BY Allan Leibowitz
republished with permission from Digital Drummer magazine June 2024
Frank Zappa percussionist Ed Mann passed away on June 1st, 2024 at the age of 70.
Mann began playing piano and objects found in the kitchen at age three and got his first drum kit at 11. He played with rock, marching, orchestra, concert, pit and big band ensembles as a teen while studying at New England Music Camp and The Hartt Music School.
Ed entered the Hartt College of Music in 1972 to study with Al Lepak, where he learned and performed symphonic, jazz, experimental and 20th century music. At Hartt, Ed met and formed an immediate bond with Tommy Mariano (aka Mars) and they formed the experimental jazz band World Consort which played at arts venues throughout central New England.
In 1973, Ed moved to California to study with John Bergamo at California Institute of the Arts. At Cal Arts from 1973 to 1976, Ed immersed himself in experimental contemporary music as well as the music of Indonesia, Africa, North and South India, and cross-culturally influenced improvisational new groove percussion ensembles. Under the direction of John Bergamo and with fellow percussionists Larry Stein, Gregg Johnson, Jimmy Hildebrandt, Lucky Mosko, and Paul Anceau, Ed was a founding member of the ground-breaking cross-cultural indigenous percussion band, Repercussion Unit.
By the age of 20, Ed had developed an interest in the vibes, marimba and jazz improvisation. Being largely self-taught, Ed also sought out lessons with significant influencing mallet teachers Dave Samuels, Emil Richards and Victor Feldman.
Basic mallet skills combined with experience as a multi-percussionist, knowledge of intricate rhythms found in modern chamber music (as well as the classical music of India) and a lifetime history of playing rock and roll became the foundation that led to Ed’s long association with Frank Zappa, which began in 1977. With Frank Zappa, Ed performed and recorded as percussionist, synthesist, electronic sound designer, vocalist and programmer between 1977 and 1988 in electric band, small ensemble and orchestral environments.
It was during this time that Sibi Siebert, Simmons’ European representative, first met Ed Mann during a Frankfurt MusikMesse.
“At this time, Ed was playing the Simmons Silicon Mallet with an extra Octave Extension. He also told me that he has been eagerly awaiting such an instrument,” Siebert recalls.
He describes Ed as “a really nice guy who played some wonderful tunes at his demos”.
Siebert notes that in 1988, Frank Zappa did his last world tour and Ed Mann was very interested to check out the Simmons SDX.
“My job was to meet Ed and the Zappa band in Bremen and supply the SDX with ZI-Pads.
“For me as a Zappa fan, I was thrilled to help. Ed and I spent hours before the band rehearsals in a small room. The SDX was set up with a Tascam eight-track cassette desk and two headphones. My first job was to sample lots of his gongs (6″ to 20″) because some of them were broken. After an hour, Ed was so into it and learned how to operate the SDX like a pro.
“The whole band was looking at Ed´s work and started sampling the funniest noises like dogs barking!”
Siebert points out that Ed connected his Silicon Mallet via MIDI to the SDX so he was able to add effects like pitch bend. These were captured in the Frank Zappa Live in Barcelona DVD.
“We stayed in touch since that meeting, and I helped him with Simmons gear when he was recording Repercussion Unit in Germany,” says Siebert.
“I was shocked and saddened to hear about his passing.”
More recently, Mann was associated with Alternate Mode’s malletKAT electronic percussion instruments.
Alternate Mode founder Mario DeCiutiis recalls that Mann had shown an interest in the malletKAT before he was offered an endorsement by Simmons. But after the demise of the British e-drum pioneer, Mann became an enthusiastic malletKAT artist.
According to DeCiutiis, Ed’s love of the mallet combined with his understanding of MIDI to make him a perfect player of the electronic instrument.
“He was really particular around the response, and we spent some time fine-tuning it for his dynamic needs. The malletKAT did all that he needed because of all the training of the individual pads and all that stuff. So, we got it just right for him,” DeCiutiis recalls.
He adds that Mann developed a unique playing style on the malletKAT, playing chords with his left hand and melodies with his right hand.
