Customer Reviews

Greggery Peccary and Other Persuasions: The Ensemble Modern Plays Frank Zappa

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Thank Jebus for the Ensemble Modern. What an incredible group of musicians. I could not agree more with Gail Zappa when she exclaims in the liner notes, "The precision with which this is played is shocking and delicious." I am so grateful to this ensemble for realizing the music of one of my favorite composers so capably and lovingly. This recording took skill, determination, and dedication.

I, personally, think the arrangements are fantastic. It was a painstaking process to find as much of the original material as possible and then to transcribe the rest. The production is lush, balanced and precise. And, once again, the performances are inspired.

My one complaint is that "Peaches" feels a little rushed. Everything else is perfect. "Moggio," "A Pig with Wings," "Naval Aviation In Art?" and "The Adventures of Gregary Preccary" stand out as perhaps a litle more perfect than the rest.

I cannot recommend this disc highly enough to any fan of Zappa's music.

I have grown to love "The Yellow Shark" and "Civilization Phaze III" more and more by and by, as the discs have spin in my player. I keenly awaited the release of this disc with high expectations, and realized--the first time I gave this disc a listen--that I could have had set the bar even higher! The sound engineering (purity there of, and stereophony) is very satisfying. To hear these songs, which I have liked and loved for a long time, performed by an ensemble this powerful and professional (and furthermore - big) is very pleasing.
Ali N. Askin (composer, EM's arranger, and FZ's assistant for the "Yellow Shark" project) has transcribed the original mid-70's recording of "Greggery Peckery", and orchestrated it for EM. It is quite mind-blowing how accurate this performance is to the original, and the added spices are very tasty - this goes for every single performance on the disc, btw. I can see how the hectic narration on "Greggery" could bother those who have grown accustomed to the original recording, but it doesn't much bother me, the professionalism of the musicians saves a lot. Three pieces from "Civilization Phaze III" are performed - this time around with only "real" instruments, of course, and they are all granted to warm the hearts of "C.P.III" lovers. Two nostalgic classics --"Peaches En Regalia" and "Revised Music for Low Budget Orchestra"-- are granted to give listeners satisfaction, especially to those who might think that Zappa's hey day was during the "Hot Rats" period. The performances of these tunes are rich, and give the compositions a certain royalty. An insane fact about this album, is that it is recorded in EIGHT DAYS, proving that this is a VERY talented and EXTREMELY professional ensemble, meaning also that it is worth listening to just for the quality of performance, even if you don't generally enjoy FZ's music.
...Oh, and there's an eleventh track on the disc - it's "hidden", but I'm not going to give anything away; find out what it is for yourselves by buying this album, thus supporting a group of GREAT musicians.

If you're a fan of The Yellow Shark, Everything Is Healing Nicely, Civilization Phaze III, Jazz From Hell, The Perfect Stranger, and perhaps LSO I&II, then you will want this recording. Also, if you're a fan of Stravinsky, Webern, Varese, or contemporary classical music of that genre, you should have no problem with this music. The Ensemble Modern are excellent... the performances seem flawless to me, and it seems there's a conviction to the work and the composer often lacking in other recordings or interpretations of Zappa's 'serious' music, like The London Symphony Orchestra Plays Zappa (LSO I&II) for instance. The memebers of EM also seem to have no problem playing Frank's Synclavier compositions either, and it's nice to here them played by real musicians instead of a machine, eventhough I love his Synclavier work too. Performed this way, pieces like "Night School", "Put A Motor In Yourself" and "A Pig With Wings" seem to have added depth and color. "Greggery Peccary" is awesome too... it does lack a little something, perhaps the absence of Frank's voice, but it's still a great version... definitely worth having, and the little surprise at the end from 200 Motels is great. It's a new arrangement from the "Stealing The Room" segment of the film. I think this is a must have recording for any true fan of Zappa's work. Kudos to Ali Askin for transcribing a lot of this music so well, and to Todd Yvega for creating a program to convert the Synclavier files to some workable format for Ali and the musicians. I realize that for the most part these are not Zappa arrangements per se, meaning they had to work from what was available to them (the liner notes go into more detail) but I think Zappa would have been more than pleased with the performances, and interpretations, etc.

Excellent musicians, but quite bland arrangements (particularly in "Put a Motor in Yourself", climax-less "Low Budget Orchestra..." and clumsy "Peaches..."). And I find the treatment of Greggary Peccary, FZ's magnum opus, to be particularly unsuccessful: narration sounds more like aping with a lot of silly mannerisms, making the whole story (a nice one, btw) sound very artificial. FZ was telling a story -David Moss and Omar Ebrahim are just reciting a text. I wonder if some more imaginative approach would have helped - like having narration parts played by some instruments (trumpets? clarinets?). Greggary Peccary sounds like quite an unlikable character in Omar Ebrahim's performance (and he was pretty charming, IMHO, in FZ's version). Orchestration is again somehow lacking the edge of the original.

More successful tracks are excellent dynamic "Moggio" and interesting version of "Naval Aviation...".

The musicianship is outstanding, plain to hear on every track. The recording is also top-notch, clear, distinct, with great separation, superb mixing.

But overall, this one just doesn't warm me up. I don't come home at the end of the day and want to slide this into the player, just to run through it a few times. And why is this? After much thinking, it's down to two things.

First, most of the arrangements are just too true to the original, too close to Frank's recordings. Yeah, the arrangements are actually different (but honestly, not by that much), and we've got all instruments as opposed to synclavier, etc. But just sitting and listening, to my long-FZ-acquainted ears it's too much like listening to the originals. This comes across as arranger homage to Frank (and you've gotta respect that), but at the same time I'd think that a group as boss and proficient as the EM would be able to branch out and stretch those musical wings a bit. I mean, if Frank Zappa's music doesn't lend itself well to alternative interpretations (just listen to Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance, the new Ed Palermo Big Band FZ music release and that wacky salsa title track), then what does?

