I have often wondered what Frank Zappa would have been doing now, had he still been alive. Of course, he died almost exactly thirty years ago, at the age of 52 (in this 53rd year) from prostate cancer. By then, he had more or less dispensed with rock n roll musicians in favour of technicians, engineers and his trusthworthy synclavier; which allowed him to realise his avant garde compositions without the compromises that musicians brought with them.
He was asked at a press conference in 1992, when promoting his forthcoming, 'Yellow Shark' project: 'is this the end of Zappa as a rock n roll musician' to which he replied, ' I hope so'. My feeling is that Zappa would have spent the last thirty years indulging in his real passion: avant garde orchestral music, whether played by Synclavier (or other technology that has evolved in the last thirty years) or real ensembles for hire. The rock n roll stuff would have been shelved; so no more rock n roll albums and no more rock n roll tours.
Avant Garde orchestral is really where Zappa started out in the fifties, as a teenager. One listen to, 'Ionisation' by Edgar Varese and he was hooked. The Rock n Roll thing was a flag of convenience really - he rode the crest of a wave that happened to be around circa the mid 60's onwards; and he did alright by it. But he was also distanced from it - he had a disdain for hippies, the whole flower power thing, didn't take drugs and so on. The truth is that he was a cynical, clever, work alcoholic businessman. The guitar was just a tool and nothing more.
By the mid 70's, he had discarded any notion that he was running a group or part of a group; namely the Mothers of Invention. He rebranded as solo artist, Zappa. It was the truth all along. By this point, he was hiring and firing musicians at will. Eventually he grew tired of rock n roll musicians; and so by the early 80's, a replacement came in the form of the Synclavier.
He did try one last rock n roll tour in 1988 but abandoned it half way through. Perhaps it was his growing ill health but ostensibly the reason given was that the rock n roll crew were at each others' throats. Yep, he was tired of it all. And so he retreated to the studio and never stopped working.
Given the techological innovations over the last thirty years, my guess is that Zappa would still have been locked in his studio, beavering away on radical music; but with technicians rather than musicians. Regards live performance and even tours, he would have hired an ensemble. No more Rock n Roll. And frankly, excuse the pun, that would have been appropriate for a man like Zappa. The rock n roll market was the business end; or should we say the entertainment market. At one time, he was very on point with his satire and observations; but I think ultimately he would have gone off into his own rather instrumental world. Back to the beginning.
