I am listening to this CD as I write this review. I bought this CD when it first came out. I have lost count how many times I have played it. I never get tired of hearing this brilliant album. I have almost all of Zappa's CD's and this one together with "Hot Rats" and "Grand Wazoo" are my absolute favourites because he has allowed himself to concentrate on producing serious progressive music rather than his more comic and bizzare CD's. Don't get me wrong - I like almost all of Zappa's music - it is just that the above mentioned CD's really show us the genious that was Zappa. Like most of the other reviewers I agree with them that "Big Swifty" and "Waka Jawaka" are the most incredible tracks on the CD. I wont bother describing these tracks because words fail me. Let me say though, that I have lost count of the number of times on a Sunday afternoons I have cranked up the volume in my lounge room and have imitated all the instruments in the songs going from guitar to horn to trumpet and back again. I loose myself in his music. If you are a fan of creative, progressive, jazzy music then buy this CD - now!

Although I had heard "Freak Out," "We're Only in it for the Money," "Just Another Band From L.A." and several other Mothers albums, this - along with "Hot Rats" - was the first Zappa album I ever purchased. I was a trumpet player and this recording had a lot of horns, played primarily by Sal Marquez, so, for a 16 year old looking for cool music for horns, this was the album. "Big Swifty" takes the entire Side One of the album, something I hadn't heard in rock music up to that time. On the other hand, this recording was so far beyond the "progressive" rock bands of the day; others began to play catch up with Zappa.

Listen to the guitar solo in "Big Swifty" with Sal Marquez's muted counterpoint scratching just beneath the guitar, and it is really apparent Zappa was the preeminent composer of the day. The rhythm section of Erroneous on bass, Aynsley Dunbar on drums and George Duke on electric piano keep the piece on a single track without becoming monotonous metronomes; indeed, as others have stated, Dunbar gives a clinic in polyrhythmic percussion. Back in the day, people were talking about Bill Bruford and Ginger Baker - both great percussionists - but Dunbar was the real cutting edge of the drum kit.

The next three songs need to be listened to in succession, from "Your Mouth" to "It Just Might Be a One Shot Deal" to the title track, "Waka Jawaka," which, after 34 years, still stands as my all time favorite Zappa recording. All that brass! The pedal steel guitar solo (Sneaky Pete Kleinow) in "It Just Might Be a One Shot Deal" is one of the more awesome moments in Zappa music, not just for the solo, but the backing music as well. But once you get to "Waka Jawaka," you're taken on a totally different trip, yet, it seems like the logical extension of the preceding song. All that brass - and a Don Preston Moog solo to boot.

Most of the other reviewers speak of this and "Grand Wazoo" in the same vein, which is stylistically accurate, but when I listen to this, I almost always listen to "Sleep Dirt," "Orchestral Favorites" or "Studio Tan" as well, three later albums that have Zappa dipping deep into his instrumental bag, but in a very different direction.

Truly, one of Zappa's greatest recordings. Buy this one.

As a synthesist, I realize I could probably count the number of people who will appreciate this review on one hand. Nevertheless, all synthesists should hear Don Preston's great work on Waka/Jawaka. I have been playing synthesizer for almost thirty years and consider Jan Hammer the best player of all time. However, Don's solo here has got to be heard to be believed. In thirty years, I have yet to hear a more expansive, boundless, breathtaking solo, and of course it is monophonic. It is also played over what is arguably Aynsley Dunbar's greatest contribution to Zappa's catalog (Aynsley was one of Zappa's favorite drummers of all time largely because of the loose, creative style of polyrhythmic playing exemplified here). Waka/Jawaka is a beautiful composition with classical development of multiple motifs, and features classic solos by Sal Marquez and Zappa.

While Big Swifty is avant garde electric jazz, the rest of the record is simply excellent rock/blues, with eccentric instrumentation such as electric bed springs.

You know what I think is the most fascinating thing is about this musically fascinating album? Its title. "Waka/Jawaka." What is that? My guess is it's Zappa's terminology for what an electric guitar sounds like when you strum it with the wah-wah pedal on...waka jawaka jawaka...

Anyway, it's the title cut that's the stand out here; it features some tasty playing by Sal Marquez on Trumpet, Don Preston on Moog (Don has said that this is his favorite recorded solo of all the records he did with Frank) and a really inventive and melodic guitar solo from the wheelchair-bound maestro himself. The chord changes during the solos, and the soloists' seamless adaptation to those changes, catch my ear every time.

"Your Mouth" and "It Just Might Be A One Shot Deal", the two vocal cuts, concern a "lyin' woman" type and a vacuum cleaner salesman, respectively. Dropping a Sneaky Pete Kleinow pedal steel solo into the middle of "One Shot Deal" was a stroke of genius on Frank's part.

Buy this one with "The Grand Wazoo," the album recorded simultaneously with and released shortly after this one. It shows what Frank could do with an even BIGGER band of hotshot studio people and his best Mothers in tow.

Frank Zappa is unfortunately saddled with the Mr. Satire tag for so many rock music fans - that people tend to overlook his more ambitious/complex works.

This album is a treat and an important milestone in the ever-evolving tradition of rock and jazz. The playing is top order. Pity then that his contributions have been scarcely acknowledged. This deserves a place amongst the finest in the genre(alongwith Hot Rats and Grand Wazoo - simply superlative)