ROXY BY PROXY

"Roxy & Elsewhere" remains my fave Zappa live release of all times. The line-up represents perhaps the most skilled crew of hired hands with great abilities Zappa has ever assembled. This follow up release contains elements of the original album with a markedly different song selection. Tunes that are not generally easy to absorb played quite well here, but in reality, wouldn't be missed. It's more of curiosity value than a long lost masterpiece.

When Frank plays his distorted electric guitar, it's as good as on the original work, yet this appears to be dominated by George Duke's delightfully jazzy synths contributions.

Most of the previously unreleased numbers are pretty much "structured" jamming that leave me between hot and cold. Even Tom Fowler is permitted to play a mediocre solo on his Fender bass. Altogether, pretty good work, but hardly equal to the original piece.

If you are after a great rendition of tunes from Roxy and the best bits Frank has ever recorded, do check out Dweezil Zappa's "Zappa Plays Zappa" instead. That will blow your mind in place of light entertainment presented here. Some parts of this piece would serve selectively well as additional material to the original "Roxy", but altogether remain a poor cousin to that work.