Best Frank Zappa´s Recordings

Looks like I'm late jumping into this one but I just noticed it. I'm another Zappa nut who owns the entire Verve catalog and roughly 45 releases overall. Most of his best has already been listed here, but I wanted to add a few thoughts.

Of more recent releases, both "Make a Jazz Noise Here" and "Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life" are astounding live performances (minus a little between song goofiness). "Roxy & Elsewhere" remains an all-time favorite. I'd love to see that one re-issued on heavyweight vinyl.

Jazz fans will likely enjoy the version of "Let's Move to Cleveland" found on Volume 4 of the "You Can't Do That On Stage" series - it features Archie Shepp on tenor!

Two other recent relases of Zappa material by other artists are welll worth it. The Persuasions relased "Frankly A Capella" on the EarthBeat! lable in 2000, very nicely done all-vocal renditions done with heartfelt feeling. And the "Ed Palermo Big Band Plays the Music of Frank Zappa" was released on Astor Place records in 1997 (well, I guess not that recent).

An incredible enigma of an artist!

Yellow Shark IS extrodinary!

More so by the fact that members of the Ensemble Modern really spent a lot of time conquering the difficult scores, with most pleasing results. Zappa, ever the perfectionist, was I think happier with these performances than any other of his orchestral works that made it to record.

It would have been nice to have heard it live, as the music was presented in the theatre in 6 channels! I believe 3 channels each were merged to produce the stereo recordings. I think I'm going to go listen to this again tonite...