| LearnJazzPiano.com archives: Frank Zappa | |
| Ole -- 08/08/2006, 13:31:44 -- #29185 | |
| I have heard a lot of great stuff about Frank Zappas music. Do you have any recommandations on some good albums to start with? | |
| Scot -- 08/08/2006, 13:43:20 -- #29185 | |
| I recall seeing a Zappa concert in Hong Kong and the only people there were my band (and myself), and one other table. Zappa said, "Do you want us to play music or serve your dinners?" We decided he and his band could do both :) | |
| jmkarns -- 08/08/2006, 14:34:50 -- #29185 | |
| Frank was one of the first "Indie" recording artists, and according to him, that was when he actually started making money. | |
| sid -- 08/09/2006, 04:07:00 -- #29185 | |
| There's so much good Zappa that would satisfy anyone of a jazz disposition. One that is simultaneously hilarious and a terrifying display of live musicianship is "Roxy and elsewhere". Being a Brit, I of course also like "Hot rats" (features Beefheart, enough said) - I say "of course" because Zappa, who hated the Brits since an idiot attacked him onstage in London and put him in a wheelchair, could never fathom why it was his biggest-selling album in the UK. In his own words "sheesh, those guys". sid | |
| 7 -- 08/10/2006, 12:25:52 -- #29185 | |
| I was present at Zappa's Los Angeles concert that resulted in the album "Just Another Band from L.A.". This featured the guys from the Turtles (later called "Flo and Eddy") the same two that were in the Zappa movie "200 Motels". Not that I would suggest that "Just Another Band from L.A." is a good album of Zappa's to pull stuff off of, but the show was really funny - too bad they didn't film it. Zappa's "Peaches en Regalia" made it into the Real Book, maybe it would be a good idea to find the original recording of that one. | |
| sid -- 08/10/2006, 12:53:39 -- #29185 | |
| "Peaches" is from "Hot rats". So is "It must be a camel", which I once arranged for a big band - a huge, amazing noise. sid | |
| shteker -- 08/13/2006, 04:30:28 -- #29185 | |
| "Make a Jazz Noise Here" is nice as well. | |
| cazort -- 08/24/2006, 19:57:10 -- #29185 | |
| I love all the songs on "Hot rats"...that's one of my fav's. Zappa's music is extraordinarily diverse. He has tons of albums and they range from slightly perverse classic rock, to jazz, to modern classical, to even atonal rock music and strange stuff that defies categorization. Whatever you do, don't limit yourself to one album! Try to check out several different albums from different time periods! You also might want to check out the Meridian Arts Ensemble--they're a brass quintet that has played and arranged a lot of Zappa's music, and they tend to bring out the jazz element in it. | |
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