Co de Kloet
Co de Kloet (1959) is a Dutch journalist, writer, music producer, radio and TV documentary maker and radio presenter. Throughout his career, he has interviewed people like Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, Louie Bellson, Tony Bennett, Michael Brecker, Ray Charles, Herbie Hancock, Al Jarreau, B.B. King, Diana Krall, Steve Lukhater, Joe Satriani, Cecil Taylor, Steve Vai, Denny Walley & Janet The Planet, Johnny "Guitar" Watson and Edgar Winter.
De Kloet actually met Captain Beefheart before he met Frank Zappa, namely in 1974 in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. A year later, when Beefheart was back in Amsterdam De Kloet interviewed him and was amazed that the singer still remembered his name. His 1993 interview with Captain Beefheart for Dutch radio is the last recorded interview with the reclusive singer, along with Anton Corbijn's Some Low Yo Yo Stuff that same year. De Kloet also let former Beefheart bandmember Gary Lucas compose an instrumental built around recorded snippets from De Kloet's interview with Beefheart and titled it: I Have A Cat.
De Kloet is also active as a saxophonist and musical educator. De Kloet organized a performance between Todd Rundgren and the Metropole Orchestra.
Frank Zappa
De Kloet interviewed Zappa and Captain Beefheart: 200 Motels Press kit about the release of the film 200 Motels (1971). De Kloet also interviewed Zappa on 16 May 1982 and again in 1990 (The Supplement Tape).
When in 1993 Zappa passed away, the Dutch public TV journal interviewed De Kloet and Barry Hay about him.
In 2017, he wrote the foreword to Bobby Zappa's Frankie & Bobby: The Rest of Our Story.
In 2020, De Kloet published Frank & Co, a collection of all his interviews with Zappa and former members of his band. The book has a foreword by Dweezil Zappa and Steve Vai praised the book:
"This book is an authentic read into many of the character dimensions of Frank Zappa and his music and perspectives. When a person has a sincere interest in an artist, it's felt by the artist, and as such, the artist can feel more open to discussing their process of creation and opinions. Not that Frank ever had an issue with speaking freely, but whenever interviewed by Co, Frank's interviews always seemed more engaging. The fact that Frank and Co had developed a warm friendship through the years is evident in the gravity of their exchanges.With this book, the Zappa fan will get a glimpse into Frank that I don’t believe any other book written by him or about him expresses. And us Zappa fans love that. Thank you Co."
De Kloet has also been interviewed by Gerry Fialka. Through Zappa, De Kloet became a lifelong friend of George Duke and Steve Vai (who also interviewed De Kloet a few times).
