The Band from Utopia A Tribute to the Music of Frank Zappa
May 2006 Reviewed by: Joseph Taylor Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Frank Zappa’s death in 1993 left a gap in music that has yet to be filled, at least not on the scale of popularity and influence that he achieved. Some alumni of his bands have done impressive work that follows in his footsteps, such as Terry Bozio’s Chamber Works and Mike Kennealy’s The Universe Will Provide. Both give one hope that Zappa’s experiments in bringing together modern concert music, jazz, and pop will continue. The Band from Utopia is named for Zappa’s 1983 LP, The Man from Utopia. It was put together in 1994 when the Jazzopen Festival in Stuttgart asked some of the composer’s sidemen, including Ike Willis and Bruce Fowler, to stage a tribute. The band headlined the festival and played and recorded other tributes to Zappa over the next few years.

A German television network filmed A Tribute to the Music of Frank Zappa, now included in TDK Music DVD’s roster of jazz releases. Their list also includes an excellent Herbie Hancock performance from 1983 with Ron Carter and Billy Cobham (World of Rhythm) and an enjoyable Modern Jazz Quartet appearance from 1992 (40th Anniversary Tour). As the liner notes from the Zappa DVD point out, celebrating his music at a jazz festival might seem odd. Yet the rhythmic and melodic complexity of his work demanded a lot from musicians and listeners. While "Bamboozled by Love" may be typical of Zappa’s satirical rock tunes, "Be-Bop Tango" is doubtless as complex, unsettling, and breathtaking as any jazz the festival presented that year. "The Illinois Enema Bandit" is a classic example of the composer’s scatological humor, but the tune is so deftly played by the ensemble that you’ll find yourself enjoying it even if you are puzzled by the lyrics.

Ike Willis shines on vocals and his guitar solos compare well with Zappa’s. Other standouts include Bobby Martin on vocals, keys, and tenor sax and Bruce Fowler on trombone. The mix buries the drums a bit. Nevertheless, Jay Dittamo and Chad Wackerman come through well enough to impress with their skill at handling Zappa’s difficult rhythm patterns. The 5.1 mix sounds thin and scattered, with the vocals pulled back. (By contrast, the surround mix on the Herbie Hancock disc is quite good.) The two-channel mix is much more cohesive and the vocals are solidly centered. Even so, the music was not as cleanly recorded as it could have been, which might account for the poor surround mix.

The director, Christian Wagner, was paying close attention to what the musicians were doing onstage. The opening "Be Bop Tango," for example, contains some odd notes on an unidentifiable instrument. Wagner cuts to a close-up of Tommy Mars playing those notes on a keyboard. The editing of the film is also smart and attentive to the right details. Whether Zappa’s music is jazz or not may be open to debate, but no one will question the quality of the musicianship on this DVD or the fact that it’s an intelligently presented tribute to a musician who is sorely missed.

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