Zjakki Willems - Revision history

Spider of Destiny at 15:33, 11 August 2026

2026-08-11T15:33:14Z

Spider of Destiny: /* Frank Zappa */

2026-07-01T16:30:55Z

Frank Zappa

Spider of Destiny: Created page with "Zjakki Willems. '''Zjakki Willems''' is a Belgian radio producer, engineer, tour manager and curator. https://www.cultuurre..."

2026-06-08T22:03:03Z

Created page with "300px|thumb|right|Zjakki Willems. '''Zjakki Willems''' is a Belgian radio producer, engineer, tour manager and curator. <ref>https://www.cultuurre..."

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[[File:Zjakki Willems.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Zjakki Willems.]]

'''Zjakki Willems''' is a Belgian radio producer, engineer, tour manager and curator. <ref>https://www.cultuurreizen.be/nl/reisleiderinfo/Zjakki+Willems</ref> He has worked for the Flemish national radio since 1975, where he made the weekly radio show ''Club Tropical'' (1984-...) about African and Caribbean music and ''Cucamonga'' (1993-2007) about rock, blues and world music. <ref>https://wmce.de/zjakki-willems-293.html</ref>

==Frank Zappa==

In 1970, 17-year old Willems attended [[70/12/16 Brussels Belgium Paleis voor Schone Kunsten|Zappa's 1970 concert in Brussels]] and became a fan for life. He attended every concert the musician held in Belgium since. <ref>https://www.vrt.be/vrtmax/luister/radio/t/time-out~11-12/time-out~11-24941-0/fragment~16351ba5-cef9-45a8-bd5f-f79f5d90e82a/</ref> <ref>https://www.bruzz.be/culture/music-nightlife/waarom-gen-z-nog-niet-naar-zappa-zapt-2023-11-30</ref>. He also travelled to Zappa concerts in Paris, Milan, London, Frankfurt and more.<ref>https://www.bozar.be/en/watch-read-listen/long-haired-hippies-centre-fine-arts</ref>

Willems also interviewed Zappa a few times <ref>https://www.ccbelgica.be/nl/programma/bar-nostalgie-8/</ref>, among others in 1977. <ref>https://www.donlope.net/fz/notes/Zoot_Allures.html</ref>

As a huge fan and foremost expert in Zappa's music, Willems has produced several events, concerts, radio documentaries and albums highlighting Zappa's music. Among them a collaboration between the BRT Big Band and [[Trio Cucamonga]] in 1989, arranged by Luc Brewaeys, who released the album ''The Trio Cucamonga Plays Frank Zappa'' (1990).

He also produced albums by Zappa cover bands or with covers of Zappa songs on them: ''Feel The Good - Play Uncle Frank Live'' by [[The Muffin Men]] (1996), ''Fired'' (1997) by [[X-Legged Sally]] and ''Bonnen Plays Zappa: Watermelon En Regalia'' (1997) by [[Bonnen]].

Willems' radio documentary series ''Cucamonga'' (1993-2007) was not only named after the town where [[Studio Z]] was located, but the intro also sampled the scratching sound from Zappa's ''[[Nasal Retentive Calliope Music]]''. When the show went off the air in 2007, the final episode was completely devoted to Zappa's music for two hours. <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20081115003211/http://www.kkunst.com/kk/con20020926459.php</ref>

On 21 March 2014, he organized a Zappa homage in the Singel! in Antwerp.<ref>https://flatearthsocietyorchestra.com/Terms-of-Embarrassment-1</ref>

In 2016, Willems wrote an introductory text to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ''[[Freak Out!]]'', an event held in the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels. <ref>https://www.abconcerts.be/en/agenda/classic-album-listening-session-50-years-frank-zappa-freak-out/a105J000001wdTXQAY</ref>

In 2023, he organized a two-day musical event, ''Zappa. Yes. Yes. Yes'' in the Bozar in Brussels about Frank Zappa, where apart from performances, Zappa's music was also discussed. Two of the interviewees were writer [[Ben Watson]] and film director [[Frank Scheffer]]. <ref>https://www.bruzz.be/culture/music-nightlife/waarom-gen-z-nog-niet-naar-zappa-zapt-2023-11-30</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [https://www.discogs.com/artist/1204712-Zjakki-Willems?srsltid=AfmBOopXemMWGn8dlE0SUwvQPCABqUcOFwtmr_w40ULzm_A6H6HpgBQn Discogs page.]
* [https://www.united-mutations.com/w/zjakki_willems.htm United Mutations page]
* [https://www.bozar.be/en/watch-read-listen/long-haired-hippies-centre-fine-arts Zjakki Willems about the 1970 concert and his adoration of Zappa.]

