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Epicurus.com - Waka/Jawaka
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List Price: $11.98
Our Price: $10.99
Your Save: $ 0.99 ( 8% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Zappa Records
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0014431051623
Format: Original recording remastered
Label: Zappa Records
Manufacturer: Zappa Records
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Zappa Records
Release Date: 1995-05-02
Studio: Zappa Records
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Editorial Reviews:
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Japanese exclusive reissue of 1972 album, packaged in a miniature LP sleeve.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: zappa shines again
Comment: Some VERY good jams are featured on this Frank Zappa masterpiece. So much creativity was involved in making these jams, and such special attention to make sure the listener is satisfied the entire way, that I'm completely at a loss for words when I hear the 20 minute "Big Swifty" jam. MAN is that some good stuff!
Let's talk more about "Big Swifty", since it takes up half the album. The first minute or so is some typical heavy fast-paced jazzy goofiness, which is what we've come to expect from Zappa. Then we get serious in a hurry, and these AWESOME keyboard swirls come in and this is probably my favorite part of the entire instrumental jam. Jazzy, melodic, and wonderful.
Around the six minute mark some of Zappa's very best guitar playing can be heard. These are NO ordinary guitar solos- they are played in such a way that demands the listener pay close attention to the different melodic ideas that constantly shift around. This is the kind of music that's so good it's IMPOSSIBLE to explain in words.
10 minutes in, everything changes again, and now we're treated to some Allman Brothers-like guitar jamming and it's really freakin' awesome. This is some of the most challenging stuff I've ever heard Zappa do (yes, even more challenging than the "Gumbo Variations").
I can't remember much about the last five minutes or so- the music is so challenging that I haven't been able to focus on the final few minutes at the moment, even after hearing the song 20 times so far!
Waka/Jawaka is just a highly experimental album with jazzy influences and I totally agree with the people who believe it's Hot Rats Part II. It feels so much like a continuation from that classic album. Frank Zappa is a musical genius, and here's your proof. The only complaint is that it's a pretty short album overall. Still, it's worth the price. In fact, it's worth a lot, because it's an album I believe I will be playing 20 years from now.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A blast of fusion that is quintessential Zappa
Comment: Within Zappa's catalog, this recording doesn't seem to get the respect it should. Often overshadowed by "The Grand Wazoo," the earlier "Waka/Jawaka" is relegated to a sort of second place within Zappa's fusion jazz experiments. Although on this site, users have overwhelmingly awarded this recording with five stars, other sites and bloggers give it three. But "Waka/Jawaka" is no less brilliant than "The Grand Wazoo."
You have the theme introduced quickly with "Big Swifty," and then the composition proceeds with the many variations on that theme, including the usual instrument solos common with jazz performances. The song bursts upon your ears and swiftly glides from one syncopated rhythm to another, returning an almost cosmic jazz sound with George Duke's first solo on the electric piano. Soon enters Sal Marquez on muted trumpet and the sound is complete, very reminiscent of Miles Davis in "Bitches Brew."
It's like Sal Marquez playing Miles Davis, but Marquez is doing more than recalling Davis' style. Rather, it sounds more like Sal Marquez playing Miles Davis who is playing Sal Marquez playing Zappa's "Big Swifty." And that is neat.
Zappa's guitar, which up till the end of Marquez's solo acted as a punctuation to the music, comes forward in quintessential Zappa style. It carries a bit of a Spanish flair to it as well that blends well with the overall feel of the piece.
And then the piece repeats the theme, which usually occurs at the end of compositions like this. But Zappa doesn't "end" the piece as neatly as that; hence the brain becomes engaged and begins to ask, "What is all this?" And what it is is Tony Duran's slide guitar solo. It is brilliant, because just as the listener's ear, conditioned by years and years of jazz compositions, and even classical compositions, is about to say "ahh, that was nice," the piece picks up and drolls on to a conclusion that is not only interesting, but suitable as well.
When the theme is reintroduced just after the 13-minute mark of this 17:22 song, there is a real sense of return and set up for the finale.