Second, the vocals on "Greggary Peccary" just drive me nuts. It's like listening to a reading of some kind of darkly twisted children's book, with the narrator employing all kinds of silly, stupid, and eventually just plain annoying vocal ploys to keep me interested. Given my comments above about the sound being too close to the original, this criticism may come across here as flip-flopping, but this rendition of "Peccary," despite its highly original and enjoyable add-on way there at the end, just grates on me.

If you're new to Zappa, save this purchase until you're far more schooled in the entire FZ catalog, until you can look at the songs listed on the label and hear them in your head. Wait until you've got all of the major FZ releases before you get this one.

If you're a dedicated Zappa lunatic, then you'll buy this, just as I did. And you won't regret it; I certainly don't. I guess I was just hoping for more, the kind of "more" that the Colin Towns Frank Zappa's Hot Licks & Funny Smells: Live at Moers Festival 2004 release gave in magnificent, orgasmic profusion. Now this is a recording I look forward to listening to, often. In fact, I'll put in on in the car for the ride home tonight.

As much as I love "The Yellow Shark," so had I anticipated more of FZ's music from the Ensemble Modern. "Everything Is Healing Nicely" is excellent, but only whetted my appetite more. When I was informed of this offering, I leaped at the chance to gain possession. Sadly, I am not quite leaping for joy afer hearing it.

As always, the musicianship is superb. I believe the Ensemble Modern to be among the finest groups of musicians on the planet today. I also believe there is something missing on this particular release. I thought perhaps it was merely a difference between conductors, Jonathan Stockhammer on the current recording and Peter Rundel on "The Yellow Shark," but it's more than that. Perhaps it is because "Shark" is a live recording, I thought, but comparing "Healing Nicely" with this release puts that theory to bed. Then, after several intent listenings, I realized what was missing was the "eyebrows."

Perhaps only Frank himself is qualified to address that most essential aspect of Zappa's music. Perhaps we are fated to eyebrowless renditions of FZ's music for eternity. Perhaps I am wrong. I am sure that after the death of many great composers nit-pickers like myself ranted about how it will never be the same, the right attitude is missing, blah, blah, blah.

I am suddenly reminded of one of the first lessons about art I learned: Never listen to what as***les like me have to say about it. Buy it, listen to it, make up your own mind.

Any recording I've ever heard of FZ's music produced without Frank's involvement always seems to fall short of his intent. Unfortunately, this is another such release, despite the enormous amount of involvement from FZ's closest assistants and the remarkably talented Ensemble Modern.

FZ approached recording his more 'chamber' influenced compositions similarly to how he recorded his rock pieces. The flutes, strings, percussion, etc. were all multitracked just like guitar, bass, and drums. This allowed a certain degree of intricacy in the mix that a classical ensemble cannot achieve without the aid of complex sound reinforcement, similar to that which was found on the YellowShark recording. While I've yet to read the fine print to see if they recorded it this way, it doesn't sound as such after my first listen.

While Ali Askin (the arranger for most if not all of the pieces on this disc) is very talented and highly sensitive to FZ's orchestrational sensibilities, I've found some quite shocking and confusing orchestrational choices on his part. These choices are mainly regarding balance between melody and accompaniment. FZ frequently employed doubling and tripling of a line over several instruments to accentuate the subtle nuances of his long, and highly complex melodic writing. An example of how Askin failed to achieve this is in his arrangement of 'Put a Motor in Yourself'. The initial melody (after the studdering reeds melody) which was played on 'piccolo' on the Synclavier version is now arranged for solo synthesizer and gets totally buried in the mix by the rich and very thick accompaniment. I don't think Frank would have approved.

All individual qualms aside, I'm thrilled to see another release from Ensemble Modern, but my frustration with any ensemble or band's inability to perform FZ's music accurately without FZ's involvement continues. I suppose it's a lost cause. However, this review pertains to the super-sensitive Zappa Freak, who typically obsesses over such minute details as discussed here.

Don't let this review prevent you from buying this great music performed by the greatest contemporary ensemble in the world!

If your a Zappa fan and especially if you liked the "Yellow Shark" You should check out this new disc. If your familiar with the song Greggery Peccary from "Studio Tan" then you will like the precision playing from this ensemble, the only thing missing is the voice of Frank Zappa himself as narrator. Great version of "Peaches en Regalia" also. I also like very much "Revised Music For Low Budget Orchestra", and "Moggio". If you let the CD play after "Greggery Peccary" for a little while there is a little surprise 4 minutes of Zappa madness from "200 Motels" a movie zappa made in the early 70's, not from the soundtrack but as played by the Ensemble Modern. The track is not listed in the booklet.

I've been a fan of Zappa since, on a silly whim as a teenager, I bought Freak Out because of the pink hair! Nevermind the original motivator; I quickly realized what a superior musician and person FZ was. Although I saw/heard him perform w/ the Mothers on many occasions, he actually "lost" me during his Waka Jawaka period. (Too many guitars.) Towards the end of his life a torrential flow of exciting work was released: Jazz from Hell, The Best Band You'll Never Hear, Yellow Shark, and his massterpiece: Civilisation Phase. I am so gratified that Ensemble Modern is transcribing his work and playing it so magnificently. Too often other ensembles were moved to play his music but, less than ideally. EM plays his most difficult music with elan and grace. Gregory Pecory reminds me of Stravinsky's "History of a Soldier." Ladies and gentlemen: BUY this great Music and performance!