Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Zappa, Frank
Label: Rykodisc Records
Release: 1972
Rating: 5/5
In 1972, after a disastrous end to a tour and the breakup of his backing band The Mothers (originally The Mothers Of Invention), Frank Zappa, genius composer, guitarist, director, satirist and a whole lot more, started gathering fresh creative energy while sitting in a wheelchair (which took him next to no time compared to most other musicians) and, for a while, turned entirely to studio projects. That tour had ended with some deranged “fan” shoving Frank off the stage mid-show because he’d supposedly thrown a few too many cheeky glances at the guy’s chosen lady. This kind of flirting with the female half of the audience was by no means a random exception in Frank’s live career, if that really was the cause and you can believe some neurotic dimwit who went down in music history in such a lowlife way. The end result of the unfortunate incident was a broken leg and forced confinement to a wheelchair. Frank temporarily gave up both gigs and working with a backing band. In the meantime he hired a personal bodyguard for live shows and pointed his musical attention back toward the jazz rock fusion with which he’d made his name on the masterpiece “Hot Rats” (1969), still considered his best album by most, and the one that cemented his place among the most brilliant composers of the 20th century. When it came to originality, stylistic blending and tearing down the genre borders between classical music, jazz, the avant-garde and rock, all of it at an extraordinarily high technical level and with the obligatory dose of satire in individual compositions, Frank had no equal under the sun, and very likely never will.
“Waka/Jawaka” was Frank’s triumphant return to jazz rock fusion, and a kind of continuation from where “Hot Rats” left off. The typically ironic cover backs that claim up: a sink, with “hot” written on the left tap and, on the right one, not “cold” but “rats”. Clearly Frank, too, liked the idea of symbolically linking this album to its predecessor, his most successful one. The album’s name supposedly comes from a slang term for a particular rhythmic guitar sound that was popular at the time. For this project he once again gathered around him a proper little orchestra of top-notch, diverse musicians, most of whom he’d already worked with successfully. Among them were the excellent jazz keyboardist George Duke, British drumming workaholic Aynsley Dunbar and keyboardist Don Preston, the only member of the original The Mothers Of Invetnion he worked with on this album. New blood came in the form of guitarist Tony Duran, a slide guitar master, bass oddball Erroneous, and a superb horn section led by trumpeter Sal Marquez, saxophonists Mike Altschul and Joel Peskin, and trombonists Ken Shroyer and Bill Byers. The end result was an extremely eclectic blend of jazz rhythms with plenty of complex yet witty guitar passages and stunning horn arrangements in the best tradition of Miles Davis’ “Bitches Brew”-era lineup. The core of the album is the opening and closing jazz rock fusion instrumentals, with two vocal tracks squeezed in between them, witty mixes of blues, funk and hard rock that of course come with satirical, sexually tinged lyrics.
The opening instrumental “Big Swifty” is, for me personally, easily one of the best pieces of Frank’s career and a masterpiece of avant-garde jazz rock fusion. Right at the start of the album we get to marvel at Frank’s immense compositional genius, as he effortlessly fuses seemingly incompatible elements of traditional serious music with elements of popular music, until recently considered inferior by classical or jazz purists, and reworks it, with his trademark comic touch, into a veritable theater of musical absurdity. Even the opening, super playful horn motif brings to mind some Montenegrin brass band in the middle of a village wedding. The abundance of witty horns (especially the French horns) and bells here comes courtesy of the superb Sal Marquez. The Erroneous/Dunbar rhythm section rattles along in the intro with incredible precision and tightness. Meanwhile Frank slips in some interesting guitar improvisations. Duke’s electric piano keeps up the foundation throughout, at times rivaling the mastery of the late Joe Zawinul (Weather Report). Eventually the piece and its heated mood calm down a bit. The middle section is dominated by the sound of the trumpets and Frank’s guitar solos while the rhythmic motifs keep shifting. At one point Tony Duran joins Frank on slide guitar and adds a touch of blues. One of the best moments comes when the guitar solo and trumpet solo intertwine, together creating a lovely “cinematic” motif. What’s most thrilling is that, despite its complexity, the composition keeps its melodic and playful nature and never, not for a second, strays from the sonic continuity set by the opening motif into overly idiosyncratic improvisation. This brilliant piece alone, which I think is the best on the album, is enough to earn the record the title of masterpiece and one of Frank’s finest albums, but what follows is far from shabby either.
