Wednesday, December 10, 2008
G SPOT TORNADO
On the 7th Day of Zappadan, we zealots must proslytize the ignorant, we must go amongst the unknowing and make believers out of them. This performace of G Spot Tornado by the German Ensemble Modern goes out to my friend, Mudrake, who was wondering what a Latex Solar Beef was....
The performace and dance piece is from the 1993 Yellow Shark concerts. Frank scored and directed the pieces shortly before he died.
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7 comments:
I suppose that the aforementioned bovine-chemical complex is nicely represented in half of this German dance team. And nicely so!
Well to be fair, The title of the instrumental composition, Latex Solar Beef was a totally dada concept. An abstract, intelligent/idiotic construction of words meant to evoke something from the person reading it.
In other words, it didn't really mean anything, but of course, it really did mean what ever it was that you thought it did.
yes, there was quite a lot of hot beef contained in that layex suit!
Whoa.
Some of us had more or less lost interest in ZappaCo's funk-fusion-comedy sometime late 80s. With Jazz from Hell, the Boulez stuff, and then the Yellow Shark (quite cool) he ....like reinvented hisself. Or so it seems. FZ's musick is 1/3 great, 1/3 decent entertainment, yet somewhat pompous or raunchy 1/3 the time.
The euro-conductor fetish doesn't always fly. Bill Evans playing Nardis needs no conductor or the Berlin Philaharmonic. Jus' saying. Which is to say, FZ relied on all sorts of musicians---sometimes the Svengali factor seems a trifle overdone.....
But Zappadan's a good thang for jazz and serious musick, mostly.....
euro conductor fetish?...is that available in a tight latex version with heels?
Not sure. Maybe try la putain who did the dancin' to G-Spot?
For La Mer, or the usual germanic bombast (sauerkraut, as Satie said), a Boulez-like conductor may be needed. For good jazz, even big band-- or Bogus Pomp/Dog Breath V.--- not really. Stan Kenton for instance wrote out all his complex arrangements (with transpositions, etc), plays great piany (ala Rachmanioff, etc), does some intros, etc. and may wave his hands to indicate tempo or dynamics, but no podium or baton needed. Ah think it's vaguely militaristic: like the conductor as Drum major or somethin'. FZ seemed a bit fond of that role....
I have to stand back and look at what you have written, Peresozo and wonder wehat your intent or real feelings are here.
Why must one compare Zappa to Boulez, Satie, Stravinsky or Stan Kenton?
This is a unique life, an force in American culture who brought a lot of diverse influences together and used a unique dada esthetic as the glue to hold it together.
And to criticize the stance of Zappa while conducting the Yellow Shark concerts is a little far out.
Please, the guy was dying of Prostate cancer at the time. Just getting through a rehearsal was a strenous painful experience.
He was dead only a few months later.
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