Hard to explain, but I guess the thing to me about zappa that set him apart was that he wasn’t trying to figure out how to get the next top 10 billboard chart hit, but was playing it like he thought it ought to be done.
He played his music and I don’t think he gave a crap whether you or I or anyone else liked it...more like he was performing it for himself, not for anyone else.
His artistic motivation was somehow more like that of jimmy henrdix, but frank took it all to another level.
I wonder what planet he was really from...
And just look at the musicians that Zappa played with, he had an eye for finding real talent: Vai, Belew, Jean Luc-Ponty, etc.