Make a Jazz Noise Here
If you're new to Zappa's catalogue then it can be very daunting to decide what to try out. The man had so many releases and jumped across so many styles that there's no real guarantee that any particular release will do it for you.
This album is great for any of you who want to hear Zappa leading a TIGHT, TIGHT band playing mostly instrumental music. There are plenty of "jams" in the jazz sense of the word, not the Grateful Dead sense of the word. In other words, instrumentalists improv within a tight technical structure but the full band never drifts out into unrehearsed meanderings. More than any other release since Waka/Jawaka, this album makes me appreciate Zappa as a composer and bandleader. The man was a force!
Having heard well over half of Zappa's output before picking this up, I was a little surprised that it became one of my favorite listens almost immediately. I didn't realize just how good the '88 band was. And, I confess, the relative paucity of stage antics and jokes is actually somewhat refreshing. I just want to hear them play!
One of three releases showcasing his talented but short-lived 1988 big band, Make a Jazz Noise Here features Zappa's group on extended jams, some of his most ambitious instrumental works, and a few requisite concert favorites. Only Zappa would sandwich Igor Stravinsky's Royal March From L'Histoire Du Soldat the theme from Bela Bartok's Piano Concerto No. 3 between his own "City of Tiny Lights" and "Sinister Footwear, 2nd Movement," and only he could pull it off. The first disc is the strongest, featuring big band arrangements of "Eat That Question," "Black Napkins," and "Big Swifty," and climaxing with an amazing, slow-groove rendition of "King Kong". Some of the longer jams will be of most interest to fanatics, but the performances are solid throughout, and even the biggest neophytes will appreciate these renditions of some of Zappa's most daunting material.
This album is great for any of you who want to hear Zappa leading a TIGHT, TIGHT band playing mostly instrumental music. There are plenty of "jams" in the jazz sense of the word, not the Grateful Dead sense of the word. In other words, instrumentalists improv within a tight technical structure but the full band never drifts out into unrehearsed meanderings. More than any other release since Waka/Jawaka, this album makes me appreciate Zappa as a composer and bandleader. The man was a force!
Having heard well over half of Zappa's output before picking this up, I was a little surprised that it became one of my favorite listens almost immediately. I didn't realize just how good the '88 band was. And, I confess, the relative paucity of stage antics and jokes is actually somewhat refreshing. I just want to hear them play!
One of three releases showcasing his talented but short-lived 1988 big band, Make a Jazz Noise Here features Zappa's group on extended jams, some of his most ambitious instrumental works, and a few requisite concert favorites. Only Zappa would sandwich Igor Stravinsky's Royal March From L'Histoire Du Soldat the theme from Bela Bartok's Piano Concerto No. 3 between his own "City of Tiny Lights" and "Sinister Footwear, 2nd Movement," and only he could pull it off. The first disc is the strongest, featuring big band arrangements of "Eat That Question," "Black Napkins," and "Big Swifty," and climaxing with an amazing, slow-groove rendition of "King Kong". Some of the longer jams will be of most interest to fanatics, but the performances are solid throughout, and even the biggest neophytes will appreciate these renditions of some of Zappa's most daunting material.
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