Label: Bizarre/Reprise // Zappa Records/Ume (reissue for the album’s 50th anniversary)
Reissue date: 16. 12. 2022 (for the 50th anniversary of the album’s original release)
Original release date: 27. 11. 1972
Produced by: Frank Zappa
2022 mix: Ahmet Zappa & Joe Travers
Album length: 37.00 min
Genre: Jazz Rock Fusion / Progressive Rock
Rating: 10/10
“The Grand Wazoo” was, true to its name, a big album, if not one of the most majestic gems of Frank’s entire career, which, considering how varied that career was, is no small feat. Like its equally brilliant predecessor “Waka/Jawaka” (1972), with which it has a lot in common, it carried on Frank’s (temporary) return to the wonderful world of jazz rock fusion, which he had so superbly mapped out with his legendary album “Hot Rats” (1969), for many fans of his music even the peak of his career. “The Grand Wazoo” was also made while Frank was recovering in the studio after some pathologically jealous vandal pushed him off the stage at a show in the middle of a tour in 1971. In many ways Frank stuck to the successful musical recipe he’d used on “Waka/Jawaka” here too, only this time he took one more step forward in exploring the endless boundaries of jazz rock fusion and in his songwriting chops. If “Waka/Jawaka” still had room for a few blues, funk and hard rock moments in between, “The Grand Wazoo” is his most polished and consistent album when it comes to the superb use of witty jazz woodwind and brass arrangements, which Frank arranged in such a way that they blend almost perfectly with his distinctive guitar technique and one of the best rhythm sections in rock and jazz at the time.
The horn arrangements got even richer and more distinctive here, since a much larger number of musicians played on this album. This time Frank managed to put together a proper 20-piece jazz fusion big band with a whole bunch of big names in the trade (plus two additional vocalists). Among them, let me single out his longtime collaborators, who once again formed the backbone of the lineup: keyboardists Don Preston and George Duke, drummer Aynsley Dunbar, bassist Erroneous and guitarist Tony Duran. With all of them, most of whom had been with him since the days of The Mothers Of Invention, he had already worked musical wonders on “Waka/Jawaka,” so it was a perfectly logical move to carry on with the same crew right where he’d left off. These masters of their instruments were joined by an expanded horn section. All we can do is guess why the label Ryko credited this album to Frank and his backing band The Mothers together. Sure, a few of the aforementioned Mothers members played on it, but this was a completely standalone album that also featured plenty of other, new musicians.
On top of that, “The Grand Wazoo” was yet another of Frank’s many concept albums (of the songs on the album, only “For Calvin” doesn’t tie into the concept). Since his concept albums were usually also his best work, that fact alone guaranteed it cult status. Frank once again carried on his tradition of comical and utterly grotesque concepts, which (almost without exception) carried a sharp sting of social satire. This time the story revolves around a musical clash between two imaginary ancient civilizations (the event is also depicted on the witty cover). And early in the story, an old acquaintance of all Frank fans shows up as a side character: the mad scientist named Uncle Meat. Frank first introduced him as the main villain in the concept of the self-titled double album from 1969. This time Uncle Meat (his real name is revealed here as Stu) came up with a new way to prove his immense genius to an ungrateful world. In his laboratory in the middle of the desert, he managed to create a kind of replica, or hologram, of a made-up ancient civilization. At the press of a certain button on his impossible contraptions, it appeared just a stone’s throw from where Stu’s laboratory stood.
The ruler of this artificially created civilization is Cletus Awreetus, also known as the funky emperor. Cletus has a vast army made up entirely of unemployed musicians. His army rules the imaginary city in the rare moments of respite, when it isn’t fighting its equally artificial arch-enemy, Mediocrates of Pedestrium. Mediocrates also has a huge army of unemployed musicians. The two armies clash every week on Mondays. The final result of the duel is always posted on bulletin boards, decorated aqueducts and stone tablets. Like any true ruler of a great empire, Cletus has plenty of additional problems. In his case, social unrest comes first. A grotesque cult of masochistic ascetics who hate music has started plotting against the ruler in the catacombs beneath Cletus’s sauna. Cletus addresses these conspirators as “questions.” He deals with them the way any ancient ruler of his caliber would. After rounding up the conspirators, he throws a special festival, attended by the whole city rabble hungry for bread and circuses. There he brings the conspirators into a special arena, where he addresses them through a gigantic loudspeaker called The Grand Wazoo. The emperor asks them if any of them can sing, dance or play any instrument. The rare few who raise their hands and show at least some sign of talent are admitted into his army (which is really a big band).
