Strictly Genteel CD

Producer: Frank Zappa.
Compilation producer: Jill Christiansen.
Includes liner notes by Don Menn.
Photographer: Guido Harari.
A more than adequate introduction to the world of Frank Zappa's instrumental music. A great deal of attention was focused on Zappa's often infantile lyrics, sometimes to the extent that the quality of Zappa's music was ignored. From a performance standpoint, the music was often a challenge (becoming almost impossible once Zappa was composing for the Synclavier); from a compositional standpoint, Zappa's instrumental music shows its 20th-century influences in no uncertain terms. Strictly Genteel serves up music performed by orchestral ensembles as well as pieces performed on Synclavier and in a band context, with the common thread being Zappa's overall brilliance -- while sometimes an imperfect composer, his drive and talent resulted in a huge body of excellent work that may one day come to be appreciated by classicists. ~ Steven McDonald
Subtitled "A "Classical" Introduction to Frank Zappa," this lives up to that claim in grand style. The set draws from his orchestral and small ensemble instrumental work. Three performances are culled from THE YELLOW SHARK and the remaining run the gamut from the expected ("Little Umbrellas" from HOT RATS, JAZZ FROM HELL's "G-Spot Tornado," the London Symphony performing the title track) to the forgotten nugget ("Aybe Sea" from BURNT WEENY SANDWICH, "Duke of Prunes" from ORCHESTRAL FAVORITES). Not only does this collection serve as a proper overview of Zappa's prodigious output as a composer, but it also stands up perfectly well in its own right as a smartly sequenced and completely engaging album. It was assembled posthumously, but he'd no doubt have approved.Down Beat (11/97, pp.51-52) - 4 stars (out of 5) - "...STRICTLY GENTEEL is anything but....there are suprises around every bend....this CD introduction to the classical FZ will help to usher in a wider appreciation of how important and gifted Zappa the composer truly was."