitar and keyboard work. It really has to be heard to be believed.
And Zappa finishes off the album with some straightforward, and surprisingly, normal jazz with "Blessed Relief". Although it is less experimental than the other tunes, it is still one of the best on the album.
Overall, Frank Zappa truly broke through with a jazz masterpiece with "The Grand Wazoo", and if you buy this album, you certainly will not be disappointed. It is the most breathtakingly amazing and stunning jazz fusion album of all time. Hear it as soon as you can.
Free Music Review: Eat That Question
Hit: 5 Stars
I can't think about this album without remembering the intermission while watching the tour. Needing bodily relief, I braved the men's room and when I finally got my chance at the stall, moaned: "Blessed Relief" (one of the album's song titles). Immediately, the fellow standing next to me exclaimed: "Eat that Question!" (another song title from the album) and the whole place erupted in laughter. Frank may not have had the largest following, but we were serious fans and we still are. This disc is amazing from many viewpoints. It was a step further into fusion for the band, maybe we should call it fusion with a sense of humor. Read the liner notes for clues. Considering when it was recorded, the sound quality is excellent. The entire album is fluid from front to back so it's hard to pick favorite tracks but I guess Cletus Awreetus Awrightus and the title track are my favorite two. This is a great disc to listen to late at night, with the lights low or out. The percussion floats in space, as do the horns. I can still get lost in the cymbals and the overall ambience. It's biggest fault is that it was too short but at the time, Frank kept his LP sides short in order to improve dynamics and reduce crosstalk on vinyl. Too bad he didn't extend this to a 2-LP set.
Essential stuff, don't miss it.
Free Music Review: One Of Zappa's Most Accomplished and Ground-Breaking Works
Hit: 5 Stars
Thirty years after "Grand Wazoo" was released, it remains as much a stunning example of Zappa's uncompromising musical vision now as it did then.
Although it is accurate to say that it continued the Jazz explorations of "Waka Jawaka" or deserves to be compared with "Hot Rats" as one of Frank's most accomplished instrumental albums, this alone does not paint the full picture of what this album has to offer. "Grand Wazoo" is an astonishinng work of melodic inventiveness and orchestration, each of its tunes can leave you breathless with their wealth of ideas and ironic genius.
Zappa, as praised as he has been, remains deserving of further acknowledgement. What do I mean? This guy belongs to a very small and selected group of American composers without whom it would be literally impossible to think of American music, period.
Zappa -like Aaron Copland, Duke Ellington or Miles Davis, to name a few- in their own ways, were ... are! ... artists who transformed the musical genres they cultivated, and made them something they have never been before.
In Zappa's case, the amazing satirist he was or the tremedous guitar player he could be, often, overshadowed the seminal composer and arranger he's always been. This album does the latter complete and unarguable justice.