Speaking of Zappa, I never really got into him or listened to him before until last year then I really got into him. Holy smoke, that guy was unbelievable. The level of musiciainship was just off the charts in the stuff he wrote and his band. I don’t know how he put these bands together and got them to play these incredibly complicated pieces, the time signatures, the pauses. The live 1968 version of King Kong I must have listened to 100 times already blasting it in my car. I can’t get over how they start out with this free form jazz and then this insane happy, skippy stuff and then all of sudden BANG out of nowhere start playing this kick ass jazz and not one of them has sheet music in front of them, mind blowing stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIk7VnVwBNo&ab_channel=jamf
I am still amazed Zappa managed to perform I’m The Slime live on Saturday Night Live 45+ years ago. He nailed it that long ago.