LEX BRONKOWITZ ORCHESTRA - PLAYS THE MUSIC OF FRANK ZAPPA / STRICTLY GRAVY

• lex bronkowitz orchestra: strictly gravy
      (2013, cd, nl, fzio)

I first heard of Lex Bronkowitz at the Zappanale festival in 2002 when I got two of his early CDR demos, entitled "Get Dressed Or Arrested" and "I'm Only On Him For The Money". On these demos, Bronkowitz mastermind Alexander Debus displayed an original view in arranging the music of Frank Zappa. I was flabbergasted and each time that I saw Alexander at Zappanale I was hoping that he had recorded some more material.

Seeing the Lex Bronkowitz Orchestra in concert in Heerlen (NL) at the Mosae Zappa festival in June 2012 was an impressive continuation. It was a fantastic concert that also proved that Alexander's arrangements could be played by a band.

And now there's the "Lex Bronkowitz Orchestra Plays The Music Of Frank Zappa - Strictly Genteel" album.
In my humble opinion, there are two ways to perform the music of Frank Zappa. The first one is the endeavour to reproduce the music as FZ once intended it. This can be highly enjoyable and these concerts do not exclude a certain emotional factor. Bands like Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa, Sheik Yerbouti, Bogus Pomp or Project/Object, possibly joined by former Zappa sidemen, fall into this category. I like them. I like them a lot. They keep Zappa's music alive.
The second way to perform the music of Frank Zappa is implemented by bands and / or artists that try to add a personal touch, a personal view to Zappa's music. I'm thinking of the beautiful arrangements and instrumentation of The Meridian Arts Ensemble, The Ambrosius Ensemble, the surprising arrangement of 'The Black Page' by The Rudy Schwartz Project, Stefano Bollani's jazz improvisations, the Doot! experiments, Dietmar Bonnen, or LeBocal, just to name a few.
The Lex Bronkowitz Orchestra belongs to the second group, and they just raised the bar a few inches...

This is top. The arrangements and transpositions are beautiful. The instrumentation is superb. I love the  sound of Lex's guitar, Peter Thomas' marimba, Katharinia' vocals, drums, bass, the horn section,... All of it.
And most of all, I like the puzzle. To give you an example: the first piece 'Catholic Fembot' is a medley of 'Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?', 'Fembot In A Wet T-Shirt', and 'Catholic Girls'. There's little hints and references everywhere. I love it.

Highly recommended.

You can order the album at:
http://www.fzio.org/en/strictly-gravy-preview.html