I’ve been on a Frank Zappa jag since hearing a startling arrangement of “Peaches en Regalia” at Greenwood Social Hall on July 1. For better or worse, I’m finally receptive to the late iconoclast’s caustic sensibility.
A new episode of Andrew Hickey’s phenomenal A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs podcast further enhanced my appreciation. I even (tried) to watch Uncle Meat, the experimental Zappa film completed in 1987.
The Zappa immersion prepared me for Un Jazz, the hilariously confrontational new album by a sextet operating under the moniker Nu Jazz. Zappa almost certainly would have appreciated the room-clearing combination of jazz fusion, heavy metal, prog-rock, punk and hyperpop.
Fire-Toolz is among the contemporary artists who have cleared a path for Nu Jazz, but the astonishing musicianship and knowing comedic intent of Un Jazz compels me to bang my head while laughing out loud. My three-week Zappa binge ends here.