Stinkfoot Orchestra Brings Frank Zappa’s Music To Life At Los Angeles’ Venice West

On Thursday, June 20, the explosive 14-piece Frank Zappa tribute band, the Stinkfoot Orchestra, took the stage at Los Angeles’ Venice West to celebrate selections from rock’s master prankster’s opus. Fronted by Zappa alumnus Napoleon Murphy Brock, fans from around SoCal were treated to a rare, eclectic experience centering on the Zappa catalog from the 1970s to early 80s era and featuring rare performances from legendary Zappa veterans including bassist Arthur Barrow, trombonist Bruce Fowler, and renowned vocalist Lisa Popeil.

Despite the obligatory humor infused throughout the show, The Stinkfoot Orchestra is no joke. Launched in 2019, it is the brainchild of San Jose bandleader, keyboardist and musical impresario Nick Chargin, and the impetus behind Stinkfoot was to celebrate what would have been Frank’s 80th birthday.

When the performance was postponed due to the pandemic shutdown, Stinkfoot was down but not out. Turning crisis into opportunity, the downtime gave Chargin the opportunity to build the band into a 14-piece orchestra and hone the detailed musical arrangements he would need to give audiences the most authentic Zappa experience possible. Finding accurate charts difficult to come by Chargin reached out to veterans like Bruce Fowler and Scott Thunes to surface rare arrangements and gain some guidance on how to accurately reconstruct how Zappa’s repertoire should actually be played.

“I was concerned about being able to present Frank’s music in the way that it should be presented and because there’s so many people who have never had a chance to see him,” Chargin explained. “And, so, I just want to be able to get as close to that as I can.”

Just then as we chatted backstage before the show, Fowler stood not but a few feet away, huddled around by members of the Stinkfoot horn section. From a folio, he pulled out a handful of original hand-written notated manuscripts he and Frank annotated such as “Montana,” “Zombie Woof” and “Chunga’s Revenge.”

“The fact that they’ve all gone out of their way to like help us with stuff with charts that we may not have, it’s just been phenomenal,” Chargin said. “That makes me feel good about what we’re doing and thinking we’re on the right track.”

One element that sets Stinkfoot apart from all other Zappa tribute bands is the force and richness of the six-piece horn section. Their exuberance not only lends authenticity to the performance but also lets the audience know they mean business. As any Zappa fan knows, the key to performing his music right is capturing the nuance of the arrangements, and if it were off or hacked, it would stand out as unsatisfying and wouldn’t work. Chargin brinksmanship guarantees Stinkfoot’s performance is as close to perfection as anyone could get.

Since 2019, the band has built a repertoire of over 75 songs, which is no small feat, with an orchestra made up of over a dozen performers including horns, percussion, backup singers, and a rhythm section of guitar, bass, drums and keys. With such a variety of songs to choose from, and depending on which Zappa alumnus is fronting the band, whether Napoleon Murphy Brock, Ike Willis or Ray White, the audience gets to experience a totally unique performance each show.

“I wanted to make sure that I’m giving them something that we didn’t play last time,” Chargin said, breaking down how Stinkfoot’s return engagement would play out at Venice West. “I consciously try and do that … so you know, yeah … It’s important to me to keep it fresh. Keep giving people more material, ’cause there’s so much music.”

Set One

As Stinkfoot finally hit the stage at 8 p.m., the intro of Shota Otaguro’s chiming vibes set off the orchestra’s first set, breaking into the rocking instrumental “Heavy Duty Judy,” driven by the firm undertones of a superb horn section, syncopated, grooving, giving the audience a sample of the flood of sound that was about to our over them.

As the band lowered the sound, Zappa archivist, raconteur, and local Venice legend Gerry Fialka introduced the band. Fialka harkens back to the New Orleans-style second line Zappa and the Mothers of Invention led from the legendary Cheetah Club onto Venice Boardwalk 50 years before, only a few blocks away. Fialka dedicated the show to percussionist Ed Mann, who had passed only a few weeks before and appeared on over 30 Zappa albums including Sheik Yerbouti, Joe’s Garage and You Are What You Is.

Then, the iconic frontman Napoleon Murphy Brock took the stage and led the audience into an early/mid-’70s era jaunt of Zappa material with a springy intro that slid into the masterful, proto-rap critique of the idiot box, “I Am The Slime.” Brock’s background in music theater was on full display as he pantomimed and dramatically articulated each line, deconstructing the flood of stupidity that oozes from America’s TV sets.

The band then broke into “Florentine Pogen,” replete with dramatic horn arrangements layered over Otaguro killing it on vibes, a several-measure nod to “Louie Louie,” and an impressive extended sax solo topping it off. Rounding out the opening, Brock led the band as they slipped into a soulful rendition of “Uncle Remus.”

Stinkfoot then took a turn with a brief interlude into the late ‘70s and early ‘80s Frank with an energetically fastidious “Broken Hearts Are For Assholes,” replete with its hilariously bawdy call and response. Then the orchestra took it down a notch with the haunting, ethereal musical journey that is “Läther.”

Bandleader Nick Chargin invited Zappa alumni and vocalist extraordinaire Lisa Popeil to the stage to lead the trilling vocal of the sardonic, operatic-yet-rocking “Teenage Prostitute.” This was a rare treat. The last time Popeil performed this live was with Banned from Utopia in Oslo, Norway in 2016.

