Jonathan Sheffer of Red {an orchestra}
On The Importance of Being Zappa

Before his death from prostate cancer in 1993, Frank Zappa had become of the single most fruitful and imaginative American composers ever. Although notorious as a rock guitarist, bandleader and outspoken iconoclast – Frank was indeed frank, after all – the self-taught Zappa considered himself an orchestral music composer first above all else.

Zappa’s love of orchestral music is the subject of a sensational collaboration – one helmed by an iconoclast in his own right, Jonathan Sheffer, and his critically-acclaimed Red {an orchestra}. With The Importance of Being Zappa, Sheffer and Red have collaborated with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (suggested by Warren Zanes, the Rock Hall’s VP for education) and the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony.

Red and company will perform a set of Zappa's inspirations – including pieces by Webern, Stravinsky and Varese – as well as four of Zappa's own most ingenious orchestral works. It’s an ambitious undertaking; no doubt Red is up to the task.

Didn’t make it to the “Zappa Plays Zappa: Tour de Frank” show last October at the Canton Palace, thereby missing Dweezil Zappa’s tribute to Dad? This gig might just make up for it. Managing Editor Peter Chakerian tracked down Sheffer in New York for a brisk 10 minute cell phone exchange about Red's Masonic Auditorium Zappa shows.

You’ll find their previous exchanges about Red here.

Their latest 10 minutes makes up our latest Cool Cleveland Pop Quiz:

Cool Cleveland: One of Frank Zappa’s famous quotes is “Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.” That quote sounds like it could have been written about Red {an orchestra}. So, why Francis Vincent Zappa?
Jonathan Sheffer: Yes, indeed. I think for that reason you just mentioned. I think we are very concerned with progress as an organization, particularly in the loosest sense of what an orchestra does and how it chooses to present musical ideas and concepts. This is what made a great coming together of two institutions; that common denominator was Frank Zappa.

How did you go about picking the selections for this particular program? The sheer volume of what Zappa did throughout his musical career is staggering.
I knew that I wanted to feature his work with part of the program, but clearly it’s more interesting to provide context to listeners. When we began discussing this program with the Rock Hall, I told them it would be more of a classical music concert up front, and that it would be my job to go out and make those connections between his inspirations and creations. I had to then figure out how to let the audience know what was going on inside Frank Zappa’s head. Certainly, those concepts all worked their way in.

Last time we spoke, you talked about the “ghettoizing” of audiences. This Zappa program seems geared at bringing audiences together… you’re working with the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony and the Rock Hall, and delivering works from a rock iconoclast, which has mad crossover appeal. You really do walk the walk, man.
Thank you. That is always the intended goal. What we do in that regard is terribly important to all arts groups, I think. With collaborations, you try to look not only at the population of the audiences, but of the community at large. What is it that is interesting to them and not just interesting to us? Very often, the problem within classical music is that thought of, “If only the uninitiated would get what we do.” It is the responsibility of the presenters to bridge that gap. And in collaborating with the Rock Hall and the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony, there’s a strong educational angle that ties up everything neatly.

Talk about your creative process as the Artistic Director for Red. What goes into your constructing of a season and to what degree is the bringing of divergent audiences together influential in your decision making process?
Well, I have two timeframes in mind. Actually, make that three – one is the evening, which is the “micro” view; there is the season, which is more the “macro” view, and what the organization is doing on a historical level, or the “big picture.” On a micro level, I want every concert to be engaging unique in its narrative and as a listening experience. On that midlevel, I want to the season to be varied, with a wide variety of different kinds of programs – so it’s possible if you experience Red repeatedly, you still get very different experiences. And with the big picture, the organization needs to be able to look back and forth at the works presented on a timeline and stay true to the mission standards of offering repertoire, new exploratory music and collaborations of all kinds at all times.

Overall, how influential would you say Zappa has been on you in your career as a musician and composer? How many times did you witness Zappa in his heyday?
Not at all, honestly. That’s not what I would consider an influence. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see him live. Obviously, I’ve seen him in concert films and certainly I have appreciated his music, but no, never. Not in action.

I like how you set up the program into two portions: Zappa’s influences and then the Zappa compositions. Suppose Red were doing The Importance of Being Sheffer – as opposed to your That Red Guy program coming in April – what historical pieces would we hear in the first act to set up your original compositions in the second act?
That is a very good question. Hmmmm. You stumped me there! (pause) I must say, there probably is not a concert long enough to contain all of them. And I wonder if Zappa wouldn’t say the same thing about our program. My influences are so varied – everything from my experience at Julliard to musical theater - I fear I could not begin to construct that show. I certainly have favorites, but in essence, it sounds like a colossal night of work. (laughs)

Who else in rock history do you think is worthy of the “Red treatment” that Zappa is?
Nobody else, really. There’s no one else who went completely outside of the traditional rock idioms – and focused on what I would call hardcore avant-garde music – the way Frank Zappa did. Maybe we’d do something with [Leornard] Bernstein’s work, who made spectacular musical theater. But nothing extreme like rock music.

In the spirit of all the early Presidential campaigning, it’s a shame Zappa died before his “candidacy” really could take off. He was eloquent, amusing, rational, and scandalously conservative – although most would say he had classic libertarian leanings. Do you think he would get elected to office, were he alive today?
(laughs, then a long pause) Well... that’s a good one. Let’s just say he would be a very interesting alternative for what we have now.

Thanks, Jonathan.
Thank you.

'The Importance of Being Zappa'' runs at the Cleveland Masonic Auditorium, 3615 Euclid Ave., for two evenings: Friday, February 16 and Saturday, February 17. Both shows begin at 8PM.

Join Jonathan and Red {an orchestra} at the Cool Cleveland Zappa party on 2/16— Get discount tix here.

From Cool Cleveland Managing Editor Peter Chakerian peterATcoolcleveland.com (:divend:)