Late Frank Zappa’s album to release
Over 20 years after his death, musician Frank Zappa’s final album is set to release. His estate recently announced pre-order sales for Dance Me This, saying it was the 100th and last album from the Los Angeles-based experimental musician who died in 1993.
His official website made the announcement on April Fool’s Day — prompting speculation about it being a prank — but the estate confirmed that the album was indeed on sale through direct orders, and would be shipped out in June.
Zappa had mentioned the album before his death, saying that it would feature the synclavier — a synthesiser and programming system developed in the 1970s — and, true to the work’s name, would consist of dance music.
His estate has been releasing albums by him and his band, The Mothers Of Invention, almost annually since his death. Skilled in guitar, bass and drums, Zappa was often described as a hard rocker, but his music was free-flowing with improvisation techniques from jazz, and inspiration from contemporary classical composers.
Zappa was popular in the counterculture of the 1960s in California, 1960, but had an uneasy relationship with it, often mocking hippies in his music and steering clear of drugs. He was, nonetheless, outspoken politically, particularly in his advocacy of absolute free speech.
His fans included the Czech Republic’s postcommunist leader Vaclav Havel, who gave Zappa the unofficial title of cultural ambassador.