ZAPPA 200 Motels: the Suites
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Frank Filipetti, Producer
Gail Zappa, Producer
Hila Plitmann, Soprano
Jeff Taylor, Larry the Dwarf
Michael Des Barres, Rance
Matt Marks, Mark
Zach Villa, Howard
Rich Fulcher, Cowboy Burt
Morris Robinson, Bass Solo
Joel David Moore, Frank
Joe Fria, Jeff
Ann Cusack, Donovan/Good Conscience
Alan Ruck, Ginger/Bad Conscience
Diva Zappa, Janet
Sheila Vand, Lucy
Ian Underwood, keyboard 1/electric alto sax
Randy Kerber, keyboard 2/Hammond organ
Joe Travers, drum set
Scott Carter Thunes, electric bass
Jamie Kime, electric guitar
Recorded at Master Chorale Walt Disney Concert Hall
GRAMMY NOMINATED
BEST CLASSICAL COMPENDIUM
The spectacular sold-out one-night-only orchestral performance of Frank Zappa’s masterwork 200 Motels (The Suites) recorded at the Walt Disney Concert Hall on October 23, 2013 has been nominated for a GRAMMY® Award for Best Classical Compendium. The 13-song suite was conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen and performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. It was produced by Frank Zappa’s late widow Gail Zappa and GRAMMY®-winning producer, engineer and mixer Frank Filipetti.
For the Philharmonic performance, it was arranged into a 90-minute set of suites and featured an enormous group of players including a 166-member ensemble comprised of a 115-piece orchestra, more than a dozen singer-actors and a 32-member chorus. Of the once-in-a-lifetime performance, the Los Angeles Times wrote, “Esa-Pekka Salonen — who led a large L.A. Phil enhanced with rock musicians and the Los Angeles Master Chorale — was cheered like a rock star. The orchestra looked to be having a ball.”
"Piltmann ... was a standout soloist in general, hitting elaborate coloratura lines with laser precision while still being engrossingly expressive." - New Music Box