Sixteen years after his death from prostate cancer, Frank Zappa’s music continues to reach millions of people and have one of the most influential impacts on what can be done within the parameters of rock and roll.

While the scope of his musical innovations might not be fully appreciated for decades to come, another undeniable spawn of Zappa’s vision is the amount of bands who continue to bring his music to countless new fans. One act – the long-running Project/Object – is in the middle of a brief tour, including a stop at the River St. Jazz Caf� on Wednesday, January 6.

For this run, Project/Object – Andre Cholmondeley, David Johnsen, Jim Ruffi and Eric Svalgard – will be joined by Zappa’s longtime singer Ike Willis and singer/guitarist Ray White, both of whom haven’t formally performed together since Zappa’s 1984 tour. “It’s like a family thing,” Willis said recently. “I’m Ray’s son’s godfather, and Ray is my son’s godfather. It’s great, being on stage and performing together again after all these years. It’s like it never stopped.”

Constantly keeping busy, the two musicians are juggling multiple careers – both are solo artists, with White also having tie-ins to various Steve Kimock outfits – but the Zappa label has never left. The acknowledgment is fitting, but like Zappa’s music, there are a few different angles to it.

“Frank gave me a lot,” White said. “I got to get to the big stage and see how things are and do what I love to do. After that I was like, ‘thank you.’ Go home, jam down and make the man proud.”

“It allowed me to become a performer and a producer and an engineer,” Willis added. “When I was a kid starting off in bands in the 60s, I wanted to be onstage playing my guitar and playing for people…Once I became involved with Frank it became much more than that in terms of composition, musical production and the whole creative process. I guess that would be the biggest effect on my life.”

Almost two decades after his passing, Zappa’s music continues to not only effect his former band members, but new acts like Project/Object who have built a strong reputation as one of the best Zappa tribute bands around. Both White and Willis have done Zappa tribute acts in the past – White with Zappa’s son Dweezil in Zappa Plays Zappa and Willis being in “about 11 or 12” bands – but it’s the authenticity of Project/Object that draws the two in.

“With Dweezil, I didn’t know what it was going to be, but I love Dweezil,” White said. “I’ve known him since he was a kid and that’s the family – I’d do anything for them…I know Andre (Cholmondeley) is an incredible musician and the kids he had with him were just awesome. Everybody was smiling so that means, uh oh, they’re happy.”

“I don’t take a band out on the road unless they can actually pull it off,” Willis added. “Unless they can do it the way I was taught to do it by Frank – it’s got to live up to a certain level of quality in terms of musicianship in order to pull this stuff off. You can’t just mess around with it.”

With all the Zappa tribute acts out there, Project/Object is doing something right in order to have two of the most recognizable names from the original source on the road with them. Whether it’s the authenticity of the music, the euphoria of the crowd or the reward of being able to pull off Zappa’s music properly, the band’s brilliant tackling of the material will be the highlight for the show at the Jazz Caf�.

“When people come out to see Project/Object, at least give them the thought that the music will be as close to Frank’s as possible,” Willis said. “We’re lucky here because of people like myself and having Ray. In the past, we’ve had people like Don Preston and Napoleon (Murphy Brock, saxophone) and people like that…It’s not a cover band – we’re playing our parts the way we recorded it. Everybody’s is lending as much authenticity to it as possible.”

“I think that any band – Project/Object, Zappa Plays Zappa, Ugly Radio Rebellion – anybody out there playing Frank’s music, in a club or under a tree somewhere, go and see them,” White added. “It’s about the music. It’s not about personalities, it’s about the music. Come out, enjoy yourself and let yourself go.”

For more info. visit http://projectobject.com

And the beat goes on…

Ryan O’Malley is the music journalist for The Sunday Dispatch and a correspondent for The Weekender. He may be reached at musicjournalman@hotmail.com

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