One word...stunning.
Let's face it, you either 'get' the music of Frank Zappa, or you don't. For those who appreciated the man's genius, there's been a void in the music world since he died of cancer in 1993. Thankfully, in 2006, Frank's oldest son Dweezil decided to put together Zappa Plays Zappa, as a way to pay tribute to the music of his late father, and over the last few years has taken this act out on the road to plenty of positive acclaim from fans and critics alike.
For the DVD set here, filmed in 2008, Dweezil (guitar, vocals) is joined by Joe Travers (drums, vocals), Pete Griffin (bass, vocals), Jamie Kime (guitar, vocals), Aaron Arntz (keyboards, trumpet, vocals), Scheila Gonzales (sax, flute, keyboards, vocals), and Billy Hulting (mallets, percussion, vocals). Throw in guest appearances by former Frank Zappa bandmates, Steve Vai, Terry Bozzio, and Napoleon Murphy Brock, and you can bet that plenty of classic Zappa material is going to be covered here.
The video and audio is stellar throughout, as the camera & sound crew capture every intricate nuance of songs such as "Inca Roads", "Florentine Pogen", "Black Page", "Black Napkins", "Sofa", and of course "Peaches En Regalia". There's a great mix of the challenging, jazz-fusion material with the more humorous political/social themed era Zappa compositions on display, which is just perfect for those who followed Frank throughout his long career. All the musicians assembled are virtuosos in their own right, and do these songs justice, especially Dweezil, who is afforded plenty of solo spots in which to recreate those classic Frank Zappa guitar solos, even playing them on vintage Gibson SG and Fender Stratocaster guitars to make sure he has the tone down right.
There's so much material here, and the playing is quite remarkable throughout, that one can only hope that Dweezil continues to make this a reality for many years to come. Considering the wealth of material available, that shouldn't be hard to do as long as the desire is there from both the Zappa family and the fanbase.
Track Listing
Disc 1
01 Andy
02 Call Any Vegetable
03 Tell Me You Love Me
04 Florentine Pogen
05 Cosmik Debris
06 I'm The Slime
07 Pound For A Brown
08 Don't Eat The Yellow Snow
09 St. Alfanzoss Pancake Breakfast
10 Father O'Blivion
11 Inca Roads
12 Eat The Question
13 I'm So Cute
14 Tryin' To Grow A Chin
15 Punky's Whips
Disc 2
01 Black Page #1
02 Black Page #2
03 Regyptian Strut
04 Peaches En Regalia
05 Montana
06 Village Of The Sun
07 Echidna's Arf (Of You)
08 Zomby Woof
09 Black Napkins
10 The Torture Never Stops
11 Oh No
12 Son Of Orange County
13 Trouble Every Day
14 Sofa
15 Cheepnis* (*Bonus Track)
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