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Originally Posted by Zoot Horn Rollo
Q: I guess we should explain the topic, which is improvisation – regarding groups versus individuals…
ZHR: You mean as a solo player?
Q: Yeah, versus working within a group.
ZHR: Interesting that you’re choosing me.
Q: Is that not a good category?
ZHR: The reason I’m asking is because all the Captain Beefheart stuff was not improvised, none of it was.
Q: So how did that work, starting with ‘trout mask replica’.
ZHR: 80% of it was done by him kind of beating the **** out of a piano, in a rhythmic sense, and having no idea what any of those black and white things were on the piano. And John French, the drummer, transcribed it, notated it all, and would dole out the parts to the players. So he had a concept of being away from tonality, but using rhythm as the main input, because that’s what he had to offer, right, being a non-musician. So John would transcribe it, and then in the process of us working with John to get the parts – you know, when there were seven notes, you’d scratch your head and say, ‘Well, how do I do seven notes with six strings?’ – so then we would invert things and mess around, and try to keep it as close to what he played. For what reason, to tell you the truth, I’m not sure, because he didn’t know what he played after he played it.
Q: So when you were working on the parts, was he there, or did he just sort of…
ZHR: No, he would bang the parts out and go to bed and sleep.
Q: So you would figure out how to do it, and then he would come back, and then you would all record it?
ZHR: No, then we would practice it for nine months.
Q: So would he come around and tell you if you were on the right track?
ZHR: Not as clean as that. Again, we’re dealing with a strange person, coming from a place of being a sculptor/painter, using music as this idiom.
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