Frank Zappa
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
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Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, electronic, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. Zappa produced almost all of the more than 60 albums he released with the band The Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. While in his teens, he acquired a taste for percussion-based avant-garde composers such as Edgard Varèse and 1950s rhythm and blues music. He began writing classical music in high school, while at the same time playing drums in rhythm and blues bands; he later switched to electric guitar. He was a self-taught composer and performer, and his diverse musical influences led him to create music that was often impossible to categorize. His 1966 debut album with The Mothers of Invention, Freak Out!, combined songs in conventional rock and roll format with collective improvisations and studio-generated sound collages. His later albums shared this eclectic and experimental approach, irrespective of whether the fundamental format was one of rock, jazz or classical. He wrote the lyrics to all his songs, which—often humorously—reflected his iconoclastic view of established social and political processes, structures and movements. He was a strident critic of mainstream education and organized religion, and a forthright and passionate advocate for freedom of speech, self-education, political participation and the abolition of censorship. Zappa was a highly productive and prolific artist and gained widespread critical acclaim. Many of his albums are considered essential in rock and jazz history. He is regarded as one of the most original guitarists and composers of his time. He also remains a major influence on musicians and composers. He had some commercial success, particularly in Europe, and for most of his career was able to work as an independent artist. Zappa was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and 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 Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet Emuukha Rodan and Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen. Gail Zappa manages the businesses of her late husband under the name the Zappa Family Trust. Description above from the Wikipedia article Frank Zappa, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Movie Credits
Frank Zappa – Summer '82: When Zappa Came to Sicily
An Evening with Frank Zappa During Which... The Torture Never Stops
Frank Zappa: The Present-Day Composer Refuses To Die
Feats First: The Life and Music of Lowell George
Stupor Mundi: Livre 1, Rituel de décapitation du pape
A Life of Extravaganza - The Genius Frank Zappa
Amougies (Music Power - European Music Revolution)
Classic Albums: Frank Zappa - Apostrophe (') Over-Nite Sensation
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention: In the 1960's
Stupor Mundi: Livre 2, Les Hommes qui mangèrent la montagne
Stupor Mundi: Book 3, The Most Dangerous Encounter
An American Dissident: un tributo a Frank Zappa
Classic Albums: Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention - Freak Out!
Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention - The Lost Broadcast: The Beat Club '68
Steve Vai - His First 30 Years: The Documentary
Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words
Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention: Live at Whisky a Go Go 1968
The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers
The Artist Formerly Known As Captain Beefheart
Frank Zappa, John Lennon & Yoko Ono: At Fillmore East