[[Category:Radio Producers|Willems]]
[[Category:Journalists|Willems]]
[[Category:Engineers|Willems]]
[[Category:Managers|Willems]]
[[Category:Tributes & Covers|Willems]]
[[Category:Celebrity Fans|Willems]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:30, 1 July 2026
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	Willems' radio documentary series ''Cucamonga'' (1993-2007) was not only named after the town where [[Studio Z]] was located, but the intro also sampled the scratching sound from Zappa's ''[[Nasal Retentive Calliope Music]]''. When the show went off the air in 2007, the final episode was completely devoted to Zappa's music for two hours. <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20081115003211/http://www.kkunst.com/kk/con20020926459.php</ref>		Willems' radio documentary series ''Cucamonga'' (1993-2007) was not only named after the town where [[Studio Z]] was located, but the intro also sampled the scratching sound from Zappa's ''[[Nasal Retentive Calliope Music]]''. When the show went off the air in 2007, the final episode was completely devoted to Zappa's music for two hours. <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20081115003211/http://www.kkunst.com/kk/con20020926459.php</ref>
		+
		+	In December 2006, Willems produced the ''Black Brown Stone'' trio, a musical collaboration between [[Jimmy Carl Black]], Steven De Bruyn and Jos Steen. <ref>https://www.united-mutations.com/b/jimmy_carl_black.htm</ref>

	On 21 March 2014, he organized a Zappa homage in the Singel! in Antwerp.<ref>https://flatearthsocietyorchestra.com/Terms-of-Embarrassment-1</ref>		On 21 March 2014, he organized a Zappa homage in the Singel! in Antwerp.<ref>https://flatearthsocietyorchestra.com/Terms-of-Embarrassment-1</ref>

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 ==Frank Zappa==
-In 1970, 17-year old Willems attended [[70/12/16 Brussels Belgium Paleis voor Schone Kunsten|Zappa's 1970 concert in Brussels]] and became a fan for life. He attended every concert the musician held in Belgium since. <ref>https://www.vrt.be/vrtmax/luister/radio/t/time-out~11-12/time-out~11-24941-0/fragment~16351ba5-cef9-45a8-bd5f-f79f5d90e82a/</ref> <ref>https://www.bruzz.be/culture/music-nightlife/waarom-gen-z-nog-niet-naar-zappa-zapt-2023-11-30</ref>. He also travelled to Zappa concerts in Paris, Milan, London, Frankfurt and more.<ref>https://www.bozar.be/en/watch-read-listen/long-haired-hippies-centre-fine-arts</ref>
+In 1970, 17-year old Willems attended [[70/12/16 Brussels Belgium Paleis voor Schone Kunsten|Zappa's 1970 concert in Brussels]] and became a fan for life. He attended every concert the musician held in Belgium since. <ref>https://www.vrt.be/vrtmax/luister/radio/t/time-out~11-12/time-out~11-24941-0/fragment~16351ba5-cef9-45a8-bd5f-f79f5d90e82a/</ref> <ref>https://www.bruzz.be/culture/music-nightlife/waarom-gen-z-nog-niet-naar-zappa-zapt-2023-11-30</ref>. He also travelled to Zappa concerts in [[Paris]], Milan, [[London]], Frankfurt and more.<ref>https://www.bozar.be/en/watch-read-listen/long-haired-hippies-centre-fine-arts</ref>
 Willems also interviewed Zappa a few times <ref>https://www.ccbelgica.be/nl/programma/bar-nostalgie-8/</ref>, among others in 1977. <ref>https://www.donlope.net/fz/notes/Zoot_Allures.html</ref>