CDOTD 4/11/2023

 Frank Zappa: The Yellow Shark (Barking Pumpkin)

I don't remember where I bought this, probably Paul's CDs

Water Shed 5tet spent a week on the east coast in December 1993 that was tough and more than a little frustrating. We didn't travel for gigs often, and this was the first time we were away for more than three days. Some of it was definitely fun, but we had a gig in Boston canceled shortly before we left, and we played in a university room for no money.

The last gig was at the legendary Knitting Factory on Houston. It was at the time a hotbed of creative activity. The place itself was amazingly modest, a bar downstairs and a room upstairs to play, not very big at all.

If I remember correctly, we were staying in Long Island, a rather long drive from the gig. We were on a three band bill, and because we showed up last on site, we went on last. It was a Sunday, and we went on after midnight two possibly ten people. I don't remember the other groups, other than Tom Cora being in the group before us. The room sounded amazing, acoustically one of the best spaces I've ever played. 

I don't remember the gig being especially good, compounded by a lukewarm-at-best response. When we were stuck in traffic (at 1am on a Sunday?) the news came over the radio that Frank Zappa had died days before, his death unannounced publicly and that he had been buried that day.

As if we weren't all tired already, that cemented the feeling that we all just wanted to go home.

Here's the last disc Frank released prior to his passing. I think I bought it after returning from that trip east. I'd been unenthusiastic and skeptical of most of his recordings for the fifteen years that preceded this. I always liked the instrumentals and had the Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar box, even though even that can be tiresome after an LP's worth. 

I was sold on that this wasn't a project for one of his rock bands. I found them boring after the Napoleon Murphy Brock era, which ended in 1975 more-or-less. But I did like some of his orchestral music. 

Frank was not only a workaholic's workaholic, he demanded absolute perfection as much as humanly possible. In fact, even inhumanly possible, one of the things that attracted him to the Synclavier. "Why not have a perfect performance?" is something he was quoted as saying (or at least close to that).

For me, that's not necessarily where the music lives. Yes, I want a good performance, but I'll forgive smaller mistakes in favor of a kick-butt reading (which in my case always involves some degree of improvisation). 

Ensemble Modern took on Frank's very difficult music and plays with gusto. I'd say from the look of the photos included in the booklet, they were largely young and dedicated. Hungry. 

I thought of this because I read recently that Tom Waits considered it one of his favorite albums (from a list made in 2005). Yeah, maybe it was time to spin it again.

The program included both newer works and some familiar pieces, such as "Be-bop Tango" "Uncle Meat" and "Pound for a Brown". 

Unless I just haven't read the right sources, Frank was noticeably tight-lipped when it came to his methods. It's come increasingly to my attention the degree to which he used compositional methods, even if some of that methodology was of his own devising. It's more than I might have thought. 

He always spoke of his admiration for Varèse, though Stravinsky casts at least as wide a shadow over this music. I'm sure he would have both acknowledged Stravinsky's importance, but also admonished me for lazy descriptions and not giving him adequate credit as an original artist. But hey, I'm not a professional writer if you haven't already been able to tell. 

As with any music that is min-numbingly complex, I sometimes question if it needed to be as difficult as it is. Something that separates Frank from people such as the "new complexity" artists (whose works are by and large far more difficult to play properly) is Frank's adherence to melody. Not all of the time mind you, but melody is never too far off, if sometimes hidden or obscured.

There have been other Ensemble Modern recordings, but this is the best one, the most interesting, the most lively. 

When I consider the thirty (!!!) years since Frank's death, I sometimes wonder what he'd have to say. He could be pompous, but he always had strong opinions and was very good at articulating them. He used to occasionally appear on the Dick Cavett Show when I was a teenager, and my father thought Frank was every bit as smart and interesting as any other guest on the show.

JG Ballard is another person who's left us, another person whose opinion always interested me. When I think of Obama, Trump, QAnon, Facebook, Twitter, Elon Musk, I sometimes think, what would Zappa Say? What would Ballard say? I miss them for that.