He really is the moral compass.”ĭescribing his father as “a complicated person” and an amazing musician, Ahmet said that one of his jobs as trustee was to convey the sheer breadth of Frank’s compositional skills.
“What's great about Frank is that he really is the person guiding things, because he said it, he played it, he shot it. He added that when it comes to his philosophy on matters of the trust, he need only refer to his father’s blueprint. That makes me the happiest – storytelling in any medium.” Said Ahmet, “I always wanted to be a storyteller. What's great about Frank is that he really is the person guiding things, because he said it, he played it, he shot it. The album’s highlights include the mesmerizing instrumental “Truth,” the jangly, Beatles-esque pop of “Just the Way She Is” and a Zappa-inspired experiment called “Malkovich,” which features vocals by John Malkovich.ĭweezil Zappa begins his Cease and Desist tour in El Prado, N.M., on July 1.
Last year, Dweezil released his first solo album in nine years, “Via Zammata,” featuring work that mixes rock, jazz and funk. In addition to playing his father’s music, the skilled guitarist has landed guest appearances over the years with such artists as Winger, Pat Boone, Spinal Tap (lead guitar on “Break Like the Wind”), Weird Al Yankovic and the Dixie Dregs. “I, of all the people in the family, spent time with him doing something because we had it in common - guitar music.” “My concern is to just be able to continue to enjoy the music, live within the music, play the music, and express that and allow new people to discover that in a live situation,” he said. I, of all the people in the family, spent time with him doing something because we had it in common - guitar music.ĭweezil takes his job as Frank’s musical ambassador seriously. It requires a kind of stamina and dedication, and that’s a great story, whether you’re a fan of that music or not.”Īt the top of Moon’s creative to-do list is a project sure to excite fans of Zappa and Los Angeles culture: “I'm working on a book about growing up in my crazy house.” Moon said she loved “Eat That Question,” the new documentary about her father, calling it “such a universal story about following your calling, and how that road is not an easy road. “Every single idea I brought to her, she shot down.” I had lined up all these elements,” said Moon, adding that she also pitched a family reality show and a curated album of Frank’s music designed with teenage girls in mind. “There were so many times that I had gone to her. I had suggested a biopic and a documentary. She noted this was not a family fight over money or unfair proportions, recently tweeting, “This is about having to ask permission for use on OUR last name & creative exclusion.” The artist is also very involved in yoga.ĭuring a recent conversation, Moon (who considers “Unit” to be her middle name) said that she had wanted to help spread the word about her father’s work and legacy but that Gail had mostly declined her ideas.
#DEAD OR ALIVE 6 DRAMA SERIES#
In the intervening decades, Moon has continued to live a creative life, appearing on such TV series as “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “How I Met Your Mother.” More recently, she voiced a character on the Fox’s animated show “High School USA!” Moon writes for film and television, does stand-up comedy and recently held a storytelling show in Portland, Ore. The eldest Zappa child is arguably the most well-known, due in large part to her teenage star turn on “Valley Girl.” The song, a collaboration between father and daughter that appeared on Frank’s 1982 album “Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch,” poked fun at the California Valleyspeak dialect unique to teenage girls in the San Fernando Valley at the time. Moon Unit Zappa (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) Thanks to a decision by their mother, who died in 2015, Ahmet, 42, and his younger sister, Diva, 36, share control of the trust - to the dismay and anger of their two older siblings, Dweezil, 46, and Moon, 48, who received smaller portions.īut each inherited equal levels of their father’s independent spirit, a sensibility that is seeing renewed attention due to the arrival of the documentary “Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words.”īelow is a look at what the Zappa kids are up to now. The children of Frank and Gail Zappa – Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet and Diva – were left unequal shares of the Zappa Family Trust, which owns the rights to a massive trove of music and other creative output by the songwriter, filmmaker and producer - more than 60 albums were released during Zappa’s lifetime and 40 posthumously. Frank Zappa’s rich musical and cultural legacy, and which children have a right to profit off it, have recently become the subject of a public and contentious family battle.
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