When it comes to musical iconoclasts, the late Frank Zappa left behind quite the creative legacy despite only living to the age of 52 before succumbing to prostate cancer in 1993. 

Three-plus decades later, his eldest son Dweezil is honoring his pop via the Rox(Postroph)Y Tour Return of the Son of…, a string of dates that will find the younger Zappa focusing his outfit’s energies on revisiting a pair of his father’s albums, “Apostrophe (‘)” and “Roxy & Elsewhere,” both of which were released in 1974 and have marked their half-century anniversaries. Hitting the concert stage after a four-year layoff partially caused by the pandemic, Zappa is eager to tackle this part of his father’s canon.

Zappa will perform at Napa’s Uptown Theatre at 8 pm, Friday, Jan. 10.

“The material that we’re playing from ‘Apostrophe (‘)’ and ‘Roxy’ is very well known to the fans, but the versions we’re doing are probably not as well-known because some of them pre-date the albums,” Zappa explained in a recent interview. “There are arrangements that came from live performances that were from 1973, but the album was recorded in 1974, so there are differences in some of the harmonies and some of the rhythms. These are very popular records and it’s just one of those things where the music stands in stark relief if you listen to what is happening in that music and you compare it to anything that’s happening in modern music — and you realize that it was done 50 years ago. It really shows people that there is so much that is undiscovered and so much more that can be done with music, and that’s something dad’s music showcases all the time.”

Zappa was barely four going on five years old when the two records came out. This was also around the time of a couple of vivid memories — the whirring of tape machines as his father was doing edits (“You would just hear the tape rocking back and forth going ‘wherp, wherp, wherp,’” the son said) and the recording of a song called “St. Alphonso’s Pancake Breakfast.”

“I was four or five years old when he was making that and I just remember thinking, ‘Oh great — a song about pancakes — that’s pretty sweet,’” he recalled.

And while Zappa was given a guitar when he was six, it wasn’t until the California native was 12 that he started getting serious about playing. At that point, it was a golden age of guitar players in the Golden State, where storied names like Edward Van Halen and Randy Rhoads proved to be huge influences on the budding guitarist — so much so that the former oversaw Zappa’s recording debut despite the young musician having been playing for nine months.

“The first song I ever recorded was ‘My Mother’s a Space Cadet’ in my dad’s studio, but Edward Van Halen produced it along with Donn Landee, who was the engineer that did the first six Van Halen albums,” Zappa said. “There are no words to describe how inspirational it was for me to be able to work with Edward on that recording.”

Zappa’s fascination with the guitar and his increasing proficiency on the instrument has served him well. Not only has he recorded seven solo albums, but he’s cut a pair of records with brother Ahmet and made cameo appearances ranging from projects by artists who appeared on his father’s recordings, to “Weird Al” Yankovic, Winger, Todd Rundgren, and the Dixie Dregs. 

Zappa’s willingness to think outside of the box led to arguably his most unorthodox project, the still-unreleased “What the Hell Was I Thinking” It’s a 75-minute piece he started back in 1990 and features contributions from 40-plus guitarists. Technology changes that found Zappa going from analog to digital to computer formats have delayed releasing this ambitious project, and it’s currently on hold while Zappa devotes his time to the current tour. 

“The idea was to have a piece of music that morphed as it went along, so it’s almost like if you were turning the dial on a radio and different music would start playing at different times,” Zappa said. “The goal was to use the guitar in different ways and then have some guest guitarists also play on it. In that way, if you imagined you were watching a scene in a movie and every major actor that you knew of had a small cameo role, that was kind of the musical joke in this.”

Recently, he’s footage for a possible concert film focusing on the behind-the-scenes preparation for the current tour. As is the Zappa way, Dweezil is going down his own creative path, a lesson he observed having a front-row seat to his father’s day-to-day.

“A lot of people will ask you what it’s like to either be in the shadow or follow in the footsteps of my father and what the struggles might be,” he said. “I didn’t ever think about it like that because I was just happy to have access to my dad, who I admired. When it came to me doing my own thing, all I was concerned with was if I am doing work that I am happy with or proud of. That’s really all that matters.”

Dweezil Zappa performs at 8 pm, Friday, Jan. 10, at the Uptown Theatre, 1350 Third St., Napa. More info and tickets here.

Kayatta. It’s a name that comes up whenever people talk about the North Bay’s growing hip-hop scene. 

She’s a rapper, poet and classroom educator blazing an unparalleled trail in what it means to be a queer Black artist. 

My admiration and respect for her work and its transformative effect on regional arts pulled me off the couch on a cold Monday night to hear about her most recent venture. 

