Waka/Wazoo

Product Information

Waka/Wazoo” is a Comprehensive 4-CD + Blu-ray Audio box set celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Mothers Of Invention/Hot Rats/Grand Wazoo experience from 1972.

BLU-RAY AUDIO DISC PRESENTS ORIGINAL ALBUMS IN IMMERSIVE DOLBY ATMOS, 5.1 SURROUND SOUND AND HI-RES STEREO MIXES To form the "electric orchestra," Zappa called on some old cohorts (drummer Aynsley Dunbar, keyboardists George Duke and Don Preston, percussionist Alan Estes, guitarist Jeff Simmons), along with many new faces (bassist Alex "Erroneous" Dmochowski, guitarist Tony Duran, percussionist Bob Zimmitti, and horn players Sal Marquez, Malcolm McNab, Kenny Shroyer, Earle Dumler, and Tony "Bat Man" Ortega). Joann Caldwell McNab - woodwinds ( "Think It Over (The Grand Wazoo)", "For Calvin (And His Next Two Hitch-Hikers)") Some musicians such as Sal Marquez, Bruce Fowler and bass player Dave Parlato would go on to be involved in future Zappa endeavors. The debut of the live 20-piece would take place at none other than the Hollywood Bowl on September 10, 1972. After all was said and done, Zappa finished the experiment with two albums in the can – Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo – plus two tours and an archive of show masters in his Vault. It was a monumental feat for a guy with a cast on his leg and a conductor’s baton in his hand.Zappa created Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo under extenuating circumstances. After being pushed offstage by a fan during a concert at London's Rainbow Theatre, he spent months recovering at his Los Angeles home. The wheelchair-bound Zappa assembled a 20-piece group of musicians known as the Electric Orchestra for recording sessions and an eight-city tour. He later scaled down to a 10-piece Petite Wazoo orchestra and launched another nearly two-month tour with the group. In celebration of half a century of this pioneering phase of Zappa’s peerless career, Zappa Records/UMe will be releasing Waka/Wazoo, a five-disc multi-format box set that features a complete historical rundown of the entire project, on December 16 th, just ahead of what would have been the Maestro’s 82 nd birthday. Rehearsals started for the album recording sessions sometime in late March/early April and once the material was honed to his satisfaction, Zappa and crew decamped to Paramount Studios where recording began on April 10, 1972. By the end of the month, Zappa, who handled production, guitar and conducting duties, had recorded the bulk of two albums, the jazz-influenced Waka/Jawaka (intended by Zappa as a sequel to Hot Rats), recorded with a lineup of six to nine musicians, and the epic and ambitious jazz-fusion masterwork, The Grand Wazoo, recorded with a larger ensemble ranging from eight to as many as 20 musicians.

Waka/Wazoo is a boxset by Frank Zappa, released posthumously on December 16, 2022. It is a 4CD/1-Blu-ray set composed of various material recorded in 1972, during a period when Zappa was forced away from live performances due to injuries sustained during a concert on December 10, 1971. [1] This includes recordings from the same Paramount Studios sessions which birthed the albums Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo, and live material from the following tours of the same year. [2] Content [ edit ]Finally, during the album recording sessions at Paramount Studios, FZ worked with George Duke on some of Duke’s solo material. These demos were produced by Zappa, who also played guitar. In fact, Frank christened the ensemble The Grand Wazoo Orchestra and, by the end of April, he had the two albums – Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo in the can. Waka/Jawaka, recorded with a core of between six and nine musicians, was released on 5 th July 1972 as a Frank Zappa “solo” album, often considered to be the sequel to his 1969 tour-de-force, Hot Rats, and there’s certainly lots of evidence to justify that comparison; it’s jazzy, predominantly instrumental and laced with multiple time-signatures. Side One of the original album was given over to the mighty Big Swifty, a 17+ minute epic with some wonderful trumpet parts from Sal Marquez, whilst a real highlight of the album’s second side is the disquieting It Might Just Be a One Shot Deal, on which Sal shares vocals with Janet Ferguson and “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow – on loan from The Flying Burrito Brothers – adds atmospheric pedal steel.

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Zappa planned that following the Waka/Wazoo sessions, a touring version of what he dubbed the “Mothers of Invention/Hot Rats/Grand Wazoo” would perform a short eight-date tour in September of 1972. As Travers writes in the illuminating liner notes, “once the Wazoo project was set in motion, the first thing Frank did was hire Kenny Shroyer to help enlist and contract the musicians. 20 of them were eventually hired, and new musical relationships were created. If you’ve ever wondered why Frank Zappa is regarded as a musical genius, you’ll find the proof in every groove of The Grand Wazoo – it’s an album alive with ideas, ambition, and humor that skips between genres with abandon, from exhilarating jazz funk to wee small hours jazzy shuffles. If the words “jazz fusion” cause concern, The Grand Wazoo is an accessible entry point. If you’re already a fan of the Zappa of Hot Rats or We’re Only In It For The Money, prepare to have your mind blown all over again. During this time, he managed, among other things, to assemble an ensemble that quenched his thirst and desire to work with a large “Electric Orchestra.” Ultimately, he contracted a 20-piece group for recording sessions and an eight-city tour. Shortly thereafter, a scaled down 10-piece configuration, now popularly known as the “ Petite Wazoo” toured for almost two months. After all was said and done, Zappa finished the experiment with two albums in the can — Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo — plus two tours and an archive of show masters in his vault. It was a monumental feat for a guy with a cast on his leg and a conductor’s baton in his hand. I could go on and may update this at some point with other observations. But in general I am very impressed with these mixes and — for me at least — it makes owning this set an essential if you are a fan of Zappa and surround sound.

Tracklist

The Waka/Wazoo Box Set features a complete historical run-down of the entire project, featuring alternate takes of almost every composition recorded during the album sessions, along with Vault mix session outtakes and oddities. Though it was the second of the pair to be released, in no way is The Grand Wazoo a collection of outtakes or off-cuts – it’s a fully-formed album with a strong identity. Waka/Jawaka swims in similar jazz fusion waters, but it uses a small jazz combo, The Grand Wazoo saw Zappa embracing a big band with a clarity of purpose. Alan Estes - percussion ( "Think It Over (The Grand Wazoo)", "For Calvin (And His Next Two Hitch-Hikers)") Kenny Shroyer - brass ( "Think It Over (The Grand Wazoo)", "For Calvin (And His Next Two Hitch-Hikers)"), trombone ( "Waka/Jawaka", "Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus"), baritone horn ( "Waka/Jawaka")