Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Zappa, Frank
Label: Rykodisc Records
Release: 1972
Rating: 5/5
“The Grand Wazoo” was, true to its name, a grand album, if not one of the most majestic pearls of Frank’s entire career, which, given how varied that career is, is no small feat. Just like its no less splendid predecessor “Waka/Jawaka” (1972), with which it shares a lot, it carried on stylistically with Frank’s (temporary) return to the wonderful world of jazz rock fusion, which he had mapped out so brilliantly on his legendary album “Hot Rats” (1969), considered by many fans of his music to be 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 the 1971 tour. In many ways Frank stuck to the successful musical recipe he’d used on “Waka/Jawaka”, only here he took one more step forward in exploring the endless boundaries of jazz rock fusion and in his composing skills. If on “Waka/Jawaka” he still allowed himself 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 wrote in such a way that they blended almost perfectly with his distinctive guitar technique and one of the best rhythm sections in the rock and jazz of the day.
The woodwind arrangements got even richer and more pronounced here, since a considerably larger number of musicians played on this album. This time Frank managed to put together a proper 20-piece jazz fusion big band, packed with big names of the craft (plus two extra 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 having been with him since the days of The Mothers Of Invention, he had already worked musical wonders on “Waka/Jawaka”, so it was only logical to continue with the same crew where he’d left off. These masters of their instruments were joined by an expanded horn section. One can only guess why the label Ryko credited this album as a joint effort of Frank and his backing band The Mothers. Sure, a few of the previously mentioned 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). Considering that concept albums were usually his best work too, that fact alone secured 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 (this event is also depicted on the witty cover). At the start of the story, an old acquaintance of all Frank fans shows up as a side character too: the mad scientist called Uncle Meat. Frank first introduced him as the main villain in the concept of the self-titled double album from 1969. This time around, Uncle Meat (his real name is revealed here as Stu) got a new idea in his secret laboratory for proving his boundless genius to an ungrateful world. In his lab in the middle of the desert, he managed to create a sort of replica, or hologram, of an imaginary ancient civilization. At the press of a certain button on his impossible contraptions, it appeared just a few stone’s throws from the spot 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 times of rest, 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 proper ruler of a great empire, Cletus has plenty of other 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 calls these conspirators “the questions”. He deals with them the way any ancient ruler of his caliber would. After capturing 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 giant loudspeaker called The Grand Wazoo. The emperor asks whether any of them can sing, dance or play any instrument. The rare ones who raise a hand and show at least some sign of talent are admitted to his army (which is really a big band).
The less talented are forced into labor in assorted rundown nightclubs and strip joints, where, if they behave, the club owner starts training them for Cletus’s army. The prisoners who don’t answer right away get another 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 a special suite whose ultrasound makes the glass of a huge tank of corrosive chemical mixture shatter. Once that dangerous mixture floods the remaining convicts, the festival is over. After this ritual, Cletus heads off in good spirits to dinner, dining with his loyal servants. In the middle of the meal, he’s surprised by news of an incursion by Mediocrates’s army. The two armies of musicians clash dramatically, and Cletus comes out of the duel the winner. And so, over and over, every day goes by 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 showdown between musicians and the music industry. The individual compositions (once again mostly instrumentals) tie in nicely through their structure with most of the names from that concept. That said, you can enjoy the album perfectly well without knowing anything about this jokey concept, especially since it’s a predominantly instrumental affair.
The album opens with the majestic, 13-plus-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 far better suited to music that could turn up in some comedy set in Roman times (fitting the aforementioned concept) than in spaghetti westerns, which is what goes for “Waka/Jawaka”. On this superb composition you immediately feel that unmistakable Frank comic spirit, with every one of the woodwind arrangements crafted in an utterly specific, witty way. The big band’s lively horn section is front and center in the production, but it complements Frank’s guitar acrobatics and the exceptionally dynamic rhythm section brilliantly. The individual motifs sound very relaxed and witty, especially the trumpet solos, which often sound like someone in the back of a big concert hall is mocking and making fools of the listeners the whole time. As is the tradition of all honest big bands, most of the instrumentalists get their own solo spot here, 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. The rich woodwind 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 link to the concept, calms the mood down a bit, much like “Your Mouth” did on “Waka/Jawaka”. Since this time it isn’t a blues-leaning piece but an interesting hybrid of jazz rock fusion and avant-garde, Frank got a lot more room to build a chaotic, improv-spiced middle section (one of the improvisations was later reused, in slightly altered form, on the funny grotesque “The Adventures Of Greggery Peccary” from the album “Studio Tan” (1978). After the onslaught of the opener, this one was rhythmically much slower. It’s also the only vocal piece on the album, featuring the female vocals of Janet Neville-Ferguson and backing vocals by Sal Marquez. Fergie had already shown off her comical singing style on “It Might Just Be a One-Shot Deal” from “Waka/Jawaka”. This time she delivers bizarre lyrics about dead hitch-hikers.
