THE GRAND WAZOO

Utter masterliness by the master of the bizarre and out of the ordinary, Frank Zappa. With this album, he goes with a more big band approach, featuring an assortment of wind instruments. It has a jazz feel all around. Most of the album is instrumental, much like Hot Rats, and the vocal sections have a very majestic feel to them.

Since most of the album is straight music, I'll talk more in depth about that. The opener is a 13 minute instrumental epic otherwise known as The Grand Wazoo. Opening with some superb guitar work, mainly a grand solo (containing a very watery guitar effect) by Zappa. Throughout the piece, the wind and brass instruments all get solos. Not to mention the superb keyboard work by George Duke and Don Preston, who give their instruments very precise runs. The bass and drum also work coherently and create a very laid back enviornment. The opener never gets loses interest despite its length, you'll always find something new with every listen. Janet Neville-Ferguson and Sal Marquez give very majestic performances on the only track with vocal For Calvin (And His Next Two Hitch- Hikers), a very operatic approach. The next track Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus features Zappa mumbling and singing incoherently, but it is done well and adds a layer of comedy to this other wise non-comical album. Eat that Question and Blessed Relief both are great instrumentals continuing the very laid-back style of this album, and they finish off what is easily my one of my favorite Zappa albums.

Overall, this is an incredible effort from Frank Zappa, who added more originality into his catalogue of styles. I recommend it highly to everyone. A great introduction into Frank Zappa. 5/5