“It’s a sad day to see another great mallet player gone,” Mario laments.
Tributes from colleagues include a message from fellow Frank Zappa band member Chad Wackerman, who says: “Rest easy, my old friend Ed Mann. A masterful and brilliant percussionist. He could read anything Frank Zappa threw at him and I never once heard him make a mistake. He toured with Frank for 11 years and went on to record with many of the greats. Ed was a creative force and a great teacher and will be missed.”
Wackerman first met Ed Mann at Frank Zappa’s house for the drum and bass auditions in 1981. “Ed had already been a member of Zappa’s band since 1977, with Terry Bozzio and Vinnie Colaiuta before me. Ed was an unbelievable percussionist. His mallet playing was so accurate. Flowing through those seemingly impossible Zappa melodies, sometimes with polyrhythms nested inside other polyrhythms – unheard in any other rock band.
“Nothing seemed to stump him. I remember one day at rehearsal Frank handed out a piece that had a very dense marimba melody. Frank had written it on his Synclavier computer system. I just remember looking at this melody part and I noticed a bar of 22 notes over four beats followed by 23 notes over four beats. These notes were also jumping large intervals. Frank asked Ed” ‘Is this playable?’ Ed just looked at him and said, sure, I’ll shed it tonight and play it for you tomorrow, which he did.”
“He was able to give Zappa the accuracy he demanded plus the feel that he was looking for. Ed also had a great sense of humour – creative and inventive, playing amazing things like including a duck call in his solo, doing a Bob Dylan impersonation or wearing the tall Captain America hat,” Wackerman recalls.
Wackerman went on to play on Ed’s records, Get Up and Perfect World.
“I had an amazing time working with Ed. It was easy to lock in with him. His time was so precise. He dug deep into electronics as well. His creative use of samples and bending sounds spontaneously became an integral part of the Zappa ’88 band. He was one of a kind.”
Former Zappa guitarist Steve Vai posted on social media that he studied Ed before joining the band “and was amazed at his playing and his fierce sight reading abilities”.
“I remember transcribing one of Frank’s solos that was called at the time Persona Non Grata. Frank asked me to double it on guitar, then Ed came in and doubled much of that. The piece was eventually retitled to The Theme to the Third Movement of Sinister Footwear. To see Ed read through this impossible music and perform this piece, that was never intended to be played with mallets, was astonishing.”
Vai adds that Mann was “a hoot to tour with”.
Jeffrey Brenner says Ed was a big reason he became interested in CalArts. “Studying with him turned into a friendship of almost 40 years,” he says, adding that as more of his teachers pass away, it is important to keep their memories and legacies alive.
Vida Vierra will always cherish the music she had the privilege to make with Ed. “Our band, Left Right Left, took me to places I never could have imagined. Then when our project Perfect World came into being, we got to finally tour with Tommy Mars as well as Mike Hoffmann, Mick Linden and Burleigh G Drummond. Dreams do come true,” she adds.
Guitarist Van Martin says he feels incredibly grateful for the time spent together with Ed. “It’s impossible to summarise what playing music and sharing space artistically with Ed was like. Being invited to play his original compositions and be a part of his band was a total honour I will cherish for a lifetime,” he says.
Ed will be remembered most for his association with Frank Zappa, but he also performed and recorded with Mark Isham, Rickie Lee Jones, Andy Summers, Kenny Loggins, Ambrosia, Tammy Wynette, Los Lobos, Blotto, John Cage, Bill Bruford, Shadowfax, Frogg Cafe, Wrong Object, The Grandmothers, London Symphony Orchestra, Don Ellis, Repercussion Unit, Lou Harrison, Don Preston, Bruce Fowler, Steve Fowler, Rumdummies, ASANI, The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Bill Eddins, and a host of L.A. film composers including Jeff Rona, Hans Zimmer, Klaus Badelt, Harry Gregson Williams, CJ Vanston and many others.
Ed is survived by his wife, Leslie Thayer Mann, son Xander, sister Becky, brother Bob, three nieces and four nephews.
-Allan Leibowitz