Next come two tracks that head into somewhat more “down-to-earth” rock waters, with quite a few sexual allusions in both the lyrics and the titles. On “Your Mouth”, an extremely witty mix of funk, jazz and blues, the lead vocal duty goes to Chris Peterson, who had a rather funk-flavored voice. In the choruses he’s supported superbly by female vocal harmonies and a powerful horn section. The lyrics are classic Frank, a bawdy satire on loosened-up relations between the sexes, in the spirit and nature of the classic “Broken Hearts Are For Assholes”. Although it doesn’t offer any of Frank’s artistic peaks, it’s a thoroughly entertaining and cheeky rock satire on the pathetic end of a relationship.
“It Might Just Be a One-Shot Deal”, built around Frank’s acoustic guitar country licks, deals with similar lyrical themes as “Your Mouth”, only in a somewhat less sarcastic way. Three different vocalists trade off here (interestingly, as far as vocals go, Frank completely “abstained” on this album). The first to sing is “cowgirl” Janet Ferguson. She’s followed by the grotesque, mocking voice of additional guitarist Tony Duran. Frank’s country passages deliberately sound out of tune and, as such, rather comical. Despite the country vibe at the start, mostly via the acoustic guitar motifs, the piece then swerves into other waters. That’s when a fun “Hawaiian” section kicks in, with Jeff Simmons on Hawaiian guitar and vocals. An excellent pedal steel solo from “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow weaves into that section too. The ending builds up rhythmically and repeats the original country motif on acoustic guitar.
Right after comes the closing title instrumental “Waka/Jawaka”, the second of the album’s two jazz rock fusion peaks. If “Big Swifty” was quite theatrical, energetic and scattered in mood, this instrumental is its polar opposite, much more subtle, even slightly romantic in nature. Its atmosphere even faintly recalls film music, something that would fit nicely in one of the early James Bond movies or a Sergio Leone spaghetti western. This is a masterful creation too, with an even richer horn section and even more of Frank’s witty guitar solos, which he never skimped on. The opening motif alone, where the rich horn section flows together with unpredictable rhythmic shifts and Don Preston’s keyboard wizardry on piano and mini-moog, is brilliant and pure ear candy. Preston’s mini-moog solo is bursting with wit and spontaneity. No need to wonder why he was always one of Frank’s favorite keyboardists, and why he still has a band today playing plenty of Frank’s classics. Artfully, there follows a long guitar solo from Frank that even Hendrix would have applauded, then a colorful horn section on saxophones, trombone, piccolo, clarinet and French horn. A shorter Dunbar drum solo is in there as well. In the closing section the opening, hugely witty “cinematic” motif comes back once more, with the horns in perfect harmony with the rhythm section as bells ring out, showing off some of the best moments in the history of jazz fusion and, I’d even say, progressive rock. And so ends one of the most accomplished and magnificent albums in Frank’s rich discography.
Some people call “Waka/Jawaka” simply “Hot Rats 2”, and there’s not much to argue with there, since it’s more than an excellent successor to that legendary album, and in places it even manages to surpass it, though never to outshine it. Personally, I’d rank this jazz rock fusion gem among Frank’s top ten, maybe even top five albums. For all his enormously rich and varied output, I keep coming back to his jazz rock fusion albums, which usually don’t have as much lyrically twisted, avant-garde humor, but whose very compositional structures are so brilliantly witty that they easily make a listener laugh. When it comes to compositional skill, the glow of individual pieces and the way they’re delivered, Frank could stand shoulder to shoulder with the best jazz fusion acts like Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return To Forever, and so on. “Waka/Jawaka”, the first of the two jazz rock fusion masterpieces he recorded in this period, was a fine and eloquent proof of the old saying that the toughest situations (like an injury on stage) lead to the creation of the greatest works of art.
Lineup
Frank Zappa – guitar, acoustic guitar, percussion
Tony Duran – slide guitar, vocals
George Duke – electric piano, piano
Sal Marquez – trumpet, French horn, bells, vocals
Erroneous (Alex Dmochowski) – bass guitar, vocals
Aynsley Dunbar – drums, tambourine
Chris Peterson – vocals
Joel Peskin – tenor saxophone
Mike Atschul – baritone saxophone, piccolo, bass flute, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone
Jeff Simmons – Hawaiian guitar, vocals
“Sneaky” Pete Kleinow – pedal steel
Janet Ferguson – vocals
Don Preston – piano, mini-moog
Bill Byers – trombone, baritone horn
Ken Shroyer – trombone, baritone horn
Production
Frank Zappa
Tracklist
1. Big Swifty (17:23)
2. Your Mouth (3:12)
3. It Just Might Be a One-Shot Deal (4:16)
4. Waka/Jawaka (11:18)
Album length: 36:08
