Frank Vincent Zappa was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experimentation, musical virtuosity and satire of American culture. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed rock, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral and musique concrète works; he also produced almost all of the 60-plus albums that he released with his band the Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. Zappa also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. He is considered one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse musicians of his generation.
Edwin "Eddie" Jobson is an English musician noted for his use of synthesizers. He has been a member of several progressive rock bands, including Curved Air, Roxy Music, U.K. and Jethro Tull. He was also part of Frank Zappa's band in 1976–77. Aside from his keyboard work Jobson has also gained acclaim for his violin playing. He won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2017 Progressive Music Awards. In March 2019 Jobson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Roxy Music.
Hot Rats is the second solo album by Frank Zappa, released in October 1969. It was Zappa's first recording project after the dissolution of the original version of the Mothers of Invention. Five of the six songs are instrumental; while "Willie the Pimp", features vocals by Captain Beefheart. In his original sleeve notes, Zappa described the album as "a movie for your ears".
Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch is an album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in May 1982 and digitally remastered in 1991. It features five tracks composed by Zappa, and one song, "Valley Girl", co-written with his daughter, Moon Zappa, then a teen, who provided the spoken monologue mocking Valley girls, including phrases like "Gag me with a spoon!".
Dixie Dregs is an American rock band from Augusta, Georgia. Formed in 1970, the band's performance consists entirely of instrumentals that fuse elements of diverse genres such as rock, classical music, country, jazz and bluegrass into an eclectic sound that is difficult to categorize. Recognized for their virtuoso playing, the Dixie Dregs were identified with the southern rock, progressive rock and jazz fusion scenes of the 1970s.
Scott Thunes is a bass player, formerly with Frank Zappa, Wayne Kramer, Steve Vai, Andy Prieboy, Mike Keneally, Fear, The Waterboys, Big Bang Beat, and others.
The Mothers of Invention was an American rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows.
The project Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar consisting of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar, Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Some More and Return of the Son of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar is a series of albums by Frank Zappa. The albums consist solely of electric guitar instrumentals and improvised solos (mostly) played live by Zappa and featuring a wide variety of backing musicians.
Thing-Fish is an album by Frank Zappa, originally released as a triple album box set on Barking Pumpkin Records in 1984. It was billed as a cast recording for a proposed musical of the same name, which was ultimately not produced by Zappa, but later performed partially in 2003, ten years after his death.
You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 3 is a double disc live album by Frank Zappa, spanning from December 10, 1971, to December 23, 1984. It was released in 1989.
The Man from Utopia is an album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in March 1983 by Barking Pumpkin Records. The album is named after a 1950s song, written by Donald and Doris Woods, which Zappa covers as part of "The Man from Utopia Meets Mary Lou".
Does Humor Belong in Music? is a live album by Frank Zappa.
Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention is a 1985 album by American musician Frank Zappa. The album was originally released in two slightly different versions in the US and Europe.
Guitar is a 1988 live album by Frank Zappa. It is the follow-up to 1981's Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar; like that album it features Zappa's guitar solos excerpted from live performances, recorded between 1979 and 1984. It garnered Zappa his sixth Grammy nomination for "Best Rock Instrumental Performance".
Make a Jazz Noise Here is a live double album by Frank Zappa. It was first released in June 1991, and was the third Zappa album to be compiled from recordings from his 1988 world tour, following Broadway the Hard Way (1988) and The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life (1991). The album's cover art was made by Larry Grossman.
The Lost Episodes is a 1996 posthumous album by Frank Zappa which compiles previously unreleased material. Much of the material covered dates from early in his career, and as early as 1958, into the mid-1970s. Zappa had been working on these tracks in the years before his death in 1993.
Video from Hell is a video released in 1987 by Frank Zappa. It is a compilation of pieces of music and video from a series of projects that Zappa presumably planned to finish and release for home video, including a companion video for the You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore series of albums, but those projects were ultimately never completed. Many pieces from this video had appeared on a one-hour Night Flight special entitled "You Are What You Watch". The music video for the song "G-Spot Tornado" features color 8mm footage that Zappa shot at a county fair in the early 1960s, while the music video for "Night School" features footage from the making of his feature film 200 Motels. It also features the music video for "You Are What You Is" which was banned by MTV. A guitar solo duet between Zappa and Steve Vai taken from the song "Stevie's Spanking" was later released on You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 4. As of December 2011, the video has not yet been released on DVD.
Ed Mann is a musician who has been "a drummer and piano dabbler since childhood." He is best known for his mallet percussion performances onstage with Frank Zappa's ensemble from 1977 to 1988, and his appearances on over 30 of Zappa's albums, both studio recordings and with Zappa's band live. Mann also has released a number of CDs as a bandleader and composer.
Feeding the Monkies at Ma Maison is an album by Frank Zappa, which was released posthumously in 2011 by The Zappa Family Trust on Zappa Records.
"G-Spot Tornado" is a piece of programmed Synclavier DMS music written by American musician Frank Zappa, released in 1986 on his instrumental album Jazz from Hell.
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