| Jazz from Hell | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album with live elements by | ||||
| Released | November 1986 | |||
| Recorded | 1985–1986 | |||
| Studio | UMRK (Los Angeles)(except "St. Etienne": May 28, 1982 at Palais des Sports,Saint-Étienne, France) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 34:26 | |||
| Label |
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| Producer | Frank Zappa | |||
| Frank Zappa chronology | ||||
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Jazz from Hell is aninstrumental album whose selections were all composed and recorded by American musicianFrank Zappa. It was released in November 1986, byBarking Pumpkin Records onvinyl andcassette, and in 1987 byRykodisc on CD.
Jazz from Hell was Zappa's final studio album released in his lifetime; for the remaining seven years of his life, he would only release live concert albums, although the posthumousCivilization Phaze III (1994) was completed shortly before his death.
Zappa producedmusic videos for the songs "G-Spot Tornado" and "Night School". "G-Spot Tornado" features footage he shot in 1961 at a county fair, as well as some 1959 footage ofCaptain Beefheart and his family.[1] "Night School" is a clay animation piece by Bruce Bickford.[2]
Frank Zappa explained that the album title was a political reference: "Things in America can be from hell. Right now we have a president from hell (Ronald Reagan), and aNational Security Council from hell, so we should addJazz from Hell also."[3] 1987'sVideo from Hell, in which the quote is featured, is titled similarly.
All compositions were executed by Frank Zappa on theSynclavier DMS with the exception of "St. Etienne", a guitar solo excerpted from a live performance Zappa gave of "Drowning Witch" from hisShip Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch album, during a concert inSaint-Étienne, France, on his 1982 tour.
"While You Were Art II" is a Synclavier performance based on a transcription of Zappa's improvised guitar solo on the track "While You Were Out" from the albumShut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (1981). The unreleased original Synclavier performance was done using only the unit'sFM synthesis, while the recording found here was Zappa's "deluxe" arrangement featuring newersamples andtimbres.
"Night School" was possibly named for a late-night show that Zappa pitched toABC; the network did not pick it up.
"G-Spot Tornado", assumed by Zappa to be impossible to play by humans,[citation needed] was performed byEnsemble Modern on the concert recordingThe Yellow Shark (1993).
In the initialEuropean CD release, the album was featured as the second album on a "two for the price of one compilation," with nine tracks fromFrank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention (1985) on the same disc.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [4] |
| Pitchfork | 8.0/10[5] |
David Fricke ofRolling Stone wrote that "there is nothing particularly hellish about the eight pieces on the album, though it may have been a bitch to program these densely packed parcels of subdivided rhythms and Chinese-checker themes", also remarking that "it would have been nice to hear Zappa tear up his digital soundscape here and there with a little more real-sound guitar".[6] A retrospective review from Sam Goldner ofPitchfork called the album "a MIDI-powered vision of the uncanny and bizarre future of music", with Goldner writing that "for all its complexity,Jazz from Hell is hardly a serious listen—it squiggles and dashes about like stock music that's broken out of its cage, begging to find new ways to be played with".[5]
Zappa won a1988 Grammy Award forBest Rock Instrumental Performance for this album.
The music to all selections was composed, and all selections were arranged, by Frank Zappa.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Night School" | 4:47 |
| 2. | "The Beltway Bandits" | 3:25 |
| 3. | "While You Were Art II" | 7:17 |
| 4. | "Jazz from Hell" | 2:58 |
| Total length: | 19:17 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 5. | "G-Spot Tornado" | 3:17 |
| 6. | "Damp Ankles" | 3:45 |
| 7. | "St. Etienne" | 6:26 |
| 8. | "Massaggio Galore" | 2:31 |
| Total length: | 16:31 | |
On "St. Etienne"
Technical personnel
