Jay Danley - 2025 - Great Googly Moogly! Music Inspired By Frank Zappa

(30:49; Jay Danley)

It took me much longer than it should have done to really investigate Zappa, mostly because there was such a huge catalogue of work that I really didn’t know where to start, and then when I finally dived in, I regretted all those years I had been dithering about it. My personal favourite is probably ‘Hot Rats’, but I don’t think he ever released a poor album, and it is always interesting to see someone else travel a similar path. I still remember loving Jon Poole’s ‘What is the Ugliest Part of Your Body?’ when it was released in 1994, but then Jon was reinterpreting works from the early part of Frank’s career, whereas here we have an artist who has studied Frank’s works and concepts and then written new music using these as a base.

Jay is a renowned session musician who has played with many greats and is also well-known for his fusion of jazz with multiple other world genres, but here he has set himself a different task, create an album which may have been by Zappa, but isn’t. The cover is tongue in cheek, the name of the album is more of the same, while there is no doubt musically, he has achieved a great deal here. I love the way he switches in tempo and style, and one can definitely hear echoes of Frank’s styles, but in some ways, he has created a rod for his own back, as one of Zappa’s strengths was the way he surrounded himself with great musicians and then challenged them to be better than they ever imagined they could. This is, I believe, a totally solo album and while the guitar is great, and much of the instrumentation works well, it does feel somewhat let down in the drums department. However, this is still a very enjoyable album which will undoubtedly be of great interest to fans of what of the most iconic artists of all time. 

Kev Rowland, September 2025

Links:
https://jaydanley.bandcamp.com/