We gathered over a meal and listened as Kayatta shared about her collaboration with arts and equity consultants Kimzin Creative and the Petaluma River Park Foundation, an organization creating a new park on McNear Peninsula. 

Kayatta facilitated a series of poetry workshops with members of the community, exploring what an ideal park feels like, through writing and giving participants an opportunity to share what Nikko Kimzin of Kimzin Creative notably calls “their genius” with the park designers. 

The foundation states, “Only a park built by all can become a place for all.” Kimzin lived these words by inviting organizations such as Petaluma Blacks for Community Development, Petaluma Pride and Amor Para Todos to participate. 

After the workshops, Kayatta and Kimzin split the task of analyzing the data. Kayatta combed through the poetry, looking for “golden lines” and prevalent themes. Kimzin performed a more quantitative report using the same poetic data points. These findings were presented to the park’s designers and architects.

The project culminated in recording an original song titled “Feels Like,” where Kayatta incorporated lyrics and ideas from the workshops into a powerful hip-hop anthem. The track was presented in a music video and at an onsite event, along with other project results. 

Extraction

This process is incredible in part because it shakes up what “data collection” traditionally looks like. Most organizations seek to gather information using a process Kimzin calls “extraction,” where a neatly tailored survey is distributed, and the predictable results sit on a shelf, never taken very seriously. 

Kimzim’s alternate approach focuses on community engagement and exploring the benefits of viewing art as data. In this model, gathering information is just as important as producing the product; the goal is to build relationships and trust while producing meaningful information. These priorities, along with compensation and reimbursement for attendance costs, are essential in community development and removing many barriers historically marginalized groups experience just to show up at meetings like this. 

Kayatta used Langston Hughes’ poetry to explain how art can be an excellent source of information. Hughes’ words trace a map of the Great Migration, following Black families on their journeys away from the South. Analyzing this map yields meaningful information beyond dates and locations and includes the voices of the human beings who form the study’s subject.

Data found through art can also create paradigm shifts in how we see familiar things. For example, when asked about safety, most participants mentioned the huge importance of cleanliness and lighting, but didn’t mention police presence at all. This is important information about what safety actually looks like for these community members and an example of the discoveries that can happen when a poet and educator like Kayatta is present to help people envision their own future and use art to express it. 

Poet

None of this would work without Kayatta. A collaboration like this could easily slip into cheesy tropes about birds and tulips. But Kayatta pushes for deeper truths and a more valuable picture of the community’s dreams. Indeed, the quality of her artistic vision spread across the project, giving participants real artistic experiences and a chance to reclaim the word “poet” for themselves. 

It wasn’t always an easy project. As a middle school teacher in the East Bay, for Kayatta, repeated trips north to run workshops could be difficult. There was also a lot of pressure to quickly master this new extension of her craft, processing the precious words of the community and representing it in a way where everyone feels seen. 

But Kayatta moves from a place of faith, with a focus that comes from believing her spiritual access to the muse comes with a responsibility to honor and center her creative work. “The main thing has to be the main thing,” she says, in a statement that is both cryptic and clear as day. 

In addition to the obvious community benefits, Kayatta is using this work to push the limits of what it means to be a successful artist in a time when such reevaluation is necessary. 

Currently, some of our best musicians are hustling for a cut of $300 and a few drink tickets, playing for half-full rooms. Being commissioned by organizations like River Park, with realistic views on budget and compensation, can be a game-changing addition to any performer’s income model. Most artists also want a sense of meaning in their work and a connection with the larger community as an audience. This kind of work meets both of these needs, even creating a deeper connection with an audience, where they actually give back to the artist in a cyclical way. 

If Kayatta’s story is any indication, the “Art as Data” community-centered collection has a future. She has done similar work with Kimzin Creative and the City of Santa Rosa, which helped win Gold in the 4th Annual Anthem Awards for Community Engagement. This is a huge event with 2,300 entries spanning over 30 countries. Other Gold winners included the Obama Foundation, Google and Samsung. 

Next

The next chapter of this story is in the hands of the architects and designers of the River Park. The data collection has succeeded with a deeply engaged community and some valuable information. Now, the question is how this information will be utilized. 

There’s also a more significant question for us all to work on: When our world seems more driven by data and information daily, will we accept more community-centered models and methods for collecting this critical data—ones that better reflect the kind of world we want to live in? 

One can stay involved as the story continues. McNear’s Peninsula is open daily for those who want to walk the trail and see the future site of the Petaluma River Park. On March 1, architectural renderings will be presented at Hall of the Above in Petaluma, and Kayatta will give a special performance.

Learn more about Kayatta at poemsandpaper.com. Kimzin Creative is online at kimzincreative.com.