Frank Zappa’s ‘Waka Wazoo’ Boxset Discussed In New Podcast Episode

The ‘Zappacast’ podcast is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Frank Zappa’s “big band” period with a deep dive into the just released Waka Wazoo boxset.

During the episode, fans will hear from the Vaultmeister himself, Joe Travers, who assembled this comprehensive collection of recordings that show what went into the making of the classic albums, Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo.

Host Scott Parker and producer Phil Surkis are on hand to grill Joe about all things conceptual continuity, including: How did Frank’s sound change with Kerry McNabb in the studio? Do the new Dolby Atmos releases follow FZ’s original quadriphonic intensions? Who wrote the melody to “Uncle Remus”? Why did Alex Dmochowski only play bass on these two albums? All that and more!

The makers of the ‘Zappacast’ podcast hope it will provide blessed relief to all those curious about the making of this historical boxset. However, if you scroll down, you can check out some of the content before you listen to the episode in full.

Scott Parker: “The new four CD set chronicles the making of the Waka/Jawaka and Grand Wazoo albums with a special live performance thrown in, so we’re going to get into all that folks.”

Joe Travers: “I knew there was potential to release this [boxset] because I documented the tapes about 10 years ago. So I knew what the content of those original multi-tracks were, but once it came the time to bring the hammer down and start really compiling something for release, it all really came together pretty easily, actually. Man, there’s some great s_t in this.”

Scott Parker: “For those listening who don’t know the story…Frank [Zappa] had been pushed off the stage at the Rainbow in London the previous December and had spent at least the next six months solidly in a wheelchair. It kept him out of the studio for a while until he could go to Paramount and record these [albums], right?”

Joe Travers: “Yeah, Paramount’s a big room, I was in there and it’s really funky in there. It’s a nice studio. It’s still happening. And Frank really worked a lot out of that studio, for a few years anyway, with Kerry McNabb on some of his most, literally, most popular records, which were recorded in that place – either recorded or at least mixed or worked on there. If you think about the string of albums that came out of Paramount, that was the golden era of 70s Zappa, really. It was a cool place and all the stuff for Waka/Jawaka and the Grand Wazoo was tracked there.”

Scott Parker: “In 1972, the caliber of the musicianship in The Mothers changed and it became more about virtuosity. Well, George Duke was really the first guy, but [trumpeter] Sal [Marquez] is definitely in the mix. That is a loving testament to his playing.”

Joe Travers: “No doubt. As we know, Frank always had a knack of getting the best out of anyone that would work with him. And you can hear that on these sessions. You hear him pulling. The final result, actually, of “Waka/Jawaka,” for instance, all those overdubbed trumpets and stuff on that final version, and what’s interesting is that when you listen to the alternate take or the alternate version on the boxset, and you hear what the skeleton in that song sounded like in the studio – and then how Frank constructed that absolutely gorgeous, brilliant, iconic ending with all those overdubbed trumpets and everything. And he was thinking about quadrophonic sound when he was recording that. Literally, on the tape box, you can see Kerry McNabb’s diagram about where the trumpets are to be placed in the quadrophonic set. I mean, they recorded it that way. Just more and more examples of Frank always pushing the boundaries.”

Phil Surkis: “So, I was curious about how Kerry McNabb came into the fold because this is so well recorded. It’s amazing. But I’m also wondering, are the Dolby Atmos mixes at all paying homage to the original quadrophonic intentions?”

Joe Travers: “Well, I made sure it was the quadrophonic intention about the specific things about the placement of the horns, but the whole album was not mixed in quad, just that one song was. [But the team involved] really kicked ass on that Dolby Atmos mix. For both of those records, it’s incredible. It’s a benchmark. The bar has been raised. The technology is new, and again, Frank Zappa’s music leads the pack. I’m sorry, but it’s true.”

Listen to ‘The Grandest Wazoo (And Waka Jawaka too!)’ episode of the ‘Zappacast’ podcast in full.