And then comes "Your Mouth." What is this? Not only is this tonally very different from the expansive "Big Swifty," it has lyrics! Someone is singing! From fusion, Zappa easily slips into a 12-bar blues piece that has just a hint of New Orleans gospel to my ear. We go Western with "It Just Might Be a One Shot Deal," complete with slide guitar and a short burst of music that recalls the themes from many a 1950's cowboy television show. And all the while the slide guitar is dreamily carrying on the tune toward the end, I can see graceful couples dancing to country swing.
The title track launches into an expansive intro with the theme laid out and reminiscent of, perhaps, a 1950s era Western movie, or maybe even a detective show from television, like "Hawaii Five-O." It just has this kitschy feel to it. Preston on the Mini-Moog seems to be dropping hints that are more strongly revealed in "The Grand Wazoo." Namely, hints at the future direction of Zappa's music. It's almost a prototype of "One Size Fits All."
Zappa's guitar solo at the end goes through some outrageous rhythm changes, but Ansley Dunbar's drumming effectively keeps pace, adjusting as needed, and when the horn section blasts in, Dunbar keeps the rhythm on track, then finishes with a respectful solo of his own. The theme returns with a thunderous "da-toom, da-toom, da-do-do-do- do-toom." The addition of flute at this point really a nice point, as well as the staccato piccolo accompanying the same staccato from the horns. The song fades to completion, recalling an image of a cowboy, perhaps, riding off into the desert, or if we go with the detective show theme, a helicopter shot looking down but fading back from the busy streets of L.A. I like the cowboy movie theme better myself.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Sonic Story of my Life!
Comment: god, in my 20's I used to listen to this album so much!
Ever the musical genius, Zappa shows us here how he treats jazz. Although at first hearing, it seems scrambled and jambled, every note of this masterpiece was written down and performed with precision.
Zappa shows us that one needs no chemical drugs to enter a "stoned" frame of mind. Just listen to this album, and appreciate Zappa's "Conceptual continuity."
anu Zappa fan probably will also be a Residents fan. Both know how to make comedic music with no words being spoken! Spike Jones would have been proud of Zappa and Waka Jawaka turns jazz on it's ear!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Waka/Jawaka Is FZ At His Prime
Comment: I'm not a Zappa-o'phile but this album is a gem. "Big Swifty" and "Waka/Jawaka" are some of the finest jazz fusion you will ever hear. You are listening to Zappa in his prime. Not everything Zappa has done is this good. Much of FZ's material is a little too silly for me as he learned to play up the bizzare to sell albums. Waka/Jawaka is as good as Hot Rats or Grand Wazoo. Jazz From Hell is another very challenging FZ album that I recommend. I had always hoped that Zappa would focus more on improvisional jazz fusion rather than the goofy and the gross. Zappa was a HUGE talent that got too caught up in anti-establishment baiting.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fusion masterpiece....
Comment: This is one of FZ's best. It has 2 of his best instrumental tracks ever with Big Swifty and the title track. This is full blown jazz/rock fusion from our friend Frank. It was really popular at the time (Miles Davis was peaking around this time with his fusion), and Frank made some great contributions. I love Big Swifty, one of Zappa's greatest epics. Running a wonderful 17 1/2 minutes, it starts out with a great horn intro. The electric piano solo (by Don Preston) is really quite gentle and beautiful. It's done with a strange rhythm track in the background, giving it a beautiful but somewhat tense vibe. I love electric piano music. The title track is one of the most majestic songs Zappa ever did. It starts out like Big Swifty, but ends with a great flourish of trumpets, bells, and chimes. This album has some beautifully understated and gentle passages (especially during Preston's piano solo in Big Swifty), something Zappa wasn't really known for. The 2 songs with vocals, Your Mouth and It Might Just Be a One Shot Deal, are throwaways and nowhere as memorable as the instrumentals, but they're still worth a listen or two. Most of Frank's work is exemplary, and Waka/Jawaka is one of his best albums.
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