![]() The piece moves into the main section as the trumpet takes center stage, playing over a rolling vamp with Zappa throwing in flurries of guitar. Here, he uses the entire band to play on and off the beat, always changing the accents. Zappa was never content to leave rhythm duties solely to bass and drums. The piece opens with a driving rhythm punctuated by horns as the band falls in and out of the picture. It's an amalgam of rock and jazz that is reminiscent of Miles Davis at the time. Big Swifty was the longest composition, clocking in at over 17 minutes. ![]() Waka Jawaka featured only four songs, with the title track and Big Swifty being instrumentals. Zappa was forced to conduct these sessions from a wheelchair due to a broken leg suffered from an onstage attack. The first studio release with this outfit was "Waka Jawaka". It would be Zappa's "jazz band" for the next few years and his music of the time is inflected with horn-driven melodies, angular bass-lines, and extended keyboard parts. ![]() This lineup was able to stretch out and play extended compositions with musicality and imagination. In 1971-2, Zappa had assembled a band of unusually strong musicians with the likes of keyboardist George Duke, trombonist Bruce Fowler, and trumpeter Sal Marquez. He sought musicians who could read music and perform music of greater complexity and intricacy. At the end of the 1960s, Zappa disbanded the Mothers of Invention and began experimenting with the sound of different ensembles.
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