This is the final masterpiece of the great Frank Zappa. It contains his last written work; it was his last performance on stage and his last official release before his death. “The Yellow Shark” is actually a medley of several new and some older pieces for a large, hard-edged, brass- and percussion-heavy ensemble. In 1999 Zappa was approached by the German chamber ensemble “Ensemble Modern”, a Frankfurt-based chamber orchestra that performs only contemporary music, who were interested in playing his music at the Frankfurt Festival in 1992, which programme that year also included composers John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Alexander Knaifel. Although he was already ill, Zappa invited them to Los Angeles for rehearsals. Except for Pierre Boulez and his Ensemble Intercontemporain (on The Perfect Stranger, 1984), who were the only ones to have come anywhere close to the level of commitment to his music, Zappa was disappointed by the previous performances of his music by classical ensembles, especially the one by the London Symphony Orchestra. But this time, he was satisfied with the ensemble’s performances, and also got along with the musicians. "One of the things I like about the Ensemble Modern is that they're interested in sound just for its own sake," Zappa said, "At one rehearsal, one of the horn players picked his horn up off the floor, and it scraped and made a noise. And I said, 'Do it again,' and the next thing you know, we had the entire brass section taking their instruments and scraping the bells back and forth across the floor, making this grinding, grunting sound." On top of their good relations, they had a whole year to rehearse the demanding and fearsomely complex arrangements, on which Zappa insisted, calling it his “style”, his personal imprint.
In September 1992, the concerts went ahead as scheduled - seven performances held in Vienna, Berlin, and Frankfurt, but Zappa could only appear at two in Frankfurt due to the cancer. He conducted the opening “Overture”, and the final “G-Spot Tornado” as well as the theatrical “Food Gathering in Post-Industrial America, 1992″ and “Welcome to the United States.” The remainder of the program was conducted by the ensemble’s regular conductor Peter Rundel because Zappa’s illness was spreading to such an extent that he was in too much pain to even enjoy the events. The concerts were mixed before they were performed. Zappa conceived and developed a special six-channel PA system for the events: the audience would be virtually surrounded by the musicians, to better hear the polyphony, and to feel what it might be like to be an “insider” in the performance. At the end of the first night in Frankfurt, Zappa received a 20-minute ovation, which can be heard in the official release, although it is faded out.
Those two Frankfurt concerts would become his last professional public appearance. Frank Zappa died on Saturday, December 4, 1993, in his home with his wife and children by his side. At a private ceremony the following day, Zappa was interred in an unmarked grave at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. On Monday, December 6 his family publicly announced that “Composer Frank Zappa left for his final tour just before 6:00 pm on Saturday”.
“Yellow Shark” is probably the greatest testimony of his genius and his creative spirit. Tom Waits, another giant of avant-garde music, said this about the album: "The ensemble is awe-inspiring. It is a rich pageant of texture in colour. It's the clarity of his perfect madness, and mastery. Frank governs with Elmore James on his left and Stravinsky on his right. Frank reigns and rules with the strangest tools."
