Zappa Plays Zappa

Dweezil Zappa plays flawlessly-more so than Frank.  His improvisational acumen allows him to add artfully to his errorless covers of his father’s old material.

My son, my friends, and I saw this show at my urging last night at the Dodge Theater downtown.  The crowd seemed a cross section of Zappa aficionados.  Many of them did not know the material as well as some of us old time Mothers fans and sat in awe through much of the show.  The virtuoso performances of all the musicians blew us away.  Some couples brought their young children which seems a very wise thing to do.  None of them I saw seemed to get upset or cry.

We thrilled at the neoclassical avant garde stuff I had heard so many times before.  Good licks remain good licks when played flawlessly with feeling.  Feeling.  Dweezil has feeling.  My business partner in the record company, an accomplished musician and talented producer himself left the show inspired and in awe.  He did the same after we left last year’s show.

Willie the Pimp, a song from Hot Rats, blew me away.  Ray White tours as the special guest with the band and the repertoire of songs he performs on come mostly from his era with the Mothers.  He can still sing like a bird and completely blew me away.

All young musicians will do well to attend these performances.