| The Grand Wazoo | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Frank Zappa | ||||
| Released | December 1972 | |||
| Recorded | Paramount Studios, Hollywood, April – May, 1972 | |||
| Genre | Big band, jazz fusion, progressive rock | |||
| Length | 37:05 | |||
| Label | Bizarre/Reprise | |||
| Producer | Frank Zappa | |||
| Frank Zappa chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| Piero Scaruffi | (7.5/10)[2] |
The Grand Wazoo is a 1972 jazz fusion album by Frank Zappa. Composed and recorded during Zappa's period of convalescence following his assault in London, the album, along with its "twin brother" Waka/Jawaka, represent Zappa's foray into big band fusion, the logical progression from Hot Rats, which used a much smaller lineup. Zappa was also producer and principal composer for Jean-Luc Ponty's album "King Kong" during this period and this album may essentially be the 4th album in Zappa's jazz foray.
The Grand Wazoo was the last release on Zappa's Bizarre Records label.
Contents |
All songs by Frank Zappa.
The original Ryko release(1986) featured the vinyl track running order. The Ryko re-master(1995) has tracks #1 and #2 reversed. All songs by Frank Zappa.
Eat That Question, the 4th track on the album, provides a humorous image of the tendency of free jazz and fusion to deconstruct tempo and harmony in the free interaction of small sounds: "In a burlesque of feeding Christians to the lions (or tiraal leon in Mexican slang), the solution to the problem of Questions (individuals who don't like music) is a literal one: a tank of undifferentiated tissue."[3]
"Eat That Question" features George Duke's piano playing and the recording of the Fender Rhodes electric piano in a novel way. Most recordings of the instrument prior to "Eat That Question" were not of comparable sonic quality or production value as Duke's performance on the piece. Before "Wazoo," two earlier albums of mostly instrumental work were released by Zappa, "Hot Rats" and "Burnt Weeney Sandwich." The album "Waka/Jawaka" followed "Wazoo." The instrumental makeup of "Wazoo" is largely a big band. It was the third album released in a period where Zappa used a wheelchair and was unable to tour after being assaulted and pushed offstage into an orchestra pit during a London concert.
"Eat That Question" is a vehicle for George Duke's electric piano and begins with a rubato intro followed by the entrance of the full rhythm section in time. On this and several other tracks Zappa plays a flat top acoustic/electric guitar using a wah-wah pedal and a Maestro phase shifter or Leslie speaker for a chorale effect. The Barcus-Berry transducer used was at the time a novel way of amplifying the instrument instead of using a traditional magnetic guitar pickup.
In this same period in analog recording the number of tracks available was expanding. Multi-track recording was changing rapidly with "sound on sound" being supplanted by "sound with sound" tape technology. "Hot Rats" had been released a few years prior to "Wazoo" and was recorded on one of the first 16 track tape machines. It featured multiple tracks of clarinets, flutes, saxophones, piano and organ parts played by a single musician, Ian Underwood. At the time of "Grand Wazoo" the compositions were arranged for large ensembles which were conceived as studio recording vehicles, rather than live, touring bands.
The Zappa Plays Zappa (led by Dweezil Zappa) tours since 2006 regularly have featured "Eat That Question," with the song serving as a vehicle for both keyboard and guitar solos. Beginning in 2010, the ZPZ shows also have incorporated "Blessed Relief," usually introduced by Dweezil as an underappreciated Zappa composition.