MAKE A JAZZ NOISE HERE

Back in the eighties, Frank Zappa would often play two shows in Boston when he toured. One show would feature the fun songs, the humorous pieces and the popular songs. The other show would feature the really fun songs, the complex compositions, to show aff in front of the Berklee School students. So it was a great thing for those of us who would get tickets to both shows.

That's the difference between this albun and "The Best Band You Never Saw In Your Life". Where as the other was fun (but marred by too much gloating over religious con-man Jimmy Swaggart's moral issues at the time), this album is just amazing.

Zappa's final tour featured an incredible lineup. He had five horn players (mostly the Fowler Brothers and their cohorts), which allowed the band to shift easily between rock, jazz and classical without a hiccup (maybe a burp or a fart, but not a hiccup).

There are some extended jams, with beautiful solos - sometimes slightly marred by the bizarre samples dropped in - but the focus is always on what this band could do. Black Napkins features the horn playing Frank's signature solo. Big Swifty and King Kong are both embellished (as Zappa does throughout) with quotes from other pieces.

There are even bits of Stravinsky and Bartok on the album.

I give this 4.5 out of five stars - rounded up.