Zappa Plays Zappa is a concert tour and band, which is led by Dweezil Zappa, the oldest son of late composer/musician Frank Zappa, and is dedicated to performing the music of Frank Zappa. The band, which debuted in 2006, played shows in Europe, Canada and the United States in May and June. That year, the tour was also called “Zappa Plays Zappa: Tour de Frank.” The shows were a collection of Frank Zappa’s rock-oriented works from the 1960s to the 1980s. Other than Dweezil Zappa on lead guitar, the band included a mix of fairly unknown young musicians and older ones who had previously worked with Frank Zappa, including Napoleon Murphy Brock on sax, flute and vocals, who was an important part of the band, while the drummer and singer, Terry Bozzio, and electric guitarist Steve Vai were guests in parts of the shows. In many of the shows, Frank Zappa performed a song posthumously through synchronized audio/video technology.
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After the band took a break, they played again in the fall of 2006 in the US, which included a show in New York on Halloween, reviving the tradition of playing Halloween shows in New York. They played a North American tour in July and August 2007, with a line-up close to that of the 2006 band. They then played in Europe in September and October before they came back to the US, beginning with yet another Halloween show in New York. They finished the 2007 tour in early December in Australia. The special guest last year was Ray White.