Music performed a cappella, less commonly a capella, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term a cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato musical styles. In the 19th century, a renewed interest in Renaissance polyphony, coupled with an ignorance of the fact that vocal parts were often doubled by instrumentalists, led to the term coming to mean unaccompanied vocal music. The term is also used, rarely, as a synonym for alla breve.
Joe's Garage is a three-part rock opera released by American musician Frank Zappa in September and November 1979. Originally released as two separate albums on Zappa Records, the project was later remastered and reissued as a triple album box set, Joe's Garage, Acts I, II & III, in 1987. The story is told by a character identified as the "Central Scrutinizer" narrating the story of Joe, an average adolescent male, from Canoga Park, Los Angeles, who forms a garage rock band, has unsatisfying relationships with women, gives all of his money to a government-assisted and insincere religion, explores sexual activities with appliances, and is imprisoned. After being released from prison into a dystopian society in which music itself has been criminalized, he lapses into insanity.
Civilization Phaze III is the sixty-third album by Frank Zappa, released posthumously as a double album on October 31, 1994. It was the first studio album of new material from Zappa since 1986's Jazz from Hell. The album marks the third part of a conceptual continuity that started with We're Only in It for the Money (1968), with the second part being a re-edited version of Zappa's 1967 album Lumpy Gravy. Zappa described the album as a "two-act opera", but in lieu of traditional recitatives and arias, it alternates brief spoken word passages with musical numbers created on a Synclavier using a combination of sampled and synthesized sounds. Much of the sampled material in the second half of the album was originally recorded by Ensemble Modern and other musicians to Zappa's specifications.
The King's Singers are a British a cappella vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the 1970s and early 1980s. Thereafter they began to reach a wider American audience, appearing frequently on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in the United States. In 1987, they were prominently featured as guests on the Emmy Award-winning ABC television special Julie Andrews: The Sound of Christmas.
Straight Records, self-identified simply as Straight, was a record label formed in 1969 to distribute productions and discoveries of Frank Zappa and his business partner/manager Herb Cohen. Straight was formed at the same time as a companion label, Bizarre Records. Straight and Bizarre were manufactured and distributed in the U.S. by the Warner Bros. Records family of labels, which also included Reprise Records. Straight recordings were distributed in the U.K. by CBS Records.
Waka/Jawaka is the fourth solo album, fifteenth album counting the work of his band the Mothers of Invention, by Frank Zappa, released in July 1972. The album is the jazz-influenced precursor to The Grand Wazoo, and as the front cover indicates, a sequel of sorts to 1969's Hot Rats. According to Zappa, the title "is something that showed up on a ouija board at one time."
Lumpy Gravy is a 1968 solo album by Frank Zappa, written by Zappa and performed by a group of session players he dubbed the Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra & Chorus. Zappa conducted the orchestra but did not perform on the album. It is his fourth album overall: his previous releases had been under the name of his group, the Mothers of Invention.
The Persuasions were an American a capella group that began singing together in Brooklyn, New York in the mid-1960s.
The 200 Motels soundtrack to Frank Zappa's film 200 Motels was released by United Artists Records in 1971. The original vinyl release was a two-record set, largely containing alternating tracks of rock music preformed by the Mothers of Invention and symphonic music performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Elgar Howarth, all composed and orchestrated by Zappa. The album peaked at No. 59 on the Billboard 200, though reviewers deemed it a peripheral part of Zappa's catalog. Like the film, the album involves the theme of a rock band on tour and a loose storyline about The Mothers of Invention going crazy in the small town of Centerville and bassist Jeff quitting the group, as did his real life counterpart, Jeff Simmons, who left the group before the film began shooting and was replaced by actor Martin Lickert for the film.
Jerome Eugene Lawson was an American singer, producer, musical arranger and performer, best known as the original lead singer of the Persuasions.
"Duodenum" is a song by Frank Zappa that first appeared as part of "Lumpy Gravy Part One" on the Verve Records edition of Lumpy Gravy. A surf music instrumental, it runs for approximately 1:32 and is the second identifiable track on the album, preceded by "The Way I See It, Barry" and followed by "Oh No". Documentation purports that this piece was likely produced and recorded by Zappa sometime between 1963 and 1965.
"My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama" is a song written by Frank Zappa and originally recorded by The Mothers of Invention in February 1969 at Criteria Studios (Miami), with overdubs recorded sometime between August and September 1969 at TTG Studios and Whitney Studios. This version was included on their 1970 album Weasels Ripped My Flesh, an LP that included various recordings by the band from 1967 to 1969. A second version was released as a single on the Bizarre and Reprise labels as "My Guitar." Despite the more conventional naming, "My Guitar" did not chart.
Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? or Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? The Album is a soundtrack album to the game show of the same name that ran from 1991 to 1995. Rockapella, the house band on the show throughout its entire run, performed six of the ten songs on the album.
"Dancin' Fool" is a song by Frank Zappa from his 1979 album Sheik Yerbouti. It was the first of two singles released from the album, followed by the second single "Bobby Brown ." The song premiered on stage on the 30th of October 1977.
The second season of The Sing-Off began on December 6, 2010. The number of a cappella groups was increased from eight to ten, with all acts coming from the United States. Nick Lachey remained as host and the three judges, Ben Folds, Shawn Stockman and Nicole Scherzinger, also returned. Deke Sharon returned as music director and vocal producer. The music staff included Ed Boyer, Ben Bram, and Bill Hare. The program was broadcast for five nights in December with the finale on December 20. The season premiere averaged 8.5 million viewers. On the finale, the group Committed became the second champion of the show, beating Street Corner Symphony, The Backbeats and Jerry Lawson & Talk of the Town.
Pentatonix are an American a cappella group from Arlington, Texas, consisting of vocalists Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kirstin Maldonado, Matt Sallee, and Kevin Olusola. Characterized by their pop-style arrangements with vocal harmonies, basslines, riffing, percussion, and beatboxing, they produce cover versions of modern pop works or Christmas songs, sometimes in the form of medleys, along with original material. Pentatonix was formed in 2011 and subsequently won the third season of NBC's The Sing-Off, receiving $200,000 and a recording contract with Sony Music. When Sony's Epic Records dropped the group after The Sing-Off, the group formed its YouTube channel, distributing its music through Madison Gate Records, a label owned by Sony Pictures.
"You Are What You Is" is a single which Frank Zappa released from his 1981 album of the same title. The song is known for going out of its way to use improper English, basically mocking the rest of its context. It was the B-side for 1982 single "Valley Girl". This song was also remixed for the 1984 album Thing-Fish.
"Sofa" is a composition by American musician Frank Zappa, released in 1975 on One Size Fits All. In 1993, the year of Zappa's death, Steve Vai covered "Sofa" for Zappa's tribute album Zappa's Universe. The cover won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1994. This was Vai's first of three Grammies.
Zappa's Universe is a 1993 Frank Zappa tribute album featuring alumni from many of Zappa's bands. The music was compiled from a series of concerts from four consecutive nights of concerts at The Ritz in New York City, and filmed for a concert video of the same name. Steve Vai’s cover of the song "Sofa" from the album won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1994.
Rip Rense is an American music and film journalist, author, poet, and music producer, based in Los Angeles, California. He has written for numerous Los Angeles publications since the 1970s, including LA Weekly, the Valley News, the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, and the Los Angeles Times. His writing has also appeared in The New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times, The Washington Post, and the magazines Billboard, TV Guide, People and Los Angeles, among others.
