| Dweezil pores over Zappa family album [message #290908] |
Mo, 26 Juni 2006 13:47 |
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June 26, 2006
POP MUSIC REVIEW
Dweezil pores over Zappa family album
*Frank's son does his late dad proud in a leisurely retrospective
carefully culled from FZ's eclectic songbook.
By Richard Cromelin, Times Staff Writer
http://www.calendarlive.com/music/cl-et-zappa26jun26,0,28545 89.story
"Dad, can I borrow the body of work tonight?"
That, in a phrase, is the premise of Zappa plays Zappa, a concert
enterprise in which Dweezil Zappa leads a band playing the music
of his illustrious father, Frank Zappa. Though other associates
have presented their versions of the curmudgeonly composer's
work, this is billed as the first time it's been played live in
its original form since his death from cancer in 1993.
Dweezil brought it to the Zappa clan's hometown Friday with a
nearly three-hour show at the Wiltern LG. It didn't cover the
entire Frank spectrum, and the pacing and performance itself were
uneven, but the sentiment and spirit of the evening ultimately
prevailed.
From Queen with Paul Rodgers to INXS with whoever, these
exercises in rock reanimation inevitably have a void at the core,
so it was wise to approach him from a compositional standpoint —
that is, just play the notes and don't try to re-create the
experience of a vintage Zappa show, with its sensory overload and
the patriarch's scowling charisma.
That worked especially well on such pieces as "Let's Make the
Water Turn Black," a sweeping piece of big-band rock that sounded
like avant-garde Broadway music. Guitarist Dweezil and his seven
musicians were tight and spirited, spearheaded by Zappa alumnus
Napoleon Murphy Brock, a soulful singer and strong stage presence.
There were many distinct phases and stages in the protean
musician's four-decade output, from doo-wop to neoclassical to
jazz fusion. But Friday's tribute focused on the accessible (in a
challenging way) rock of his 1970s albums such as "Apostrophe"
and "Over-Nite Sensation."
The show lost its focus when it fell into the hands of two other
Zappa vets, Terry Bozzio (who couldn't play drums because of an
arm injury but sang for a long, long time and then played drums
anyway) and guitar hero Steve Vai, whose showy displays of
technique were cheered heartily by a large contingent of
guitar-geeks in the house.
Frank Zappa is hardly unrecognized or underrated, but it's nice
to have his music taken off the shelves and put back into
circulation. It also brings some purpose to the somewhat
meandering career of his oldest child, who put himself through an
intensive relearning regimen to play this music.
At the end, Dweezil played "Chunga's Revenge" along with a film
of his father, in the manner made famous by Natalie and Nat King
Cole, and if it wasn't quite unforgettable, it was memorable enough.
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| Re: Dweezil pores over Zappa family album [message #291777 ] |
Mo, 26 Juni 2006 22:03 |
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I really hope Terry Ted's arm heals up OK. Saw the SF ZpZ show and,
having seen Terry with Frank in 76 and 77, not to mention with Jeff
Beck in 88 I think, I was really looking forward to his incredible
energy behind the kit. At least he didn't drop out of the show
altogether, and once he got up there, he did get off a mild insult at
the denizens of San Francisco and Marin counties, to bring back a
little FZ "let's insult the audience" aroma.
We were seated in the balcony and from previous reports I had feared
bad sound mix or too loud, but being pretty near the mixing desk we had
great sound. Didn't require earplugs or result in any ringing.
Perhaps that means that right in front of the stage it's a bit loud.
Having read everything about the previous shows, the element of
surprise was lacking, but I thought the performances were great. Do
indeed hope it comes back by some day.
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