Frank Zappa Album Fell Through The Cracks Dept.

The spiffy Waka/Wazoo set, and the associated remasters, make us marvel anew at the great man's pep, vim, moxie, chutzpah, and spunk. But the jazz-centric leanings of those albums were prefigured by this here album, recorded in - heavens to Betsy! - 1969, the same year he recorded Uncle Meat and Hot Rats, with Burnt Weeny Sandwich hot on their heels. Holy profligacy, Batman! It's arranged and mostly written by Frank, and he wires some snarly guitar into the lone Ponty composition. The whole thing is fantastic, blending seamlessly with the aforementioned, and if you don't have it, now you do.

It's evaded being part of the core Zappa canon [big gun - Ed.] mainly, I postulate [miss the mail - Ed.], because it's on the Liberty label, later Blue Note, and has never received the archival reissue treatment of his own-name releases. But it is, in concept and sound, very much a Zappa album. Produced by left coast cool jazz legend Richard Bock, it features a bunch of the Hot Rats musicians. Here's a list, because you like lists, laboriously transcribed keystroke by keystroke from the wiki page so you lazy-ass schnooks don't have to click over:

Jean-Luc Ponty – electric violin (all tracks), baritone violectra (tracks: A1-A3, B2)

Ernie Watts – alto saxophone (tracks A2, A3, B2); tenor saxophone (tracks A2-A4, B2)

Ian Underwood – tenor saxophone (track A1), orchestra conductor (track B1)

Frank Zappa – electric guitar (track A4)

George Duke – electric piano (all tracks), acoustic piano (track B1)

Gene Estes – vibraphone, percussion (tracks A1, B2)

Buell Neidlinger – double bass (tracks A1, B1)

Wilton Felder – Fender Precision electric bass

John Guerin – drums (tracks A2, A3, A4, B2)

Arthur Dyer Tripp III – drums (tracks A1, B1)

Gene Cipriano – oboe, English horn (track B1)

Donald Christlieb – bassoon (track B1)

Vincent DeRosa – descant recorder, French horn, descant (track B1)

Arthur Maebe – French horn, tuba (track B1)

Jonathan Meyer – flute (track B1)Milton Thomas – viola (track B1)

Harold Bemko – cello (track B1)

I seem to remember my vinyl copy had some unintentionally hilarious liner notes by beret-and-pipe jazzbo writer Leonard Feather, referring to "sides" and "blowing" and the like. Like, digsville!

This post transmogrified thru intercession by the Weeping Jesus of Port Authority bus terminal, N.Y.