Whew. The "Wazoo era" came during a bit of a busy time for me, sorry for not posting sooner.
This is my favorite Zappa from here out until the early 80s. IMO, just about every album released for the remainder of the 70s is a classic FZ album, in one way or another, and it's the strongest and most consistent run of material he released.
It all started after Frank was pushed off stage with the Flo and Eddie band, ending that band. Frank supposedly did some soul searching, and listened to a lot of jazz. What resulted was a prog-jazz big band ensemble, and in the middle of the jazz-rock/fusion explosion that Frank himself pioneered; along with Miles Davis, Gary Burton, and Larry Coryell, in the late 1960s, which he may not have thought of because he was just fusing all kinds of musical styles and jazz with rock happened to be one of them. But by the time Hot Rats came around, he had gone deep into the genre, creating an early jazz-rock classic.
So in comes Waka-Jawaka. Frank took the Hot Rats concept and applied it to a big band, multiple instruments. This was first covered on Hot Rats actually, with Son of Mr. Green Genes, but here Frank goes further. On Waka-Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo, the jazz element is raised a notch or two.
W-JW starts with the fusion classic Big Swifty, one of Frank's most recognizable pieces. This tune would grow a bit more composed, but the original is great. If you're a fan of the Miles Davis albums of this time period you will likely enjoy this tune (and title track.) Great electric piano here, tons of horns.
Next up is Your Mouth. The two middle tracks were always overlooked by me, and only recently have I begun to appreciate them. Your Mouth is a bluesy track, and the next tune is It May Just Be A One Shot Deal, a song that is weird (I know right?) for Zappa, only because the composition feels choppy, but I really like the major-key parts and there's some interesting things going on in this song. It did become the title of a posthumous album "One Shot Deal" which has a few tracks recorded during this era.
The title track, like Big Swifty, is a big prog-jazz-fusion track, but is a more tightly composed tune. Unfortunately, this is the only real appearance of this song (there is a alternate take (or remixed version, I forget which) on QuAUDIOPHILIAc), as I believe it was never performed with the Wazoo bands, and was not brought back for the 88 band. This tune has some great synths (first to appear on a Zappa album?) just like most prog/jazz albums from this time. This tune feels like it should end a minute or two earlier, but the album is short anyway, so it's not a big deal.
The follow up, The Grand Wazoo, is just a better album. Every tune here is awesome, even Calvin. This was also a song I overlooked for years, but I've come to really appreciate it, and it contains a lot of cool parts, including Greggary Peccary teases (the mammoth epic was performed during the Wazoo tours, more on that in a bit). I like starting the album with this song, like the original vinyl, as that is how Frank originally wanted it (unless I listen to the CD itself) I also think the album has better flow that way, not to mention I find it funny using that as the first track because it scares off the "weak" listeners, and invites those seeking adventure with music. After Calvin, the title track comes in and it's like "we made it!" because the rest of the album is gold.
The Grand Wazoo is one of Frank's best jazz-rock tunes, and was only performed in this era. Lovely horns, a colorful arrangement of prog, jazz, and rock, with a little funk on the side. Some of Frank's best guitar here. This era is when Frank started getting 'better' at guitar.
Cleetus is a funny little tune, this is comedy music. The music sounds funny. Nothing wrong with that and damn does it sound cool.
Eat That Question is a classic jazz-rock tune, George Duke is all over this one. A little march at the end, some fanfare. This song rocks.
The album ends with one of Frank Zappa's most beautiful tunes, Blessed Relief. A slow, relaxed tune that allows the listener to reflect, as well as hear Frank rip your heart out, and George Duke reach into your soul, and whoever is playing trumpet (Sal Marquez?) plays a nice solo too. This song alone makes it a masterpiece, and yet, it doesn't really reflect the overall sound of the album, yet it does. I don't know. The Grand Wazoo is a great album, a masterpiece even. One of my favorites for sure.
Good posthumous albums to check out from this time:
Wazoo - live album of the Grand Wazoo band
Imaginary Diseases - live album of the "Petitie" Wazoo band
Joe's Domage - only for completists, features rehearsal of Wazoo tour material