Let’s Go! – weekly SiriusXM show with Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray – makes Season 3 debut on September 4 Dutchcharts.nl – Frank Zappa – Funky Nothingness" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 2, 2023.

In the same vein as "The Clap" are a trio of brief pieces that close out the bonus discs. "Halos and Arrows" is a segment of a freeform, surprisingly relaxed, and gentle piece played by Zappa which was otherwise erased. "Moldred" was assembled by Zappa from the jams with Dunbar; he overdubbed himself on bass. The closing, under-a-minute-long "Fast Funky Nothingness" is just that - another blues-based piece at a faster tempo than the one which opened the first disc of the set. Zappa/Hot Rats ’70: Session Masters & Bonus Nothingness” spans the second and third discs. Among these outtakes, alternate edits, unreleased masters of songs from the period, and improvisational recordings is “Tommy/Vincent Duo III (Unedited Master),” which finds Zappa and Dunbar squaring off on nearly 22 minutes of guitar/drum improvisation. With this welcome offering of three and a half hours of unheard studio Zappa that follows one of his most celebrated albums, one can’t help but wonder what else might eventually escape from the Zappa vault. ( www.zappa.com) Frank Zappa remains one of the most fascinating musicians and composers of his generation. Zappa was a rare individual who was equally skilled playing and writing in a number of different genres and styles, Funky Nothingness represents the brief era of a band which deserved to last longer than it did. Early on, Zappa realized the importance of recording whenever possible, as an impromptu studio jam or concert highlight might otherwise be lost for good. Especially after he dissolved his original Mothers of Invention band in 1969, Zappa sought out the best musicians possible. By the time of his death he had amassed a sizable library of unissued studio and concert performances. With the time Zappa spent composing, rehearsing bands and going on the road, it is little wonder that there was insufficient time for him to go through his entire archive to locate hidden treasures for release.

Recommendations

Listen closely to these recordings, and you can hear the sound evolving before your very ears, going right from that Hot Rats fusiony vibe to the Chunga feel. Actually, if you listen really closely, you can also feel the embryonic compositional palette Zappa fine-tuned further when Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan of The Turtles (a.k.a. Flo & Eddie) joined the band some months later. Offiziellecharts.de – Frank Zappa – Funky Nothingness" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 2, 2023. National Music Centre to Present Panel of Indigenous Voices on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation The more I consider the contents of Frank Zappa’s new 2LP set Funky Nothingness, the more I realize these once-buried archival recordings are not just the components of a lost album, but really are an insightful transitional link into Zappa’s compositional mindset. Made in the aftermath of FZ’s October 1969 landmark jazz fusion masterpiece Hot Rats, this new album also connects many musical dots from there to October 1970’s Chunga’s Revenge — and beyond. Another awe-inspiring jam is “ Tommy/Vincent Duo II,” showcasing the magic between Zappa and Dunbar in their earliest days together. An unedited version, which stretches to nearly 22 minutes long, appears on Disc 3. Travers writes, “By 1970, Frank had worked with some great drummers between The Mothers and the L.A. studio scene…[but] Aynsley took things to another level. It’s easy to understand how Frank would be excited to see where their chemistry would take them musically. Here is audio proof.”

An interesting treat is an alternate version of “Work With Me Annie/Annie Had A Baby.” A song Zappa never really finished in the studio, this one is newly compiled from various takes and edited together for a fully-formed take. Is that messing with the gospel? I don’t think so – it’s a more engaging listen than hearing all the incomplete takes in a row.

Live

Finally, there’s a few weird odds and ends: “Halos and Arrows,” a fragment where Zappa overdubs himself with layers of guitars (it’s perhaps a cousin to “Nine Types of Industrial Pollution”), “Moldred” which is a slowed-down and overdubbed bit from “Tommy/Vincent,” and “Fast Funky Nothingness” which bookends the set with another bluesy guitar jam. Another awe-inspiring jam is “Tommy/Vincent Duo II,” showcasing the magic between Zappa and Dunbar in their earliest days together. An unedited version, which stretches to nearly 22 minutes long, appears on Disc 3. Travers writes, “By 1970, Frank had worked with some great drummers between The Mothers and the L.A. studio scene…[but] Aynsley took things to another level. It’s easy to understand how Frank would be excited to see where their chemistry would take them musically. Here is audio proof.” Hosted by Travers, the first episode went behind the scenes and captures the vinyl cutting process with Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering, and the second episode includes a new conversation between Travers and Ian Underwood who discusses how he met Zappa and became one of his go-to musicians.