Search - Frank Zappa, Ensemble Ambrosius :: Ensemble Ambrosius: The Zappa Album

Love it or hate it - choose only one

S. M Marson | Lumberton, NC | 08/09/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have been listening to Frank Zappa on LPs, CDs and at concerts since FREAK OUT! was released in 1966. I own a copy of most of his material including two obscure interview CDs.



Prior to buying ENSEMBLE AMBROSIUS, I noticed a wide diversity of opinion among the Amazon reviewers. In fact, based on these reviews, it appears that a person is either going to love or hate ENSEMBLE AMBROSIUS. There seems be no middle ground of appreciation for this work. Because of the negative reviews, I purchased it with a great deal of hesitation.



The question becomes, why do so many people hate it? and conversely, how can so many others love it? I've been reading and rereading the other reviews and thinking about their comments for several days and have come to one conclusion. Those who liked it, were expecting something unusual and their expectations were fulfilled. Those who hated ENSEMBLE AMBROSIUS, I believe were expecting to find Zappa's soul or imprint on this CD. Zappa is not on this CD. Ensemble Ambrosius didn't miss notes, didn't hit the wrong pitch, they didn't get "it" wrong. It is not a rotten tribute. It is their interpretation of Zappa and, most importantly, you may not like it.



In the end, you're either going to love ENSEMBLE AMBROSIUS or hate it. There will be no middle ground. The problem: Amazon, as with so many other CDs, does NOT offer (at the time of this writing) its potential customers an opportunity to listen to sound bites prior to purchase. The negative reviews nearly stopped me from buying this CD. I suspect that others who would like this CD will not buy it because of the reviews, but, in fact, would enjoy owning it if they had an opportunity to listening to bites of the CD on Amazon's web page.

"

A Brilliant Baroque Ensemble Whipping It Out

Geoff Pointer | Adelaide Australia | 02/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Firstly I need to address the validity of this album as many have questioned its validity as a Zappa tribute - and be clear that I believe it's an amazing tribute.



Frank Zappa was the greatest composer of the 20th century in terms of the stunning spectrum of elements he was able to incorporate in his works without being consumed by them. He wasn't just a rock and roll guitarist a la Carolina Hard Core Ecstasy. He had fun doing that but he was so much more than that. As an improviser, Frank Zappa was unique but then again so is anyone who's good at it, and many of his guitar solos still thrill me today. That part of Frank Zappa will never be seen again but there is so much more to the man that can still be brought to life - in his own words "My main interest is composition - getting an idea and manifesting it in a way that people can listen to". He was a person who listened to Edgar Varese for entertainment as a teenager. "I didn't write rock and roll until I was in my twenties, but I started writing other kinds of music. I couldn't play it, I could only write it. I liked the way music looked on paper. It was fascinating to me that you could see the notes and somebody who knew what they were doing would look at them and music would come out. I thought it was a miracle". How many rock musicians does that apply to?



Throughout his musical career he produced music in many different styles and many different formats and those two points are distinct - for example he would have rock and roll type themes played in a symphonic format or neo classical type themes played in a jazz/rock big band format. The formats he chose were not always purely dictated by his own whim, he lived in the real world and worked with the resources available to him at any given time and projects some times collapsed as with his original aims with the combination of the early Mothers and 14 members of the BBC orchestra on 28th October 1968 in the Royal Festival Hall, London. The album that was originally intended never materialised.



When Zappa was approached by the Ensemble Modern he was initially sceptical about what could be achieved but he warmed to the idea and The Yellow Shark album is a testament to what was possible. I believe if he was still alive and was approached by Ensemble Ambrosius he wouldn't turn them away and Olli Vertaperko might have been saved one or two years of his life. None the less, Olli's work on transcribing Zappa's compositions is nothing short of incredible. Those close to Frank have commented about how long it took him to complete some of his pieces and his attention to detail and I think that Olli's arrangements have captured that element of Frank's work. Zappa may or may not have suggested a different choice of pieces had he collaborated with Ensemble Ambrosius but he surely would not have knocked back their choice of instruments. One of them plays the harpsichord - so naturally it appears a great deal in the arrangements.



As I've said elsewhere, we need brave new productions of Zappa's music. The Zappa Album by Ensemble Ambrosius is brave, new, unique and brilliant and just as there is no Carolina Hard Core Ecstasy on Yellow Shark there isn't one here either and so what? We should leave it to rock bands perhaps to attempt to capture that aspect of Zappa's work, note that there are no members of the BBC orchestra, or any other classical ensemble for that matter on the Bong Fury version of Carolina Hard Core Ecstasy. Let's not forget that a significant motivation for Zappa's rock music participation was to make a living, it wasn't his prime directive. In his own words when asked during the last year of his life if he missed the rock and roll life - "No". And his attitude to the guitar at that time - "Every once in a while, I feel like playing the guitar, but I stop and think what I'd have to go through in order to do it. The urge goes away". He was a composer to the end and was working on the completion of Civilisation Phase lll, which by the way, also has no Carolina Hard Core Ecstasy.



My favourite piece on The Zappa Album is RDNZL, and I mean the arrangement and performance on this album. All the other tracks are just as amazing in my opinion. It's made pretty clear that this album is performed on baroque instruments so don't be surprised if you buy it and find its performed on baroque instruments. Many baroque instruments aren't very loud and to amplify them would compromise their baroque character. Hence the production is often very subtle and might take some time to grow on you, it only took me two listens to figure it out. Play it really loud at least once. I can't see how anyone who appreciates the entire spectrum of Zappa could not at least respect this album. It is an honourable tribute to him and I'm sure he would have appreciated it. If I could have got my copy for 99 cents it would be one of the best deals I've ever had."

Excellent Buy it!

old fan from 66 onward | portland | 06/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of my favorite non FZ produced cds of FZ music. Heck it may even be my favorite. This is FZ music stripped of all artifice except melody / harmony (i'm aware of the over-simpflication, but roll with me here). FZ dinner music this is. I play it for people who "normally don't like FZ " and they like it. Gorgeous melodies. Performed and arranged lovingly. When you want to put the pedal to the metal: pull out the FZ produced canon. When you want to bliss out on his melodic sense and ability to craft the finest of tunes and variations on a theme: this is the place."