Father of Invention

Father of by Fred Cohn Invention Part of an ongoing series spotlighting performances supported by the NEA’s American Masterpieces: Chamber Music initiative The March-April calendar of American Masterpieces activities can be seen on pages 12 and 13. Some of the works being performed are acknowledged American classics, others are worthy but little known and rarely performed, and still others are very recent commissions. 10 march/april 2010 A chamber music concert Father of demonstrates how Frank Zappa has inspired Invention musicians of every ilk. bhijit Sengupta had a choice to ing in a rhythm-and-blues band, he discov- clear idea of his goals for Fontana Chamber make for the Frank Zappa con- ered the works of Edgard Varèse, whose Arts’ Zappa concert—among other things, A cert. His organization, Fontana rhythmically complex style exerted as he wanted it to include only acoustic Chamber Arts in Kalamazoo, Michigan, decisive an influence on his work as the instruments. But he entrusted its imple- stages a nightclub-style jazz series in a great R&B guitarists did. In Zappa’s mentation to Richard Adams, Opus 21’s downtown dance studio. But Sengupta, music, the soundworlds of Stravinsky and founder and artistic director. planning his first season as artistic director, Stockhausen rubbed elbows with doo- Adams, for his part, had himself been opted instead to present the concert as part wop, jazz and rock. toying with the idea for an Opus 21 Zappa of Fontana’s main-stage classical music “When you listen to any type of music, concert, making the Fontana offer espe- series, held at the Dalton Center Recital whether it’s jazz or classical or rock, you cially welcome. He enlisted the services Hall at Western Michigan University. The usually have a basic idea going in of what of a group of composers—among them, concert, funded in part through the NEA’s it will sound like,” says com- American Masterpieces: Chamber Music ini- poser Keith Horn, who tiative, took place on November 14. Called arranged several Zappa pieces “Electric Don Quixote,” after the Zappa bio for the concert. “With Zappa, by Neil Slaven, it featured the Kalamazoo- you have no expectations. based new-music group Opus 21. Everything is a surprise, usu- “It was too predictable to put Zappa on ally a pleasant surprise. But the jazz series,” says Sengupta. “Putting it it’s still an identifiable sound. on the main-stage series, making it an He’s an iconic artist, like ambitious concert—it would be just what Picasso or Dalí—you can hear Zappa would be amused about.” a signature (or see it). It was an apt call, considering that “I can’t put my finger on Zappa was a composer who always resisted what it is that makes Zappa pigeonholing. He made his mark as a rock who he is,” Horn continues. musician, and his first albums with his “But there’s always elements band The Mothers of Invention seemed of irreverence that come to express the anarchic, rock-and-roll spirit through. Which makes it Left: Frank Zappa. of the mid-sixties. But even there, Zappa really fun to listen to.” Above: Opus 21 plays Zappa. burst the seams of the genre, mixing In treating Zappa’s works as classical straight-ahead rock music with improvisa- music, the Kalamazoo concert continued tory riffs and electronic collages—all of it a significant tradition. Zappa worked Opus 21 members Andrew Bishop, Judy infused with a considerable amount of with conductors Pierre Boulez and Kent Moonert and Greg Secor—and had them social satire. Nagano, and his 1992 collaboration with write arrangements of Zappa’s works. Some Zappa’s eclecticism had its roots in his Ensemble Modern produced The Yellow of the composers took a freewheeling early musical passions. As a teenager, play- Shark, his last recording. Sengupta had a approach to the task—for instance, Secor’s 11 arrangement of “Peaches En Regalia,” “Dupree’s Paradise” evokes a scene in a Performances originally a jazz fusion number, gave it a bar in Los Angeles’s Watts district on a in March & rumba beat. “Arranging music in different Sunday in 1964. In Zappa’s own words: April ways is something [Zappa] did in his own “For about seven minutes, the customers lifetime,” Adams notes. “Black Page,” for in- (winos, musicians, degenerates & police- stance, started as a dense, almost nihilistic men) do the things that set them apart MARCH 9 Boston, MA drum solo and eventually acquired a melody; from the rest of society.” Harrison sought p r e s e n t e r : Boston Chamber Music Society p r o g r a m : Music and Time: Andrew Imbrie’s Serenade for Flute, Zappa even wrote a