Frank Zappa’s legacy is so huge that there’s always something more to see, hear, study, analyze, and now that they've opened the legendary Vault, God knows what will pop out from there. What makes Zappa fascinating is the variety of stuff he did in the name of art - movies, books, comics, and tons and tons of different kinds of music. For a Zappa-beginner all this stuff may seem too much, maybe a bit obscure, too radical or too cynical, but all of his work is deeply rooted in the works of his predecessors. The influences that shaped Zappa’s musical thought are vast and diverse ranging from modern classical composers, through doo-wop, jazz and blues artists, to everyday people, family, friends, etc. In the liner notes of “Freak Out,” the debut release by Frank and the Mothers of Invention, he assembled an extensive list of people who influenced his music. Some of them are well-known composers and songwriters such as Anton Webern, Igor Stravinsky, Bob Dylan, David Crosby and so on, some are more obscure and less known artists, while some are just people from his everyday life, like his first wife Kaye Sherman or the doorman at the Whisky a Go-Go called Mario. (You can read the full list here.)
Recently, I discovered this excellent documentary that focuses on this particular list. The film is called simply “The Freak Out List.” It explores Zappa's musical roots by putting the most pivotal names from the list under the microscope, tracing and explaining their cultural significance by itself and in relationship to Zappa as influences. It is also a great tutorial for all who are interested in the lineage of avant-garde music because it gives a lot of attention to the progressive aspects of the most important authors of 20th century classical and jazz music. The film contains interviews and contributions from likes of George Duke, Ian Underwood, Don Preston (members of his bands,) Zappa biographers Ben Watson and Greg Russo, Edgar Varese biographer Alan Clayson, and several academicians that have studied his music as well as the above-mentioned influences that shaped Zappa’s creative output.