The less talented are forced into hard labor in various run-down nightclubs/strip clubs, where, if they work hard, the club owner starts training them for Cletus’s army. Prisoners who don’t answer right away get one more chance, when a scantily clad young woman approaches them with a special instrument made of spoons. If they show at least some natural rhythm to its sounds, they’re released and sent off to Nashville. The incorrigible ones are punished by having Cletus’s personal orchestra play them a special suite, whose ultrasound makes the glass of a huge tank of corrosive chemical mixture shatter. Once this dangerous mixture floods the rest of the convicts, the festival is over. After this ritual, Cletus heads off in high spirits to dinner, where he dines with his loyal servants. During the meal he’s surprised by news of an invasion by Mediocrates’s army. The two armies of musicians clash dramatically, and Cletus comes out of the duel as the winner. And so, over and over, goes every day in the imaginary civilization created by the sinister Uncle Meat. As is typical of quite a few of Frank’s concepts, this one too, through the clash of two made-up civilizations, represents a symbolic settling of scores between musicians and the music industry. The individual compositions (instrumentals dominate this time too) tie in nicely through their structure with most of the names from the concept. That said, you can enjoy the album perfectly well without knowing anything about this jokey concept, especially since it’s a mostly instrumental affair.
The album opens with the majestic, more than 13-minute title instrumental “The Grand Wazoo.” In many ways it’s a stylistic continuation of the title track from “Waka/Jawaka,” although in mood it’s much better suited to music that could turn up in some comedy set in Roman times (fitting the concept mentioned above) than in spaghetti westerns, which is what “Waka/Jawaka” was going for. This excellent composition immediately gives off that recognizable, unmistakable Frank comic spirit, with each of the horn arrangements crafted in a thoroughly specific, witty way. The lively big band horn section is front and center in the production, but it complements Frank’s guitar antics and the extremely dynamic rhythm section brilliantly. The individual motifs sound very relaxed and funny, especially the trumpet solos, which often sound like someone at the back of a big concert hall is mocking and making fun of the listeners the whole time. As is the tradition with every decent big band, most of the instrumentalists get their own solo spot here too, and once again the one who stood out was none other than Frank on his guitar, who played the opening solo. The closing guitar solo was contributed by his sidekick Tony Duran. Rich horn arrangements, funky guitar passages and witty, totally unpredictable rhythmic transitions and solo tricks guarantee the listener fun for ages after the first listen, which is a trait of all top-notch jazz rock fusion compositions, not just the ones created by this musical genius.
The next piece, “For Calvin (And His Next Two Hitch-hikers),” the only one with no tie to the concept, calms the mood down a bit, much like “Your Mouth” did on “Waka/Jawaka.” Since this time it’s not a blues-leaning piece but an interesting hybrid of jazz rock fusion and avant-garde, Frank got far more room to build a chaotic, improv-spiced middle section (one of the improvisations was later reused, in a slightly altered form, on the fun grotesque “The Adventures Of Greggery Peccary” from the album “Studio Tan” (1978). After the onslaught of the opening composition, this one was rhythmically much slower. It’s also the only vocal piece on the album, featuring female vocals by Janet Neville-Ferguson and backing vocals by Sal Marquez. Fergie had already shown off her comical way of singing on “It Might Just Be a One-Shot Deal” from “Waka/Jawaka.” This time she delivers a bizarre lyric about dead hitchhikers.
“Cletus Awreetus Awrightus” is another extremely witty and relaxing piece, somewhat kindred in spirit to the classic “Peaches En Regalia” from “Hot Rats.” This one too features an utterly burlesque horn section and plenty of scattered guitar and piano passages. There’s also a fun “lounge” solo from Duke on electric piano, which, through the horn section’s entrance, a bouncy rhythm and a guitar solo, shifts into a melody that could just as well be in some Benny Hill show. Adding to the comic atmosphere is Frank’s “param-pampam” vocal accompaniment, which can still get most listeners’ abs working with ease today. It’s no exaggeration to say that, out of Frank’s incredibly rich treasury of comic compositions, this was surely one of the funniest, one you could file under a whole new genre: comedy jazz.