disco version. to keep that “wild, dangerous” feeling in Viola and Piano; Libby Larsen’s Black Birds, Red Hills; Before jazz composer Joel Harrison tackled his own arrangement. For the “B” section, George Crumb’s Eleven Echoes of Autumn; a r t i s t s : his own assignment, “Dupree’s Paradise,” he handed a solo to saxophonist Andrew Fenwick Smith, flute; Thomas Hill, clarinet; Ida Levin, violin; Marcus Thompson, viola; Astrid Schween, cello; he listened to two wildly different interpre- Bishop, an experienced improviser, while Randall Hodgkinson, piano tations: the first, a jazz version with Zappa writing charts for the other players that www.bostonchambermusic.org on guitar and an ensemble including Jean- simulated im-provisation. Luc Ponty on violin and George Duke The Kalamazoo Zappa concert was a MARCH 12 Kalamazoo, MI p r e s e n t e r : Fontana Chamber Arts p r o g r a m : Intimate on keyboard; the second featuring the sell-out success, attracting a wildly diverse Voices: Lamentation of the Disasters of War, by Ensemble InterContemporain under audience: chamber music aficionados, uni- Karim Al-Zand; Different Trains, by Steve Reich a r t - i s t s : Ensō String Quartet (Maureen Nelson and John Boulez. Harrison much preferred the num- versity students, aging “freaks” who have Marcus, violins; Melissa Reardon, viola; Richard ber in its jazz guise: an impression that worshiped Zappa through the decades. Belcher, cello) with Abhijit Sengupta, viola, and Julia shaped his own version. Harrison couldn’t attend, but when he Sengupta, cello www.fontanachamberarts.org “I knew that [Zappa] went into that crazy heard a recording of the concert, he found MARCH 20 Houston, TX free improvisation, but I had forgotten,” himself impressed—and surprised. “I heard p r e s e n t e r : Da Camera of Houston p r o g r a m : Jazz Harrison says. “No matter how anarchic the rhythms more like jazz musicians to be announced a r t i s t s : Brandon Lee Quintet his music was, it had deeper roots in jazz would play them—with a swung beat, a (Brandon Lee, trumpet; Jon Irabagon, alto & tenor saxophones; Donald Vega, piano; Yasushi than I realized. The orchestral version—I looseness,” he says. “But [Opus 21’s] Nakamura, bass; Marion Felder, drums) www. really thought it was lousy. I want to approach is just incredibly perfect in a way. dacamera.com phrase this in a way so that I’m not saying [Classical] musicians of this caliber are I know more than Frank Zappa, but the trained to play with an incredible kind of MARCH 23 Lafayette, LA University of Louisiana, Lafayette piece really came to life for me as a simple precision. If I put the same thing in front p r e s e n t i n g a r t i s t s : American Brass Quintet p r o g r a m jazz head. When he dressed it up for of my jazz groups, it would come out Shafer Mahoney, Brass Quintet; David Sampson, orchestra, it lost all its character.” somewhat different—but not necessarily Entrance; Eric Ewazen, Colchester Fantasy www. americanbrassquintet.org better. Composer Joel Harrison “Here’s a group of chamber music players MARCH 24 Savannah, GA who came up with an idea that worked on p r e s e n t e r : Savannah Music Festival p r o g r a m : Bassist all levels,” Harrison says. “A lot of interesting Edgar Meyer plays two duo shows with mandolinist Mike Marshall. The two will perform a variety of music was created; a lot of people showed material, including many of their own compositions. up. What a nice idea to do something that www.savannahmusicfestival.org was obviously so much fun!” “Zappa has a depth of musicality that can MARCH 26 Stillwater, OK Seretan Center for the Performing attract the nerdiest of music nerds, serious Arts, Oklahoma State University classical players, serious rock players, serious p r e s e n t i n g a r t i s t s : American Brass Quintet p r o g r a m : jazz players or 15-year-old kids playing in Shafer Mahoney, Brass Quintet; David Sampson, Entrance, Eric Ewazen, Colchester Fantasy their garage,” says Keith Horn. “To me there www.americanbrassquintet.org isn’t a lot of music to work on that is enter- taining and this challenging for musicians.” MARCH 27 Savannah, GA p r e s e n t e r : Savannah Music Festival p r o g r a m : Jazz and swing versions of works by composers such as Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Ray Noble, George Gershwin, and Mark O’Connor. a r t i s t s : Mark O’Connor’s Hot Fred Cohn is Chamber Music magazine’s Swing Trio and French bassist Renaud Garcia-Fons www.savannahmusicfestival.org consulting editor.

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