In just a few week's time, Frank Zappa the composer extraordinare would have turned 80...had he lived on past the end of 1993 to the present. Sadly he didn't quite make it to his 53rd birthday - a couple of weeks shy back in December of that year.
Zappa is a topic that I like to return to every now and then: like a large rock that needs to be chiselled over a period of time in order to make sense.
If you aren't aware of Zappa or his work...then this is not the place to begin. You will have to look elsewhere. In fact, you might not even like it...or get it. But even if you don't like his work, you have to admire his...qualities: intelligent, articulate, creative, a satirist, a social commentator, a band leader, arguably a great guitarist, a very eclectic composer...and so on. You will have to look him up and I wish you luck...if you can be bothered.
Who knows what Zappa might have done with the last 30 years or so? However, I can make a few guesses: his interests lay with avant garde modern orchestral and ensemble work - inspired by early 20th century composers such as Stravinskly and Varese. If he'd been able to get his hands on modern ensembles capable of recreating his work then he might have gone down that route. On the other hand, I feel he was inclined to choose technology over real musicians as the years wore on - perhaps he had tired of real musicians and their foibles, their costs and their less than perfect renditions of his work. His work could be incredibly demanding and rhythmically precise - some of it is insane! I suspect he would have left the world of rock n roll far behind - it having been a kind of convenience that financed his real ambitions in the avant garde world. Equally, he would have left his often inane lyrical writing and song writing behind. No more Valley Girl...Frankly (excuse the pun), given his tendency to seal himself off as the years went by, but for CNN he would not have had much contact with the outside world; so would he have been in a position to ofter any more satire on society? Perhaps not...
It's a pity he didn't get to see what we have today in the way of technological innovation. However, he was on the cutting edge back then - with his use of the Synclavier back in the early 80's - and he forecast a world in which recorded music would be sent 'down the wire' rather than physically distributed.
It is telling that during the last few years, he only released live albums - often carefully edited performances from various concerts and tours; thus perhaps shrewdly avoiding any recording fees to musicians who had gone on tour with him. That and albums made with his precious Synclavier.
His last album (released during his lifetime at least) - Yellow Snow was recorded with a modern Ensemble based in Germany. I think that's the way he would have gone if he continued living...
And funnily enough, that's how he started out - Edgar Varese's, 'Ionisation' inspired a young Zappa back in the 50's to pursue this music thing.
It is incredible just how much Zappa packed into almost 53 years. There have been very few like him...
