After Frank - 1st Movement

Napoleon Murphy Brock's three-year stint alongside Frank Zappa coincided with some of the main man's most contentious albums, at least if period reviews are anything to go by; 30 years on, of course, Apostrophe, One Size Fits All, and the Beefheart collaboration Bongo Fury are as well loved as the rest of the Mothers catalog, funky instincts and all. At the time, though, his willingness to study (say it softly) dance music, even if he did so quietly, raised many a quizzical eyebrow. After Frank takes those once-suspect rhythms and wraps them around your head. Recounting Brock's post-Zappa activities, it's a five-track disc recorded live in Santa Cruz in 1977 with his new band, Gregarious Movement, having such a wild time that even the vaguely muffled sound quality only packs on the ambience of the evening. Three Ohio Players covers dominate the set, but it's good times à go go regardless, as band interacts with audience, rhythms melt and float into one another, and Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" is as smooth and sultry as you could wish. In fact, the only criticism is -- can we have some more, please? ~ Dave Thompson|