Turning once again to the early ‘70s, Brock returned to the stage as Chargin led the band in a suite of interconnected tunes from side one of Apostrophe, starting with “Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow,” leading into “Nanook Rubs It,” then rambling over the tundra to “St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast” in all of its frenetic vibrato glory. Brock rounded out the vocals, punctuated by bursting horns, and resolving finally with the effervescent “Father O’Blivion.”

Harkening back to the earlier Mothers of Invention, Stinkfoot then took a trip to earlier, simpler days as they whizzed and pasted and pooted through the nostalgic “Let’s Make the Water Turn Black,” with Brock on lead vocals.

Next came another instrumental sojourn with the heavy “Easy Meat” going into the sonic feast that is every audiophile’s delight, “Drupree’s Paradise,” and then back to “Easy Meat.”

Chargin then brought up Zappa veteran bassist Arthur Barrow to take over from the incredible Joey Fabian, the backbone of Stinkfoot. Barrow led as he launched the orchestra into a rousing “Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus,” with forceful horns on point backing them up on one of Zappa’s most vibrant instrumentals, as baritone saxophonist Jon Hassan wailed in musical conversation, back and forth with his woodwind bandmates.

A sophisticated, bright version of “Peaches En Regalia” followed. Barrow then led Stinkfoot into the classic “Montana,” with the signature “yippie ki-yo ki-yeah,” and finished the set with the irreverent “Cosmic Debris.”

Set Two

As the second set launched, legendary trombonist Bruce Fowler took a seat with the horn section, as Stinkfoot launched into the Roxy & Elsewhere suite. This was Fowler’s first performance since his stroke two years earlier, and he was in full form, playing the entire set.

Beginning with the light, airy “Village of Sun,” Napoleon led Frank’s homage to the turkey farms outside of Palmdale, California where Zappa first bonded with Don van Vliet (Captain Beefheart). This led into the intricate “Echidna’s Arf (Of You)” with all of its eclectic time signatures and tempo changes, with Napoleon blasting exuberantly on his sax, moments of 12-tonal madness, and Fowler turning in a magical solo.

It was on to the high-energy, syncopated “Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing,” with bandleader Chargin evoking the spirit of George Duke with a smooth keyboard lead, ringing with a subdued forcefulness.

The set continued with two pieces Frank reworked from original Mothers’ material for the Roxy album, “Son Of Orange County,” based on “Oh No” and “More Trouble Everyday,” a reimagined, evolved rendition of “Trouble Every Day,” from the album Freak Out!

As “Son Of Orange” blazed forward, Napoleon’s distinctly annunciated “I just can’t believe you are such a fool” was backed by Fowler’s signature trombone, and was rounded out by Tomek Sinclair’s diamond-focused, slow-groove lead guitar, burning like a roman candle. The musical momentum from here blended into “More Trouble,” Napoleon again on lead vocal pantomiming to visualize its raw, honest lyrics, and thrusted onward by Jon Hassan’s heavy, ripping baritone sax solo.

Stinkfoot’s Roxy revue finished with the satirical, rock-jazz-blues infused “Penguin in Bondage,” Napoleon playing the role of the penguin, and “Cheepnis,” replete with in-house cheesy special effects, the band flinging mini rubber chickens into an enraptured audience.

To level the energy for a moment, Stinkfoot next slid into 1972’s sublimely grooving “Blessed Relief,” with warm horn arrangements, wondrous flute lead by Paul Degen, and Fowler’s trombone. A lush, majestic “Sofa,” with a double flute arrangement preceded a steady rock funk of the double-entendre laden “Your Mouth” with Fowler again indulging the crowd with his eponymous sound.

The aggressive, sometimes atonal “Let’s Move To Cleveland” was up next and featured Joey Fabian’s impressive rolling basslines and Chargin flashing his keyboard chops, evoking an outer space-like ambiance that swelled into infinity before bringing it all back home.

Backup vocal duo Lainey Leone and Lizie Skow took the reins leading the titillatingly catchy “Dirty Love,” switching verses with a flair that would do the Ikettes justice. Logically from here, Stinkfoot broke into the densely packed, avant-garde rock piece “Magic Fingers,” with yet another supreme solo from Tomek Sinclair on lead guitar.

Completing the set, Napoleon took the helm once again delivering a playful yet passionate “Zombie Woof,” with Jo Major’s standout sax solo and the tight yet impish call-and-response horn arrangement many Zappa fans demand, then finished with the bluesy, mournful “Andy,” with rapid-fire lyrics, gospel wailing and the entire band strictly following to the enigmatic theme lines.

To conclude the show, Nick Chargin thanked the Venice West audience for taking part in this special Frank Zappa happening and the Zappa alumni for recreating the experience before launching into “Inca Roads.” The trademark marimba preceded Napoleon leading on flute the haunting intro, his voice rising and falling with the lyric “Did a vehicle come from somewhere out there just to land in the Andes?” Tomek Sinclair again blazed on his solo lead followed by Jo Major playing a smooth, tight solo riff on alto sax.

It was a tremendous performance.