Zappa Wazoo
Released 31 October 2007
Disc One
- Intro Intros
- The Grand Wazoo (Think It Over)
- Approximate
- Big Swifty
Disc Two
- “Ulterior Motive”
- The Adventures Of Greggery Peccary
- Movement I
- Movement II
- Movement III
- Movement IV - TheNewBrownClouds
- Penis Dimension
- Variant I Processional March
From the liner notes: “This concert was recorded live at Boston Music Hall in Boston, Massachusetts on 24 September 1972. These stereo masters were digitally transferred from FZ’s Ampex ATR 100 deck into Nuendo at 96 K 24 bit by Joe Travers using Euphonix AM 713 Converters - in April 2007. …this concert had a slightly different original dynamic in that Big Swifty followed Greggery Peccary. Due to disc space we resequenced the program to maintain the integrity of the performance.”
Rate This Album
(37 votes, average: 7.7 out of 10) 
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November 15th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
Just Received my copy of Wazoo last night. Here is the play by play.
Disc 1 - Improv disc
Disc 2 - arranged
The Grand Wazoo- This version surpassed the album version in many ways. After a somewhat sloppy first minute ( sounds like drummer drops a stick or something) the peice takes off and doesn’t let up. The “boogie” is tight but still posses that looseness that is so important for improv. Soprano sax, Slide guitar, organ, Trombone, Trumpet and Frank all get a crack at it before the theme reappears. It may be a little long but its so good!!!
Approximate- A nice suprise with real abstract avant garde improv, Sounds like a bass clarinet or somethings. exciting and innovative jam and a nice percussion/drum feature.
Big Switfy- Hot version with a fast funky 70’s style jam. Sax , Trumpet and Frank all solo. and it is HOT!!!!
2nd Disc-
All through composed zappa charts. I think I would enjoy it more if the quality of the recording was better but still it is very exiciting.
I give the disk a 4 out of 5 . Merely because of sound quality. don’t get me wrong it is very listenable and will not disrupt your listening pleasure. But the intricate and sophisticated music especially on the second disc needs that perfect EQ
November 15th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
P.P. — I hope you realize the rating gizmo above goes all the way up to 10? (Not 11 I’m afraid.)
November 15th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
One from the finests!
December 19th, 2007 at 11:45 am
I long since gave up attempting to rate FZ albums. They require a completely different standard from which to make judgements, comparisons, etc., and numbers just don’t cut it: especially when rating album to album and era to era.
That being said, my only criticism of Wazoo was that parts of it weren’t entirely presented as originally performed/recorded. Otherwise, well worth the purchase.
December 30th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
Maybe I’m the only one with this opinion so far: I think those performances are horrible. It’s painful to listen to this all the way through. No wonder again (the same with the Petite Wazoo), FZ didn’t release anything himself from this period beyond the studio recordings.
If you are looking for performances and releases that are up to FZ’s own standards of his lifetime: don’t try this one.
(Now you can beat me.)
M.
December 30th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Michael Pabst, I won’t beat you, but I will discuss this release with you. After listening to Wazoo, and enough of a period had passed to fully digest what I had heard, I then listened to The Grand Wazoo again. There’s a good reason why TGW was released in FZ’s lifetime, while Imaginary Diseases and Wazoo were not: TGW is simply a much superior release. That’s not to say that Wazoo doesn’t have it’s moments (the same for ID), but it comes across more as a well-produced field recording than a release up to FZ’s own standards. Still, I like Wazoo for that very reason. I reveals these pieces as they were performed during a time, and in a specific place. They weren’t the note for note standards, but they were on their way there…
January 25th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
I love this album. This is the best posthumous release I’ve heard in years. If you enjoy the Hot Rats/Wazoo/Waka era then this should be right up your alleyway. I love the abstractness of it - it’ll hold up for years of listening.
While I agree side two is more arranged, Frank says himself that at the end of each of the movements there are short improv pieces, and these little freakouts are pretty crazy. But, if you are a fan of ‘Gregary Peccary’, then avant garde weirdness shouldn’t be a surprise to your ears. I was amazed as I din’t know FZ performed this music, apart from ‘Brown Clouds’, so this was a great find for me.
Be warned, it is a bit raw sounding…if you haven’t heard much live rock from this era it might sound ‘bad’ to you, but it’s just the difference between clean studio cuts and live performaces without a net.
My highest recommendation!
January 29th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
I love this album, just like Barbarella above. Nowadays I listen to it a lot.
The main thing this album gives to me, is the experience of IMROVISATION. During almost each and every solos one can feel the strong concentration of the WHOLE band, one can feel that each of the 20 musicians are THERE and listennig, and taking part in it - waiting for the moment to join. This album is about collaborating, about being together (in a way), about experience. And yes: its anexciting game trying to find out which are the written sections, and which are the improvised parts (I like the part where FZ plays a solo in the Grand Wazoo, and under it the horns start playing. Who conducts them?).
So: this is good. I like it.
(one note: well, the beginning of Processional March is wrong… the drummer makes a mistake, I think.)