Frank Zappa’s tunes live on through his son
Published 11:07 am Thursday, November 15, 2007
Recipe for success: Select from 40 years of Frank Zappa music, front a band with his son, Dweezil, and hire several talented and experienced musicians.
It’s a formula that works for Zappa Plays Zappa, performing Monday in Seattle. The band is reaching out to the next generation with a blend of classic rock, funk-jazz and improvisational songs.
Frank Zappa could write comical lyrics, often commenting on politics and culture, but he always pushed the boundaries of rock ‘n’ roll. He died of prostrate cancer at age 52 in 1993.
With so much to choose from, including the classic “Peaches En Regalia,” “Watermelon in Easter Hay” and “Black Napkins,” three of guitarist Dweezil’s favorites, the frontman selects classics and mines the obscure from “Uncle Remus” to “The Illinois Enema Bandit.”
Dweezil Zappa also appeared in a few films, composed music for “The Ben Stiller Show” and “The Jamie Kennedy Experiment,” and has been an MTV VJ. A few years ago, he started to focus on his father’s songs and created the revival show, smartly including Ray White, the only band member who toured with Frank Zappa.
His musicians are schooled in music and talented, including multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Scheila Gonzalez, who has played with Lionel Hampton, Diane Schuur, Nancy Wilson and Billy Davis; backed up Garth Brooks; and played with Sheila E. supporting Best Hip-Hop Artist nominee T.I. on the BET Music Awards.
Also on the stage will be bassist Pete Griffin (Hanson), percussionist Billy Hulting (who has toured with Maynard Ferguson, Natalie Cole, Patti Labelle and Manhattan Transfer), guitarist Jamie Kime (Jewel and Michelle Branch), and drummer Joe Travers (Duran Duran, Billy Idol and Lisa Loeb).
Allison Preisinger: Promoting her recently released “Moving On, Moving Forward,” Arlington’s Preisinger offers guitar, piano, vocals, foot-tapping beats and passionate delivery on a tour through the Northwest.
Cassandra Robertson: The singer-songwriter dubs her music as acoustic-conscious folk. Her original songs take a look at the unlimited potential of the human spirit while also dealing with quantum physics, organic gardening and community activism.
Band of Horses: The band’s waves-of-sound orchestral rock arrives with a twist. Asheville finger-picking folk-country bluesman Tyler Ramsey encountered the band at a jam session on a beach and was asked to open for the group’s fall tour. The next day, the award-winning instrumentalist joined the band as a full-time player.
Gov’t Mule: The band started as a side project for a few musicians in the Allman Brothers, who created an Allman-influenced band heavy on the bluesy psychedelic power, playing big full riffs and improv. Mule’s latest is the big rock-improv sound of “High &Mighty.”
Alice Stuart: The female-rock pioneer is rolling with songs from “Freedom” and a repertoire of blues, folk and rock. “Freedom” is represented in four categories in the first round of nominations for the 2008 Grammy Awards. Stuart recently returned from opening several dates for The Roches. Stuart also has been chosen to compete in January’s International Blues Challenge in Memphis.
Out and about: Memphis troubadour Cory Branan joins Seattle’s Tim Seeley (today, Tractor Tavern), armed with praised albums but suffering from lack of promotion … A heavy dose of Taj Mahal celebrates the turkey season (today through Sunday, Tuesday-Wednesday, and Nov. 23-25, Jazz Alley) … K.I.A. has been traveling around the world gathering a new bag of musical influences for her songwriting and beats (today, Showbox SoDo) … The hard-touring Ryan Montbleau Band comes out of Boston with a set list of familiar influences: Americana, folk, blues and ragtime, delivered in the frontman’s distinctive voice (Saturday, High Dive, Seattle) … The band Travis has come through some down times but roars back with its fifth album, “The Boy with No Name” (Saturday, Moore) … Black-hole dense metal band Gwar disrupts the night (Saturday, Showbox SoDo).