The remaining two compositions are a bit closer to traditional jazz rock fusion, built around synthesizer sounds and guitar passages, although once again there’s no shortage of Frank’s trademark burlesque quirks in their structures. The first of the two, “Eat That Question,” is a magnificent composition that could easily be called one of Frank’s classics. What makes it so superb is above all the excellent opening synth solo performance by keyboardist George Duke, surely one of the best of his career. There’s also no shortage of Frank’s exquisite guitar passages in between, which effectively accompany Duke’s contribution. Among them is an excellent guitar solo that brings back the composition’s central theme. The piece wraps up with witty woodwind and brass sections that add to the final comic effect before the fade-out.
The closing treat “Blessed Relief,” whose melancholic and relaxed mood beautifully radiates a feeling of total bliss and the absence of all problems, was for several years one of the most beautiful and most “serious” (it evokes no comic feelings whatsoever) compositions Frank ever created. Its main appeal lies in the soothing rhythm and gentle, melodic passages on trumpet, electric piano and guitar. After Duke’s elegant electric piano solo comes Frank’s lively, totally unique guitar solo, through which the central theme eventually returns. This is one of those compositions worth spinning every time after a hard day, when you sit down on the couch, push a glass of lemonade into your hand and relax completely. Even Frank would have had trouble coming up with a better album closer: beauty, elegance, exceptional feel and superb technical chops fusing into a perfect fairy tale.
“The Grand Wazoo” was without a doubt one of the peaks of Frank’s incredibly rich career and the last of his three jazz rock fusion masterpieces. Unlike “Waka/Jawaka,” where he mainly made plenty of room to show off his guitar talent, here, through working with his own jazz big band, he also made a name for himself as a brilliant composer and musical arranger. He never again repeated such a perfect fusion of the best elements of jazz rock fusion with his own specific, often comical arranging skills, even though he recorded a few more albums with smaller lineups that contained various elements of jazz rock fusion. For a versatile artist without limits, who never spent any longer stretch of his career circling a single musical genre, the next logical step was to (once again) abandon jazz rock fusion and take on other musical challenges, which, through both music and lyrics, often shocked narrow-minded listeners and the conservative part of the Western world. So in the following years Frank, of course again only for a short time, revived his legendary lineup The Mothers and sailed into more hard rock-and-avant-garde waters.
Author: Peter “Dr. ProgRock” Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
Side A:
1. For Calvin (and His Next Two Hitch-Hikers) (6:06)
2. The Grand Wazoo (13:20)
Side B:
3. Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus (2:57)
4. Eat That Question (6:42)
5. Blessed Relief (8:00)
Lineup:
Frank Zappa – guitars, vocals (3), percussion (4)
Guest musicians:
Janet Neville-Ferguson – vocals (1,2)
Ilene Rappaport (‘Chunky’) – vocals (3)
Tony Duran – guitar (1,2) & rhythm guitar (5)
Don Preston – Minimoog (1,2)
George Duke – keyboards (3-5), vocals (3)
Sal Marquez – trumpet & vocals (1,2)
Bill Byers – trombone (1,2)
Ken Shroyer – trombone (1,2,3)
Malcolm McNabb – brass (1,2)
Ernie Tack – brass (1,2)
Ernie Watts – sax solo (3)
Mike Altschul – woodwinds (1,2)
Joel Peskin – woodwinds (1,2)
Earl Dumler – woodwinds (1,2)
Tony Ortega – woodwinds (1,2)
Joanne Caldwell McNabb – woodwinds (1,2)
Johnny Rotella – woodwinds (1,2)
Fred Jackson – woodwinds (1,2)
Alex Dmochowski (‘Erroneous’) – bass guitar
Aynsley Dunbar – drums
Alan Estes – percussion (1,2)
Bob Zimmitti – percussion (1,2)
Lee Clement – gong (4)
