Warren DeMartini

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Warren DeMartini.

Warren DeMartini (April 10, 1963) is an American glam rock/metal guitarist, best known as a member of the group Ratt.

Frank Zappa

De Martini wrote the homage "Guitarist Turns Zappa Stylist" for the Guitar Player Magazine booklet "Zappa!" in 1992. He also performed during the Zappa's Universe project and received thanks for his very special but no less significant contributions in the liner notes of The Yellow Shark. [1] De Martini was mentioned and thanked in the liner notes of The MOFO Project/Object (2006) album. [2]

He also collaborated with Dweezil Zappa, who was an admirer of his work.

DeMartini about Zappa

"I was at Frank Zappa’s studio and his guitar was sitting there on a guitar stand. I said ‘Can I try it out?’ and he said ‘Yeah,’ and I played it and I was astounded how good it played. I was like, ‘What? What is this? Where did it come from?’ and he told me about their shop. At that time it was by the Capitol Records building in Hollywood. I called them up and said ‘Do you still have the specs on the guitar you built for Frank Zappa?’ He said yes and I just ordered one right there. That was the beginning of many collaborations. (...) The Koa necks were all more or less based on that neck they made for Frank. I have several of them, and the Koa was one of those lot, yeah." [3]

"I used to visit the house from time to time and got to know him a bit. And there was a conductor in New York who was putting together a tribute to his music called Zappa's Universe. And Frank asked me to perform a couple of songs in that. He was only participating as an arranger, so he was at the rehearsals, but he didn’t actually attend the shows. I’ve never received a Grammy, but if I did, I seriously doubt the feeling would exceed the feeling of getting a call from Frank Zappa. [Laughs]" [4]

Zappa about DeMartini

- "There's another exceptional guitar player, one of the guys Dweezil really admires, and that's Warren DeMartini from Ratt. I've seen him play, and I think that he's excellent too. I think he's got his own thing going." - Frank Zappa On... The '80s Guitar Clone, Dan Forte, Guitar Player, January 1987.

- "And this guy in Ratt, Warren DeMartini, he's pretty unbelievable too." - Frank Zappa, quoted in the 1988 Dynamo Frank interview.

Dweezil Zappa

Dweezil Zappa has also an unreleased musical project, What The Hell Was I Thinking, a 65-minute piece, featuring contributions by Brian May, Eddie Van Halen, Eric Johnson, Steve Morse, Steve Vai, Joe Walsh, Brian Setzer, Albert Lee, Robben Ford, Steve Lukhater, Jimmie Vaughan, Warren DeMartini, Tim Pierce, Angus and Malcolm Young (of AC/DC) and Yngwie Malmsteen. [5] [6] [7]

Sources

See also

  • Wikipedia article about DeMartini
  • MENN, Don, ed. (1992), "Warren De Martini—Ratt Guitarist Turns Zappa Stylist", Zappa! Guitar Player Presents., San Francisco, CA: Miller Freeman, p. 14, ISSN 1063-4533