Frank Vincent Zappa 21 december was a musician, bandleader, songwriter, composer, recording engineer, record producer & film director. in a career spanning more than 30 years Zappa composed rock, jazz, orchestral & musique concrète works. he also directed feature length films & music videos & designed album covers. Zappa produced almost all of the more than 60 albums he released with the band The Mothers of Invention & as a solo artist. while in his teens he acquired a taste for 20th century classical composers such as edgard varèse, igor stravinsky & anton webern along with 1950s rhythm and blues music. he began writing classical music in high school while at the same time playing drums in rhythm & blues bands he later switched to electric guitar. Zappa was a self taught composer and performer & his diverse musical influences led him to create music that was often difficult to categorize. his 1966 debut album with the Mothers of Invention Freak Out! combined songs in conventional rock & roll format with collective improvisations & studio generated sound collages. his later albums shared this eclectic & experimental approach, irrespective of whether the fundamental format was rock, jazz or classical. his lyrics - often humorously - reflected his iconoclastic view of established social & political processes, structures & movements. he was a strident critic of mainstream education and organized religion & a forthright & passionate advocate for freedom of speech, self education, political participation & the abolition of censorship. he was a highly productive & prolific artist & gained widespread critical acclaim. he had some commercial success particularly in europe & worked as an independent artist for most of his career. he also remains a major influence on musicians & composers. Zappa was posthumously inducted into the rock & roll hall of fame in 1995 & received the grammy lifetime achievement award in 1997. Zappa was married to Kathryn J. Kay Sherman from 1960 to 1964. in 1967 he married Adelaide Gail Sloatman, with whom he remained until his death from prostate cancer in 1993. they had four children: Moon, Dweezil, Ahmet & Diva. in 2004 rolling stone magazine ranked him at #71 on its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time & in 2011 at #22 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. (source: wikipedia)
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 20:37:21 +0000