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press clipping
DAILY
VARIETY
Wed., Mar. 20, 2002, 6:17pm PT
Project/Object
(Knitting Factory Hollywood; 500 capacity; $15)
Presented inhouse. Reviewed March 14, 2002.
Band: Robbie "Seahag" Mangano, Dave Johnsen, Jordan Shapiro,
Napoleon Murphy
Brock, Ike Willis, Andre Cholmondeley, Glenn Leonard, Kahlil Sabbagh.
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By RICH NIECIECKI
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Irony may not be dead, but unfortunately, iconoclast Frank Zappa still
is.
Never afraid to take this country's cultural, political or religious
temperature -- rectally -- the late composer's ironic, sardonic and
often
scatological voice is painfully missing among artists compelled to
reflect on
these times and climes of disposable pop stars, artist/label battles,
free
speech, religious zealotry, a Bush in the White House � indeed,
little's
changed since his death. Thankfully, there are musicians -- some of whom
go
as far back as his '60s avant garde outfit Mothers of Invention or
various
'70s high-quality touring groups -- determined to resurrect the
satirist's
biting words and thought-provoking music on a semi-nightly basis for an
appreciative bunch.
Much was
made, in the onstage patter, of Project/Object's playdate in
Hollywood proper and Southern California in general, where an inspired
Zappa
honed and recorded most of his prodigious social commentary/musical
concoctions -- some of which were written before several of the tribute
band
members were even born.
Bunk Gardner, sitting in for a number after his opening slot with fellow
former Mother Don Preston, got to show off more of his monster sax chops
on
the appropriately titled "King Kong." But then all of the
players onstage,
young and old, brought the necessary skills to pull off the demanding
range
of Zappa music, from doo wop-inflected, "Louie, Louie"-level
rudimentary
garage rock to long, complex odd-meter passages of progressive jazz.
Napoleon Murphy Brock, singer-instrumentalist from the "Roxy and
Elsewhere"
period, currently reinvents Zappa alongside Ike Willis, who followed
Brock in
the late '70s ("Joe's Garage") as a foil to Frank both vocally
and on guitar.
Brock's animated style of singing, horn- and flute-playing and Willis'
angular, never-resolved solos colorfully recalled the Sunset Strip
experience
in its heyday for the heavily ponytailed male crowd in attendance (which
also
seems to include Zappa admirer animator Matt Groening at every local
gig).
And our nation's (and the free world's) leader, as well as Enron's
Kenneth
Lay, took a body blow or two in loving lyrical Zappa homage.
Band, at times featuring three guitarists as well as vibraphonist, so
thoroughly enjoyed themselves playing such ever-topical ditties as
"The Meek
Shall Inherit Nothing," "Crew Slut" and "Trouble
Every Day" that their second
set ran up against the venue's closing curfew, necessitating a nearly
apoplectic club manager to throw numerous "cut" signs toward
the group before
finally bringing up the house lights and pleading with patrons over the
P.A.
to exit immediately.
website
www.projectobject.com
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