"The Black Page" With Bozzio On Drums (video)

The Black Page

"The Black Page" is song famous for being terribly hard to play. At first composed for the drum          kit,melodic percussion and features extensive tuplets, polyrhythms, nested polyrhythms, and polymeters. Terry Bozzio figured out and mastered the piece around two weeks after Zappa introduced it to him. The piece was later on rearranged in many variations, such as the disco "easy teenage New York version" and a so-called New Age version.

On the double live album Zappa in New York (recorded 12/1976, released 3/1978), Zappa noted the "statistical density" of the piece. It is put together in common time with extensive using tuplets, along with tuplets inside tuplets. At a number of aspects there is a crotchet triplet (sixth notes) wherein each beat is counted with its own tuplet of 5, 5 and 6; at a second is a minim triplet (third notes) when the second beat is a rubato quintuplet (precisely a tuplet of 7), and the 3rd beat is split into tuplets of 4 and 5. The song finishes with a crotchet triplet constructed from tuplets of 5, 5, and 6, followed by two tuplets of 11 in the space of one.

It's a FZ's introduction to Ljubliana, Yugoslavia, 11-22-1975 song's performance.

"This is... this is an instrumental song, it's a tender, slow, moving ballad sort of song that cares with it the implied message that the complete woman must also have an asshole..."

This Song Has Appeared on:

Singles:

Black Page No. 1 - Frank Zappa (Evatone Soundpage #29, January 02, 1987-Keyboard Magazine)

Albums

Zappa In New York as The Black Page Drum Solo / Black Page #1 and Black Page #2

Läther as The Black Page #1 (2nd part of The Black Page Drum Solo / Black Page #1 from Zappa In New York)

Baby Snakes as The Black Page #2

As An Am as Black Page #2

You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 5 as The Black Page #2

Them Or Us, guitar solo as Them Or Us

Guitar, guitar solo as Which One Is It?

You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 4 as The Black Page (1984)

Make A Jazz Noise Here as The Black Page (New Age Version)

Hammersmith Odeon (The Album) as The Black Page #2

Personnel:

Frank Zappa - lead guitar, vocals

Ray White - rythm guitar, vocals

Eddie Jobson - keyboards, violin, vocals

Patrick O'Hearn - bass, vocals

Terry Bozzio - drums, vocals

Ruth Underwood - percussion, synthetizer

David Samuels - timpani, vibes

Randy Brecker - trumpet

Mike Brecker - tenor sax, flute

Lou Marini - alto sax, flute

Ronnie Cuber - baritone sax, flute

Tom Malone - trombone, trumpet, piccolo

Don Pardo - sophisticated narration