King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa

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King Kong. Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa
Studio album by Jean-Luc Ponty

Publication
(s)

1970

Label (s) Pacific Jazz New Series , Liberty Records , Blue Note

Format (s)

LP vinyl , CD

Genre (s)

Jazz , jazz rock , new music

Title (number)

6th

running time

43:42

occupation

production

Richard Bock

Studio (s)

Whitney Studios, Glendale

chronology
Electric Connection
(1969)
King Kong. Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa Astrorama
(1970)

King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa (English f. King Kong. Jean-Luc Ponty plays the music of Frank Zappa ) is an album by jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty from 1970, on the In addition to his own composition, Ponty only plays works by Frank Zappa .

The album

The album was created after a brief interaction between Zappa and Ponty during recordings for the album Hot Rats . In addition to Frank Zappa, who plays a distorted guitar solo in How Would You Like To Have A Head Like That , John Guerin from the Hot Rats cast also played . George Duke , who had taken over the piano part, was then hired by Zappa.

Three of the tracks, King Kong , Idiot Bastard Son and America Drinks and Goes Home , had already been released by the Mothers of Invention on previous albums, Twenty Small Cigars had already been recorded during the Hot Rats sessions but was later recorded on Chunga's Revenge published by Zappa himself.

Music for Electric Violin and Low Budget Orchestra is an orchestral piece that Zappa composed on the occasion of the collaboration for the album.

Track list

  • King Kong - Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa - Music for Electric Violin and Low Budget Orchestra Composed and Arranged by Frank Zappa (Liberty LBS 83375)

All songs, except How Would You Like to Have a Head Like That , by Jean-Luc Ponty, were composed by Frank Zappa.

No. title Duration
1. King Kong 04:54
2. Idiot bastard son 04:00
3. Twenty Small Cigars 05:35
4th How Would You Like to Have a Head Like That 07:14
5. Music for Electric Violin and Low Budget Orchestra 19:20
6th America Drinks and Goes Home 02:39

reception

For Steve Huey, the album shows Zappa's increased credibility as a composer. The album shows that Zappa was the only one among the jazz rock musicians who came from rock music who could also grasp the complexity of jazz. He sees Music For Electric Violin And Low Budget Orchestra as the central piece in which influences from jazz rock and new music would be combined. In the original liner notes of the album, Leonard Feather pointed out Ponty's importance for the development of the jazz violin, in which nothing decisive new has happened since Ray Nance played in the Duke Ellington Orchestra .

Web links / sources

Individual evidence

  1. Discography on allmusic.com
  2. Uncle Meat # page 4
  3. We're Only in It for the Money
  4. Absolutely Free
  5. Steve Huey: King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty, allmusic.com
  6. ^ Feather, Original Liner Notes.