Zappa Plays Zappa
is an American tribute act led by Dweezil Zappa, the eldest son of the late American composer and musician Frank Zappa, devoted to performing the music of Frank Zappa.
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ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA TICKETS
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History
The band debuted in 2006 with shows in Europe, Canada and the United States during May and June (the tour was also known as
Zappa Plays Zappa - Tour de Frank
). The shows presented a collection of Frank Zappa's rock-oriented compositions from 1960s to 1980s. Apart from Dweezil Zappa on lead guitar, the band consisted of a mix of relatively unknown young musicians and older musicians who previously played with Frank Zappa. Among those,
Napoleon Murphy Brock (sax, flute and vocals) was an integral part of the band, while drummer (and singer)
Terry Bozzio and electric guitarist
Steve Vai performed as guests in parts of the shows. At several shows Frank Zappa himself performed songs posthumously via synchronized audio/video technology, notedly portions of "
Chunga's Revenge", "
Dumb All Over", and "
Cosmik Debris".
After a break, the band played again in the US during the Fall of 2006, including a show in New York on October 31. This revived Frank Zappa's tradition of playing
Halloween shows in New York. A DVD documenting the 2006 tour was released in early 2008.
[1]
In July and August 2007, the band played a North American tour, with a core line up similar to that of the 2006 band. The band then played in Europe during September and October, before returning to the US, starting with another Halloween show in New York. Special guest on the tour was vocalist and guitarist
Ray White.
[2] They ended the 2007 tour in Australia in early December before doing a handful of shows in Japan in January 2008. Steve Vai returned as a guest on those shows. A brief tour of U.S. and Canadian dates was then scheduled for the Summer of 2008 with the same line-up as the 2007 tour.
[3]
At the
51st Grammy Awards in February 2009, Zappa Plays Zappa won best rock instrumental performance for their performance of "
Peaches en Regalia".
[4]
Band member Aaron Arntz's final performance with ZPZ was in Santa Rosa, CA on March 7, 2009. Guest performer Ray White unexpectedly left Zappa Plays Zappa April 1st of 2009.
[5] In May 2009, it was announced that Ben Thomas is the new lead singer for the American and European tours after a lengthy audition process for the band.
The band is confirmed to be one of the support acts on
Dream Theater's Progressive Nation 09 along with
Bigelf and
Scale the Summit.
Musicians
Group
:
- Dweezil Zappa - guitar
- Scheila Gonzalez - saxophone, flute, keyboards and vocals
- Pete Griffin - bass
- Billy Hulting - marimba, mallets and percussions
- Jamie Kime - guitar
- Joe Travers - drums and vocals
- Ben Thomas - lead vocals
Former Members
:
- Aaron Arntz - trumpet, keyboards, and vocals
Guests on most 2006 shows
:
- Napoleon Murphy Brock - vocals, saxophone and flute
- Terry Bozzio - drums and vocals
- Steve Vai - guitar
Guest on 2007, 2008 and some 2009 shows
:
- Ray White - vocals and guitar
References
- Zappa Plays Zappa > Videos
- Zappa Plays Zappa > The Players
- Zappa Plays Zappa > Tour Dates
- The 51st Annual Grammy Awards Winners List
- Zappa Plays Zappa > ZPZ Blog