I just got the thatdog album recently from a friend

Which one? I had "Totally Crushed Out," but I think they made a few others. I should look into her solo album.

And I don't exactly know who Charlie Haden is, other than a vague sense he has something to do with jazz.

And I don't exactly know who Charlie Haden is, other than a vague sense he has something to do with jazz.

Heh. Where's that boucher?

Charlie Haden was the bass player in Ornette Coleman's revolutionary free jazz group from the late 50s/early 60s. He's a white guy with a country background, who played in (I think) country or western swing groups before he hooked up with Ornette (plastic sax) and Don Cherry (pocket trumpet). He's had a long and distinguished career since then.

I would like to start a small shitstorm, if I may. I think Frank Zappa sucks. Okay, not sucks--I recognize his immense talents as a muscian and a composer, but the lyrics of his songs always feel like he wrote down whatever was amusing him that day and didn't give a shit. This bugs me. They aren't about anything and they don't mean anything and they feel like work of a writer whoi is too arrogant or too slipshod to rewrite anything. Even the funny stuff isn't really that funny. The only way I can deal with them is to think of the voice as another musical instrument, but since Zappa wasn't much of a singer, his voice doesn't add musicallity (is that a word?) to this work.

Why this should bug me so much as to make much of Zappa's work almost unlistenable, when I find John Linnell's goofy lyrics adorable and catchy, I don't know. So, Zappa-lovers, what am I not getting?

I've never been a Zappa fan either Robin. But I do remember an interview or something where he said that he only writes lyrics because he needs to sing something. He only really cares about the music.

Which one? I had "Totally Crushed Out," but I think they made a few others. I should look into her solo album.

That, I don't know. The cd just said "thatdog".

So, Zappa-lovers, what am I not getting?

That's no shitstorm for me. I'd rather get jabbed with a sharp stick than listen to Zappa. Beefheart, on the other hand, does everything Zappa was trying to do, but does it right. In fact, Beefheart's presence redeems the only Zappa album that I'd ever want to listen to, Hot Rats, which beats getting poked at with a sharp stick by a decent margin.

I want to blame the DayQuil for all the dangling prepositions in my previous post. I want to, but I won't.

Yeah, what scrappy said. The only stuff of his I've ever liked are a couple of the novelty songs ("Dancing Fool", "I Don't Want to Get Drafted"). I find his albums unlistenable.

I like her solo album with Bill Frisell better... She's also Charlie Haden's daughter, if you're curious.

They were 2/3 of the Ginger Baker Trio whose terrific album Going Back Home was key to me becoming a big jazz fan. I was covering a friend's music column while he was off getting married & received a promo copy. I had some Miles, Monk & Coltrane prior to then (including some that were & remain on the short list for my desert island discs), but they didn't lead me into further exploration the way Going Back Home did. Specifically Charlie Haden's tone just grabbed me in the way that say Iris Dement's or Linda Thompson's singing does, so I picked up a few other albums (Haunted Heart by Charlie's Quartet West; Abbey Lincoln's A Turtle's Dream; Charlie and Hank Jones' album of spirituals Steal Away), and one of my roommates picked the Ornette box Beauty Is a Rare Thing which contains the recordings that put Haden on the map. And I branched out from there. What an excellent journey it's been!

I found an mp3 labelled "Ditshe" on my computer & had no idea what it was so I listened to it: electric kalimba! Turns out I got it from Hayden's favorite source(!), Salon's Audiofile column (the file is still available; look at the left hand column & scroll down to Jan. 5). It's by a group called Konono No. 1. I don't know if there's a difference between a regular kalimba and a likembe -- a thumb piano by any other name... -- but this was the first time I'd heard an electric one. Of course I Googled it and came up with a whole website devoted to electric kalimbas and this very beautiful lovechild of a dobro and an electric kalimba. And if you tell me you've seen that phrase anywhere else youse a lyin' mutha... (and I apoplogize in advance to whoever goes to the trouble to prove me wrong: "I been playin' one o' them dobro kalimbas since I was five years old. Look at this website. There's a picture of me winning the kindergarten talent contest with it.")

The thing I hate most about Zappa is his utter contempt for pop music. He thought he was making it interesting by throwing in all those crazy time changes and throwaway scatological lyrics. It's obvious that he thought he was too good for pop music, though, but not confident in himself enough to attempt other types of music (for good reason, I might add). What a tool.

Zappa = Boring to me. What little I've heard of it. My bandmate and I were joking recently about what a nightmare it would be if we suddenly found ourselves in a Zappa cover band.