Napoleon Murphy Brock

Napoleon Murphy Brock
Napoleon Murphy Brock

Brock on tour with Zappa Plays Zappa, 2006
Photo: Jazmin Million
Background information
Birth name Napoleon Murphy Brock
Genres Experimental music, Rock, R&B, Jazz, pop
Occupations Musician, songwriter, record producer
Instruments Vocals, Saxophone, Flute, Clarinet, Guitar, Synthesizer bass, Fender Rhodes
Associated acts Frank Zappa, Zappa Plays Zappa, George Duke, Captain Beefheart, The Grandmothers[1]
Website Official Napoleon Murphy Brock website

Napoleon Murphy Brock is an American singer, saxophonist and flute player who is best known for his work with Frank Zappa in the 1970s, including the albums One Size Fits All, Roxy and Elsewhere, and Bongo Fury. His own most memorable vocal accomplishments are illustrated on the songs "Village of the Sun" and "Florentine Pogen."

Contents

Career

Napoleon Murphy Brock's early days numerous performances include the role of the "Evil Prince" on Zappa's Thing-Fish album. He has also performed with George Duke, Captain Beefheart and more recently with Neonfire and [1]. He remains a regular performer at Zappanale.

Brock appeared in the 2005 film Rock School, a documentary about The Paul Green School of Rock Music, an extracurricular music program that he and Project/Object have closely supported for several years.

In 2006, he toured with Frank Zappa's son Dweezil on the latter's Zappa Plays Zappa shows. He also regularly tours with fellow Zappa alumnus Ike Willis and others with Andre Cholmondeley's Project/Object. Other Zappa related projects he's been involved with include the Tampa, Florida based band Bogus Pomp, and the 16 piece Ed Palermo Big Band from New York City.

He is most frequently seen fronting the Grande Mothers Re-Invented with Roy Estrada and Don Preston (the only Frank Zappa alumni from the Mothers of Invention regularly performing the music of Frank Zappa). They have over 91 performances since 2002.

His own most recent release is the 2003 album Balls.

Mr. Brock is mentioned in the 2007 memoir, "My Lobotomy" by Howard Dully and Charles Fleming, which describes Mr. Dully's experiences before and after undergoing an icepick transorbital lobotomy in 1960, at 12 years of age. Mr. Brock, while studying psychology and music at San Jose State University, was employed in the mid 1960's as a counselor at Rancho Linda, a "residential center for special education" where Mr. Dully lived after the having the procedure and being released from juvenile hall and a mental asylum. Mr. Dully had fond memories of Mr. Brock, and described him having "played all kinds of instruments" and as "cool."

Grammy Award

At the 51st Grammy Awards on February 8, 2009, Napoleon won a Grammy for his performance of the song "Peaches en Regalia" with the band Zappa Plays Zappa, which also featured Steve Vai. The song originally appeared on Zappa's 1969 Hot Rats LP.

Film

Brock has appeared in several Zappa documentaries and movies. They include:

Discography

Solo albums

Year Album Credit
2002 Balls Flute, Piano, Keyboards, Sax (Alto), Sax (Tenor), Vocals, Whistle (Human), Producer, Harmony Vocals, Fender Rhodes, Synthesizer Bass, Screams

Appearances on Zappa albums

Year Album Credit
1974 Apostrophe (') Saxophone, Vocals
1974 Roxy & Elsewhere Tenor Sax, Flute, Lead Vocals, Co-writer of Dummy Up
1975 One Size Fits All Flute and Tenor Sax, Lead Vocals on Florentine Pogen and Andy, background vocals on other tunes
1975 Bongo Fury Saxophone, Vocals
1976 Zoot Allures Saxophone, Vocals
1979 Sleep Dirt Saxophone
1979 Sheik Yerbouti Saxophone, Vocals, Background Vocals
1984 Them or Us Guitar, Saxophone, Vocals, Harmony Vocals
1984 Thing-Fish Saxophone, Vocals, Cast
1988 You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1 Saxophone, Vocals
1988 You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2 Saxophone, Vocals
1989 You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 3 Saxophone, Vocals
1991 You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 4 Saxophone, Vocals
1991 You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6 Saxophone, Vocals
1995 Strictly Commercial
1996 Frank Zappa Plays the Music of Frank Zappa: A Memorial Tribute
1997 Have I Offended Someone?
1998 Cheap Thrills
1999 Son of Cheep Thrills

Appearances on George Duke albums

Year Album Credit
1978 Don't Let Go Vocals
1979 Follow the Rainbow Vocals
1979 Master of the Game Vocals

Notes

External links


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  • Napoleon Murphy Brock — ist ein amerikanischer Sänger, Saxophonist und Flötist, der in den 1970er Jahren durch seine Zusammenarbeit mit Frank Zappa Bekanntheit erlangte. Zuletzt veröffentlichte er 2003 das Album Balls und tourte mit der Zappa Covergruppe Project Object …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Napoleon Murphy Brock — est un chanteur, saxophoniste et flûtiste américain. Il est plus particulièrement connu pour sa collaboration avec le musicien Frank Zappa avec lequel il travailla durant les années 1970. En 2006, il participa avec le fils aîné de Zappa, Dweezil… …   Wikipédia en Français

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  • Frank-Zappa — Frank Vincent Zappa (* 21. Dezember 1940 in Baltimore, Maryland; † 4. Dezember 1993 in Laurel Canyon, Kalifornien) war ein amerikanischer Komponist und Musiker, der zu Lebzeiten mehr als 60 Musikalben veröffentlichte. Zappa hat das Genre der… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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