WAKA / JAWAKA

Frank Zappa

RIO/Avant-Prog

3.94 | 597 ratings

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MovingPictures07
Prog Reviewer

This is a very good jazz offering from Zappa in the vein of Hot Rats, only with less prog and more of a big band feel to it.

1. Big Swifty- If you want jazz, you got it! This is my favorite part of the album, and is a wonderful Zappa epic. The horned instruments fit this very well and this is an extremely well-constructed piece of jazz music with some Zappa quirks. It is not as explorative nor as guitar driven as Hot Rats, but it still has a great feel to it and is a wonderful composition that is hard to find any fault with. 10/10

2. Your Mouth- Humorous Zappa interlude with typical voice parts and similarly humor-suggesting instrumentation. It's nice, but there's not a whole lot to it other than it being a solid, fun song. 6/10

3. It Just Might Be a One-Shot Deal- This song is similar to the previous one, only it has a distinctly American, blues feel to it. I like in the middle of the song where the instrumentation goes solo without vocals. That part is really pleasant. A pretty good, unique song here, which works as a great interlude. 8/10

4. Waka/Jawaka- This starts off where Big Swifty left off with the grandiose, horn-driven jazz that made up the first 18 minutes of the album. It has a different structure and feel than Swifty, and doesn't quite match the genius of the opener, but nonetheless is a very good track. Filled with good instrumentation and Zappa's usual compositional skills in the form of a jazz entry that is unique in his discography. 9/10

If you're into jazz, and particularly horned instruments and/or anything by Zappa, this is a really good album to check out. It is not a masterpiece, but it nonetheless represents another uniquely substantial album in Zappa's vast discography. Just don't expect to hear Zappa's blazing guitar on this one as you did with Hot Rats!

An excellent addition to any prog collection.

MovingPictures07 | 4/5 | 2008-12-7

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