Edgard Varese

In the grain of my last entry (in which, I'll admit, I got lost in the world of Zappa's R&B and Pop music influences and simply forgot to mention others) let's focus some due attention on Edgard Varese. Varese was Frank Zappa's largest musical influence from the time he first discovered the composer to his death. What captivated Zappa most notably in Varese's work was his manipulation of timbre and the simple act of using a variety of different instruments and other objects to achieve simple variations of timbre. Similar manipulations of timbre and use of some interesting objects as instruments would be found in Zappa's works from an early stage. In fact, even prior to his life in the musical spotlight, Varese inspired Zappa's attempts to make music with a bicycle:




Though at first it may seem odd to imagine Varese, a... classical... orchestral composer as one of Zappa's most strong influences, upon further inspection it becomes clear. Simply to look at his face...
... is telling enough that in some way or another, Zappa would find inspiration from this man. He has the hair and face of a mad scientist and the piercing eyes of someone confident in his creations; a confidence needed when composing music that most listeners and even more fellow composers considered "noise" and not at all music.

Looking closely at some of Varese's compositions we see more tangible similarities between his and Zappa's tastes. Like the young Zappa to follow, Varese employed the use of noise (timbre) and rhythm in a sort of collage fashion, moving in and out of themes, often changing metre and adopting a whole new theme. These changing themes would often seemingly have little or no correlation between them and would sometimes last only seconds before morphing into something entirely new and unexpected. It was exactly this stylistic approach which Zappa would use in the epic "Lumpy Gravy".

Here is one of Zappa's most beloved Varese compositions, "Ionisation":




Compared to part 1 of Frank Zappa's "Lumpy Gravy":



Zappa's piece, like Varese's, has a strong sense of rhythmic unity combined with various changing timbre's. In both pieces we are initially put off by the apparent lack of any attention paid towards structure, but, upon further listening, we see the unparalleled ability of both composers to string together unrelated elements of themes, rhythm and timbre into a cohesive whole.

Although at first it may have seemed odd to find a copy of Edgard Varese's Ionisation amongst Zappa's record collection beside the likes of Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, The Cadets, and The Coasters, now we are able to see a clear link between the two styles of music.

The many influences of Zappa

Though Frank Zappa had a style all his own, unique and warped, often grotesque, clearly he had influences. Let's do a little walk through:

Johnny "Guitar" Watson



Johnny "Guitar" Watson, with his clear roots in the blues tradition, distinct electric guitar tone and quality, funky expressive lyrics sung in that smokey voice, and--of course--a taste for the unusual.

"Gangsta Of Love" kind of reminds me ALOT of "Willie The Pimp":



(I thought the video was by Zappa but it's not so ignore it. We'll talk about Zappa's interest in video/film/cinema later...maybe)

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown



The tone is again wiry and distinct, much like Watson's. The ferocity and speed with which "Gatemouth" attacks his solo (0:55) is reminiscent of Zappa's own speedy, spastic style. Also notable here is Brown's tight-knit arrangement which Zappa, though in a much different fashion, would employ in "Peaches En Regalia".

And in the R & B tradition:

The Cadets



The Coasters



Johnny Otis



In analyzing Zappa's Rhythm & Blues influences we see much of where his early approach to original compositions came from. Although his songs represented the R&B tradition in a more satirical fashion, they were not mocking that tradition; they represented his strong roots connection to the music which he grew up listening to and loved. Also present is a distinct instrumentation, particularly the Saxophone, which Zappa would feature in his later songs. Countless other direct influences are present, most notably the theatrical banter and other activity between members of the groups. Oh yes...and Johnny Otis' moustache and goatee which would plaster itself on Zappa's face never again to be removed.