Bassam Habal
Guitarist, DJ

Frankly Speaking is a collection of ten transcribed interviews with alumni (Ralph Humphrey, Lisa Popeil, David Logeman, Bobby Martin, Tom "Bones" Malone, Jim Pons, Bruce Fowler, Sal Marquez, Malcolm McNab, Ray White) who played/recorded with the legendary Frank Zappa in his many group incarnations he had over the decades. Some played with Frank for a short time, some were with him through several seasons. Frank’s music is regarded as some of the most challenging to play in “rock” and it took highly skilled musicians to pull off his musical visions. Zappa was a guy who knew what he wanted out of a musician and could often tell, sometimes within 30 seconds, if they were the right person musician-wise and personality wise up for the task. It is truly an honor for a musician to be part of Zappa’s grand work which he called his “Project/Object”. This book shines the spotlight on his alumni, some more well known than others in Zappa’s universe.

Bassam Habal aka Mighty Slim, first became aware of Zappa's music when he purchased copies of Uncle Meat and Hot Rats in college. As a musician and guitarist, Slim believes Zappa's music grows with you as a player as one can hear more of what is going on in the music. Zappa's music can be appreciated on many levels from the emotional to the cerebral and any combination thereof. Slim recalls a former DJ calling Zappa, "The ultimate string stretcher on the planet," and Frank truly was one of the best to pick up the guitar. As a DJ himself, every Zappadan (the time between the dates of Frank's passing and his birthday in December) for eighteen years, Slim did a two-hour Zappa special.

Links

Bassam Habal @ Facebook
amazon.com