Frank Zappa—A Pioneer Of The Future Of Music—Parts 1 & 2

Videography

April 22 & 29, 2007
Nederland 2
120 min.

Directed by Frank Scheffer

See also:

• Frank Zappa: The Present-Day Composer Refuses To Die (2000)
• Frank Zappa: Phase Two—The Big Note (2002)
• Frank Zappa: Civilization Phaze III (unreleased)

Part 1 includes footage from:

• FZ, Ronnie Williams and others at the studio, c. 1962-63
• The Omens
• Shrine Exposition Hall, LA, 1966
• Garrick Theatre, 1967
• Cover photo session for We're Only In It For The Money, 1967
• Mayfair Studios, NYC, 1967
• Vienna, 1968
• Berlin, 1968
• Royal Festival Hall, 1968
• MOI & GTO's, prob. Whisky à Go-Go, July 23, 1968
• Shrine Exposition Hall, December 6-7, 1968
• FZ typing, c. 1968-69
• Close-up, c. 1968-69
• MOI 1969 Home Movies
• GTO's, 1969
• Uncle Meat shooting, 1970
• Fillmore West, 1970
• FZ at home (VPRO, 1970)
• Interview, 1970
• 200 Motels shooting, 1971
• The Grand Wazoo Tour, 1972
• Adelaide Tonight, 1973
• Passaic, NJ, October, 1978
• Interviews with Gail Zappa, Joe Travers & The Vault, Denny Walley & Lancaster, Elliot Ingber, Haskell Wexler, Miss Pamela, Miss Mercy, Ian Underwood, George Duke and Bruce Fowler

Part 2 includes footage from:

• The Steve Allen Show, 1963
• Garrick Theatre, 1967
• Vienna, 1968
• MOI 1969 Home Movies
• Beefheart, 1969
• Fillmore West, 1970
• FZ at home (VPRO, 1970)
• Interview, 1970
• NYC, 1970
• The Grand Wazoo Tour, 1972
• Stockholm, 1973
• KCET TV, 1974
• The Palladium, 1977
• FZ & Ensemble Modern, LA, July, 1991
• ZPZ live with Terry Bozzio, Steve Vai & Napoleon Murphy Brock
• Teheran Symphony Orchestra
• Interviews with Dweezil Zappa, Emil Richards, George Duke, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Tom Fowler, Bruce Fowler, Malcolm McNab, Earle Dumler, Terry Bozzio, Steve Vai, Pierre Boulez, Gail Zappa, Nader Mashayekhi, Lale Fallah Passand and Mahnaz Saheb Jam

Backstage VPRO

Twee Uur van de Wolf documentaires: Frank Zappa- A pioneer of the future of music, Part l & ll Voorpremiere maandag 2 april, Omroepbioscoop in het Ketelhuis, Amsterdam Ruim veertien jaar geleden overleed Frank Zappa.
A pioneer of the future of music Part I & II is een hommage van Frank Scheffer aan een eigenzinnig genie. Zappa was niet alleen een van de meest bijzondere rock-artiesten maar ook een van de meest uitzonderlijke componisten van de twintigste eeuw.

De film bestaat uit archief-materiaal met o.a. interviews met Zappa en een immense hoeveelheid geluid- en beeldmateriaal van o.a. performances, studio-opnames en filmische experimenten die Zappa gedurende z'n hele leven zelf geregistreerd en gearchiveerd heeft.
Frank Scheffer maakt in de film gebruik van verschillende technieken om, net als Zappa, zo optimaal mogelijk het 'collage-principe' tot z'n recht te laten komen.

De premiere wordt ingeleid door Willem de Ridder: legendarisch VPRO-hoorspelmaker en meesterverteller.

Maandag 2 april, Het Ketelhuis 4 (schuin t/o Ketelhuis)
Zaal open 19.00 uur, Aanvang 19.30 uur.

Wil je bij deze premiere aanwezig zijn? De entree is gratis, maar je moet wel even reserveren bij het Ketelhuis: 020-6840098

Kun je niet op 2 april? Frank Zappa- A pioneer of the future of music, Part l & ll wordt op zondag 22 en 29 april uitgezonden om 19.00 uur op Nederland 2.

Translation (kindly provided by Marc Schouwenberg)

Two 'Het Uur van de Wolf' [=name of the TV-show] documentaries: "Frank Zappa—A pioneer of the future of music, Part l & ll". Pre-premiere on Monday 2 April, in the cinema at 'Het Ketelhuis' [=name of the venue], Amsterdam. Over fourteen years ago [sic] Frank Zappa passed away.
"A pioneer of the future of music Part I & II" is Frank Scheffer's tribute to an extraordinary genius. Zappa wasn't just one of the most remarkable rock musicians, he was also one of the most exceptional twentieth-century composers.

