The Music of Frank Zappa

I enjoy Zappa in small doses, primarily the early stuff and primarily the instrumental passages. That’s why this summer I put together (gawd I love iTunes!) four CD-Rs of the music of FZ as performed by the Harmonia Ensemble, Ensemble Ambrosius, the Meridian Arts Ensemble and Ricardo Fassi Tankio Band — four classical ensembles who approach Frank as a contemporary classical composer, even when stripping out his puerile lyrics and crappy rock band delivery. Stripped of all their childish accoutrements they shine as masterpieces of contemporary classical music.

Which is why I’ve been following the controversy regarding the “Zappa Hits The Road Again” concerts slated for 2018. Have you heard about this?

Ahmet Zappa (his son) has been working with a Hollywood company to develop an avatar of his father, a simulacrum, which can be animated in real time by an actor in a green suit and motion-capture dots all over it. It’s being billed as a “hologram” but of course it’s nothing of the sort. It’s a cartoon puppet following the motions of an unseen actor offstage. They’ll play recordings of Frank singing and playing, and are trying to get real musicians to play alongside the simulacrum (but they keep dropping out as the fans discover the sham). It will be not totally a live performance, and the star will be simulated.

Raises a lot of fairly unsavory questions... not the least of which, “What the hell is Ahmet thinking???”

I don't know about "unsavory," but it certainly is strange.
Of course, strange and Zappa have always gone well together.