Napoleon Murphy Brock
| Napoleon Murphy Brock | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Napoleon Murphy Brock |
| Genres | Experimental music, rock, R&B, jazz, pop |
| Occupation(s) | 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 of Invention |
| Website | Official Napoleon Murphy Brock website |
Napoleon Murphy Brock (born June 7, 1945) is an American singer, saxophonist and flute player who is best known for his work with Frank Zappa in the 1970s, including the albums Apostrophe ('), Roxy & Elsewhere, One Size Fits All, and Bongo Fury. He contributed notable vocal performances to the Zappa songs "Village of the Sun," "Cheepnis," and "Florentine Pogen."
Brock's musical career began in the San Francisco South Bay Area in the late 1960s with a seven and eight piece band he had organized named "Communication Plus". He was the lead singer, song writer, and arranger of the band's strongly R&B-influenced rock performances. He also played the saxophone and flute. He played in a variety of local clubs including The Brass Rail, The Mecca, and Gary R. Schmidt's, The Odyssey Room. He was discovered playing for a dance band in Hawaii in the early 1970s by Zappa's road manager. The participation of George Duke and Jean-Luc Ponty convinced Brock to join the band as lead singer.
Brock's numerous performances with Zappa include the role of the "Evil Prince" on the 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 in which he has been involved include the Tampa, Florida based band Bogus Pomp, and the 16 piece Ed Palermo Big Band from New York City.
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