lawyer who looks like zappa

Who is Frank Zappa?

Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader.

What did Frank Zappa do with tape editing?

In New York, Zappa increasingly used tape editing as a compositional tool. : 160 A prime example is found on the double album Uncle Meat (1969), : 104 where the track "King Kong" is edited from various studio and live performances.

What happened to “Zappa Plays Zappa”?

“Zappa Plays Zappa” played a lot of shows, averaging 50-60 dates a year recently. They sold t-shirts, posters, the works. They kept the Zappa cult relevant, vibrant and alive.

What was Frank Zappa's guitar style like?

Zappa transcriptionist Kasper Sloots wrote, "Zappa's guitar solos aren't meant to show off technically (Zappa hasn't claimed to be a big virtuoso on the instrument), but for the pleasure it gives trying to build a composition right in front of an audience without knowing what the outcome will be." Zappa's guitar style was not without its critics.

How did Zappa use tape editing?

In New York, Zappa increasingly used tape editing as a compositional tool . A prime example is found on the double album Uncle Meat (1969), where the track "King Kong" is edited from various studio and live performances. Zappa had begun regularly recording concerts, and because of his insistence on precise tuning and timing, he was able to augment his studio productions with excerpts from live shows, and vice versa. Later, he combined recordings of different compositions into new pieces, irrespective of the tempo or meter of the sources. He dubbed this process " xenochrony " (strange synchronizations )—reflecting the Greek "xeno" (alien or strange) and "chronos" (time).

What was Frank Zappa charged with?

Zappa was charged with "conspiracy to commit pornography".

What did Frank Zappa do to make a living?

Zappa attempted to earn a living as a musician and composer , and played different nightclub gigs, some with a new version of the Blackouts. Zappa's earliest professional recordings, two soundtracks for the low-budget films The World's Greatest Sinner (1962) and Run Home Slow (1965) were more financially rewarding.

How many albums did Frank Zappa make?

In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed rock, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral and musique concrète works, and produced almost all of the 60-plus albums that he released with his band the Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist.

What were the effects of Zappa's life?

This living arrangement had a profound effect on Zappa, and references to germs, germ warfare, ailments and the defense industry occur frequently throughout his work. Zappa was often sick as a child, suffering from asthma, earaches and sinus problems.

When did Zappa re-release his albums?

Around 1986 , Zappa undertook a comprehensive re-release program of his earlier vinyl recordings. He personally oversaw the remastering of all his 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s albums for the new digital compact disc medium. Certain aspects of these re-issues were criticized by some fans as being unfaithful to the original recordings. Nearly twenty years before the advent of online music stores, Zappa had proposed to replace "phonographic record merchandising" of music by "direct digital-to-digital transfer" through phone or cable TV (with royalty payments and consumer billing automatically built into the accompanying software). In 1989, Zappa considered his idea a "miserable flop".

Where did Frank Zappa live?

Zappa left home in 1959, and moved into a small apartment in Echo Park, Los Angeles. After he met Kathryn J. "Kay" Sherman during his short period of private composition study with Prof. Karl Kohn of Pomona College, they moved in together in Ontario, and were married December 28, 1960.

Who pulled the Zappa license?

The trustees that oversee the family legacy have pulled the “Zappa” license from brother Dweezil Zappa – Frank’s son -- forcing him to jump through new licensing hoops just to play his dad’s music. On the surface, it’s a straightforward case of protecting the trademarks from pirates.

What is the Zappa family trust?

The story of the Zappa Family Trust is one of building barriers to keep other people from making a penny on Frank’s genius. That’s the family’s right. But if they want to make money, throttling the people who are still trying to commercialize the songs is not often the best way to do it.

How many albums did Frank Zappa make?

Zappa was always more of an underground sensation than a breakout commercial success. His “big band” approach ensured that touring would lose money, so he recorded 66 albums across 27 years instead. Unfortunately, the fan base was loyal but narrow.

What happens if a band player trades on his family name?

If he’s simply trading on the family name, he pays the licensing fees just like any other cover band. Those fees go on to enrich all the children and he gets to keep playing. However, if the licensing fees rise beyond his desire to pay, the family can shut him down.

Is the Zappa catalog distinctive?

The problem there was that the Zappa catalog is pretty distinctive. If you’re not playing it more or less like Frank and the Mothers of Invention would have done it, there’s not a whole lot of point. Copy the original too closely, and Gail sued for infringement.

Does Dweezil Zappa pay licensing fees?

He can promote gigs as “Dweezil Zappa,” pay no licensing fees and the fans will figure it out. That’s apparently what’s happening this summer. He can play the songs. There’s not a huge amount of money in it, but it keeps the brand active on the performance circuit and the music alive.

Can you squat on Zappa trademarks?

It looks more like the trust lawyers trying to establish a precedent and applying it without favoritism – even if your name really is “Zappa,” you can’t squat on the trademarks. The problem here is that Dweezil can’t legally be alienated from his own last name because his relatives own the marks.

Why is Zappa Plays Zappa not trademarked?

The younger siblings alleged that in October 2016, 49-year-old Dweezil posted on his website that he no longer was allowed to use the federal trademark “Zappa Plays Zappa” because of an order “fired off by the ZFT,” referring to the Zappa Family Trust.

What happened to Frank Zappa's children?

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge Wednesday approved a settlement agreement between three of children of the late Frank Zappa, in which the second-oldest sibling agreed to stop verbal attacks on the other two and on their late mother in the media.

What happened to Dweezil Zappa's mother?

Ahmet and Diva Zappa alleged in their court papers filed in March 2017 that Dweezil Zappa was unhappy he was not named a co-trustee of the family trust instead of their younger brother and sister after their mother, Gail, died of lung cancer at age 70 in October 2015.

How much interest does Moon Zappa have in the family trust?

Moon Zappa has a 25 percent interest in the family trust. “Everybody has agreed to bury the hatchet and move on,” Forer said after the hearing. Forer had asked Juarez to approve the settlement in February.

How much did Dweezil's mother spend on his business?

In November 2016, Dweezil said in an interview with Magnet magazine that his mother had “run herself and the business into the ground, spent $20 million in lawsuits and by her demise was $6 million in debt.”. Dweezil also said his mother had not paid him for 10 years.