ROXY & ELSEWHERE

That's entertainment! This double LP record has been recorded live, and Frank Zappa plays the role of an entertainer on it! There are many parts where just a light background music gives an atmosphere to the conversations and to Zappa's oral presentations. The record has many fast and complex instrumental parts. "Be-Bop Tango" is a 16 minutes tracks where Zappa invites some people in the audience to dance while George Duke scats and plays a solo at the same time; this track also contains an outstanding trombone solo, plus "impossible to play" xylophone-drums-bass-trumpet combination. "Cheepnis" is an absolutely addictive track, very catchy, rhythm changing, complex and fast! The consecutive "Echidna's Arf" and "Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?" demonstrate a great mastering of the challenging synchronization of instrumentation; those tracks have very complex and fast fusion patterns; Ruth Underwood's percussions are outstanding! Zappa does not miss to play some impossible guitar solos. After the jazzy Grand Wazoo album, Zappa made 5 records between 1973 and 1975, and this one is the most instrumental and jazz/fusion by far!

Rating: 4.5 stars