(Cuneiform)

www.cuneiformrecords.com

Don Van Vliet (better known as Captain Beefheart) and Frank Zappa were teenage friends, drawn together as oddballs even by the standards of the soon-to-be escapist California youth culture of the early 1960s. Both went on to make critically acclaimed recordings, but Zappa somehow managed to gain greater popular respect. His aspirations to mix Pierre Boulez with Spike Jones made him seem both high-minded and immediate, while Beefheart's combination of Howlin' Wolf and Ornette Coleman (to quote the accurate impressions of jazz critic Francis Davis) was never going to sit right with either the symphonic crowd or the pop charts.

While it would seem to Beefheart fans that the Captain's vocal personality - that legendary five-octave range, that Wolfian growl, that immeasurably quirky presence - was absolutely essential to appreciating his music, it turns out that one-time Magic Band guitarist Gary Lucas and some like-minded jazz and New Music players came up with ways of approaching it that didn't even require words. Fast ‘n' Bulbous, co-led by Lucas and alto saxophonist Philip Johnston, have been playing live since the dawn of the 21^st Century, and released a collection of Beefheart interprations, Pork Chop Blue Around the Rind, back in 2005.

Waxed Oop takes another dozen Beefheart classics from many of the ten albums he released between 1967 and 1982, and makes the argument that Van Vliet's music can not only survive without the wordplay and the vocal mannerisms that seemed to define them originally, but can thrive as the basis of instrumental improvisations. If you know the originals, you'll love the way Beefheart's vocals are turned into horn riffs or guitar melodies; if you don't, you'll easily follow the melodic imagination and rhythmic drive of music that's equal parts challenging and catchy. The arrangements are varied, from solo National steel guitar to four-horns, guitar, bass, and drums, to dynamic power trio.

It's not fair to set up a contest between the extremely popular Zappa and the cult favorite Beefheart, but it's hard to hear this album without making a case that Van Vliet deserves at least as much consideration as a musical composer.  Fast ‘n' Bulbous are equally at home with Beefheart's gorgeous tunes like "Blabber ‘n' Smoke" and his intricately designed rhythmically complex ones like "the Past Sure Is Tense." There's a nice bonus cover of "China Pig" performed by Lucas backing up Robyn Hitchcock's vocals, too, just to remind you that it's possible to imitate the original and still sound loose and enjoyable.

Standout Tracks: "Dropout Boogie," "Well," "The Past Sure Is Tense," "Blabber ‘n' Smoke" STEVE PICK