"Eddy Loves Frank" (Cuneiform) is alto saxophonist and arranger Ed Palermo's third album dedicated to the music of Frank Zappa. Although identified with rock and roll, the eclectic Zappa transcended genres, and in Palermo's hands his music becomes an expanded "third stream," a combination of jazz and classical elements (as originally defined in the late '50s) plus rock.
The Palermo group has been playing Zappa for 15 years, and it is expert at the rhythmic and stylistic jump cuts in the music. "Echidna's Arf (of You)" is an example. It shifts from a heavy rock beat to staccato, eighth-note-horn runs in unison with the drums and bass to a swinging saxophone-section chorus.
On "What's New in Baltimore" a repeating arpeggiolike melody appears in several rhythmic permutations highlighted by flute and gives way to a grooving piano solo by Bob Quaranta followed by a blistering tenor saxophone solo by Ben Kono and then a rhythmically daunting ensemble finish. "America the Beautiful," the final tune, sung by Bruce McDaniel, is quite lovely and not a put-on.
