Opus 21's rendition of Zappa's artier side wins standing ovation
Hoodoo
By Mark Wedel | Special to the Kalamazoo Ga...
November 16, 2009, 11:20AM
http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2009/11/opus_21s_rendition_of_zappas_a.html
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Carl Witt, on piano, plays with other members of Opus 21. Members of the
musical ensemble Opus 21 performed music by Frank Zappa Wednesday
afternoon in the Dalton Center Recital Hall on Western Michigan
University's campus.
KALAMAZOO � �Electric Don Quixote� was a bit incorrect as a title of the
Opus 21 concert of Frank Zappa compositions, held at Dalton Center
Saturday night for Fontana Chamber Arts.
Except for a brief appearance of a synthesizer, there weren�t any
electric instruments. And Zappa did fight cultural windmills in his
time, but he also got more songs on the pop charts than any 20th century
avant-garde composer.
But the concert was a fine introduction to the artier side of Zappa.
Between the mid-�60s up to his death in 1994, he created some of the
most experimental music in the rock world. Among electric guitar solos
and Zappa�s sometimes lewd, satirical and/or silly lyrics, he created
incredibly complex chunks of music.
It might have seemed just a musical way to �Freak Out!� (Zappa and the
Mothers of Invention�s first album, 1966) for freaks, but they were
subversively dealt music inspired by composers like Edgar Varese.
Some of the senior Fontana crowd in the packed hall wondered if they
wished to freak out for the evening, judging from the comments in my
vicinity. But Opus 21�s arrangements were mostly accessible, pleasant
and exciting.
The sextet isn�t a rock band � though Judy Moonert got to do a rocking
Terry Bozzio solo on �Black Page No. 1� � so Zappa�s works had to be
adjusted. Some were changed a lot, like Opus 21 saxophonist Andrew
Bishop�s arrangement of �Peaches En Regalia,� which ended up with a
rumba rhythm and sounded a bit lifeless compared to the original.
But Bishop�s version of �Fountain of Love,� originally a sappy doo-wop
parody, may have been an improvement. Opus 21 mixed the doo-wop with
Stravinsky�s �Rite of Spring,� and had percussionist Greg Secor and
cellist Alexa Muhly reciting the lyrics of teenage love in comic deadpan.
The sardonic Zappa humor was highlighted with quotes recited by the
players like, �Tobacco is my favorite vegetable.� His humor was in the
music as well. �Dupree�s Paradise� (arranged by Western Michigan
University grad Keith Horn), inspired by a seedy Watts bar, jumped from
lively avant-garde to a stripper�s bump-and-grind, with Bishop blowing
the sleaziest sax in Opus 21�s history.
Zappa�s tendency to bang out melodies with mallets got full play in the
concert, with Judy Moonert and Secor working xylophones, marimbas and
wood blocks. With pianist Carl Witt and the rest following intently
along, lively frolics of notes jumped around �Dog Breath
Variations/Uncle Meat� and �Inca Roads.�
Clarinetist Bradley Wong told the audience that, due to Zappa�s eclectic
spirit, if you don�t like one tune, you�ll like the next. Where �Get
Whitey� was abrasively abstract, �Sofa� was utterly pleasant with
recognizable blues/jazz elements.
At the end, most of the packed hall gave Opus 21 a standing ovation.
--
"Think with your dipstick, Jimmy."
Charles Ulrich
wrote:
> But Bishop�s version of �Fountain of Love,� originally a sappy doo-wop
> parody, may have been an improvement. Opus 21 mixed the doo-wop with
> Stravinsky�s �Rite of Spring,�
What a novel idea!
--Charles