“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 also features a thoroughly burlesque horn section and plenty of scattered guitar and piano passages. There’s also a fun “lounge” solo from Duke on electric piano, which, via the entrance of the horn section, a bouncy rhythm and a guitar solo, shifts into a melody that could have come from some Benny Hill sketch. Adding to the comic atmosphere is Frank’s “param-pampam” vocal accompaniment, which still has most listeners cracking up today. It’s no exaggeration to say that, out of Frank’s incredibly rich treasury of comic compositions, this is certainly one of the funniest, one that could be filed under a whole new genre – comedy jazz.
The remaining two pieces are a bit closer to traditional jazz rock fusion, built around synthesizer sounds and guitar passages, though once again their structures aren’t short on Frank’s trademark burlesque quirks. 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 truly special is above all the superb opening synthesizer solo by keyboardist George Duke, which was surely one of the best of his career. There are also plenty of excellent Frank guitar passages in between, effectively accompanying Duke’s contribution. Among them is a great guitar solo that brings back the main theme of the piece. The composition closes with witty woodwind and brass sections that add to the final comic effect before it fades out.
The closing treat, “Blessed Relief”, which with its melancholic, laid-back 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 stirs up no comic feelings at all) compositions Frank ever created. Its main charm lies in the relaxing rhythm and the gentle, melodic passages on trumpet, electric piano and guitar. After Duke’s elegant electric piano solo comes Frank’s lively, utterly unique guitar solo, through which the main theme gradually returns. This is one of those pieces you should spin every time after a rough day, when you sit down on the couch, put a glass of lemonade in your hand and completely unwind. Even Frank would have a hard time dreaming up a better ending for an album, with beauty, elegance, tremendous feel and great technical chops all coming together in 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 took a lot of room to showcase his guitar talent, here, through working with his very own jazz big band, he shone especially 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 went on to record a few more albums with smaller lineups that contained various elements of jazz rock fusion. For a versatile artist without borders, who never in his career stuck to one musical genre for long, 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. In the years that followed, Frank, again only for a short while of course, revived his legendary lineup The Mothers and sailed into more hard rock-and-avant-garde waters.
Lineup
Frank Zappa – guitar, percussion, vocals
Mike Altschul – woodwinds
Billy Byers – trombone
Chunky (Lauren Wood)– vocals
Lee Clement – percussion
George Duke – keyboards, vocals
Earl Dumler – woodwinds
Aynsley Dunbar – drums
Tony Duran – guitar
Erroneous (Alex Dmochowski) – bass guitar
Alan Estes – percussion
Janet Neville-Ferguson – vocals
Fred Jackson, Jr. – woodwinds
Sal Marquez – bass guitar, trumpet, vocals, brass
Joanne Caldwell McNabb – vocals, brass, woodwinds
Malcolm McNabb – trombone, horn, trumpet
Tony Ortega – woodwinds
Joel Peskin – saxophone, woodwinds
Don Preston – mini moog
Johnny Rotella – woodwinds
Ken Shroyer – trombone, brass
Ernie Tack – brass
Ernie Watts – tenor saxophone, C-melody saxophone (“Mystery Horn”) on the solo for “Cleetus Awreetus Awritus”, woodwinds
Robert Zimmitti – percussion
Production
Frank Zappa
Track Listing
1. The Grand Wazoo (13:20)
2. For Calvin (And His Next Two Hitch-Hikers (6:06)
3. Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus (2:57)
4. Eat That Question (6:42)
5. Blessed Relief (8:00)
Total running time: 37:03
