In fact, at the age of fourteen, Frank Zappa discovers Edgard Varèse’s Ionisation and Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps, two works that had a notable impact for him: the influence of Varèse’s percussion led to the composition of Mice in 1959, work for percussion instruments. The first years of Frank Zappaīorn in Baltimore on Decemto a family of Greek-Italian and Lebanese origin, Frank Vincent Zappa grew up in California, in a mix of influences that blended avant-garde composers, such as Edgar Varèse and Igor Stravinsky, and local rhythms.

He was also a renowned (electric) guitarist and talented producer-engineer, who has personally made almost all of his recordings since his debut in 1966.

It was time to dedicate him a whole issue, and we do it today, December 4th, commemorating the anniversary of his death in 1993.Īmerican guitarist, singer and producer, Frank Zappa is first and foremost a composer with numerous and eclectic influences, ranging from rock to jazz to contemporary music, sometimes in a single composition.ĭuring his 33-year musical career, Zappa proved to be one of the most prolific songwriters of his era, releasing over 60 albums, most of which consisted of original compositions. In many of the articles you find in this blog we briefly talked about Frank Zappa.

Zappa rock opera