The movie features archive-material of interviews with Zappa and a great amount of sound and video material of performances, studio-recordings and cinematographic experiments which Zappa himself had been registering and archiving during his life.
In the movie, Frank Scheffer uses a wide range of techniques, just like Zappa, in order to carry out the 'collage-principle' as good as possible.

The premiere night features an introduction by Willem de Ridder: legendary for his VPRO radio plays and a great narrator.

Monday 2 april, Het Ketelhuis 4 [=address] (diagonally across 'Het Ketelhuis' [?])
Doors open at 19.00, The show starts at 19.30.

Do you want to be at the premiere? Entrance is free, but you will have to make a reservation at 'het Ketelhuis': 020-6840098.

Can't be there on 2 april? "Frank Zappa—A pioneer of the future of music, Part l & ll" will be broadcast on sunday 22 and 29 april at 19.00 on Nederland 2 [=TV-station].

KUR

Frank Zappa
A pioneer of the future of music

Film in two parts by Frank Scheffer about Frank Zappa (1940-1993), not only one of the most exceptional rock-artists, but also one of the most unique composers of the 20th century. The documentary is a tribute to a self-willed genious; to the man who—as an intangible critic—observed the (American) society for decades with sarcasm and ingenious wit.

"If you deviate from the norm, it might lead to progression"
Frank Zappa

A Pioneer of the future of Music Part 1 & II exists of archived material and interviews with people who worked very close to Zappa and have been inspired by him. This material to a large extent is derived from the Vault, the massive—for a large part still unrevealed archive, in which everything which Zappa has ever recorded is stored: performances, studio-recordings, experiments, family-events, meetings, movies, and everything else he was interested in.

Also in this documentary are parts of former Frank Scheffer films and the 1971 Roelof Kiers VPRO film about—and in collaboration with—Frank Zappa.

Part I is a renewed acquaintance with FZ, his music, the seventies, era of performances of Freaks, flower children . . .

Interviews with Gail Zappa and famous Mothers of Invention: George Duke, Ian Underwood, Mark Volman and Bruce Fowler.

Part II focuses on the influences of Frank Zappa on the music industry. Musicians like Steve Vai, Terry Bozzio and Napoleon Murphy Brock talk about their collaboration with Zappa. Frank Zappa's compositions today are being performed in concerthalls. Not just by the Ensemble Contemporain, but also by the Teheran Symphony Orchestra from Iran. Both are to be seen in the documentary, as well as Dweezil Zappa, who performs today with his father's material.

A documentary from Frank Scheffer.

Marc Schouwenberg (May 10, 2007):

Alright, after having seen both parts of the Pioneer documentary, I can tell you that it's definitely not the same as Frank Scheffer's earlier films about FZ. However, it's not a completely new thing either. I think what Scheffer did is that he discarded the original idea of a trilogy, and instead he decided to re-edit the material from "Present Day Composer" & "Phase Two" and turn it into a new two-part documentary, adding some exclusive things as well. The division between the two parts isn't parallel to the division between the earlier docs though; he mixed it up a little bit, so Pioneer #1 contains material from both earlier films, and Pioneer #2 also contains material from both.

Here's a list of the footage which I thought was never available before:

PIONEER PART 1

—New Denny Walley-footage (which apparently was originally part of "Phase Two: The Big Note", but I still haven't seen that one).
—Archive footage of the GTO dancing on stage with the MOI; and new interviews with Miss Pamela and Miss Mercy.
—I think the sequence of Freaks dancing at a MOI show (at the Garrick?) was longer than I've seen at any place else, but I might be wrong about this.
—Archive footage of The Grand Wazoo Orchestra, "on the road" as well as "during soundcheck". That material seems to have been recorded on silent film, because 'unfortunately' it is accompanied by the studio version of The Grand Wazoo, which we all know by now... Well, let's hope for Imaginary Diseases #2!

PIONEER PART 2

—Malcolm McNab playing the Bebop Tango, originally entitled "Malcolm McNab" (was this also already in The Big Note?).
—New interviews with the ZPZ-special guests, meaning: Napi (telling how hearing Frank's music for the first time was like the greatest orgasm he ever had); Bozzio (when he played The Black Page correctly for the first time, FZ said "Bozzio, you're a fucking genius"); and Vai (demonstrating how FZ taught him What's New In Baltimore).
—New interview with Dweezil, also mainly about ZPZ.
—ZPZ live footage, including BlackPage, Echidna'sArf, and Sofa (live in Paris).

Noah McKelvie (August 2, 2008)

Footage of "Chunga's Revenge" (which is with FZ on the screen from the Palladium 1981) and "Trouble Every Day" (a tiny bit of Dweezil's guitar solo) from the same ZPZ Paris concert is also shown.

Additional informant: Corné van Hooijdonk

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