| Ruth Underwood |
Article Index for Ruth |
Website Links For Ruth |
Information AboutRuth Underwood |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT RUTH UNDERWOOD | |
| american musicians | |
| the mothers of invention members | |
| percussionists | |
Ruth Underwood, (born '''Ruth Komanoff''' on May 23 , 1946 ) is a retired professional musician, best known for playing Xylophone , Marimba , Vibraphone and other Percussion instruments in Frank Zappa 's Mothers Of Invention from 1969 to 1977 . A percussionist of staggering virtuosity, Ruth Underwood began her music training in the classical tradition, studying both at Ithaca College under Warren Benson and at Juilliard . Throughout 1967 , she kept a regular attendance at the Garrick Theater in New York City when Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention was the resident band, resulting in her membership as a Mother beginning in 1968 . She married fellow Zappa musician Ian Underwood in 1970 . Underwood went on to perform in over ten Zappa/Mothers recordings. Examples of her virtuosity can be heard on such tracks as the Rollo Interior interlude from St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast, from the Apostrophe (') album ( 1973 ). Equally impressive work is documented on Roxy & Elsewhere ( 1974 ) and on Inca Roads , the opening track on One Size Fits All ( 1975 ). Some glimpses of Underwood in action can be seen in the Zappa movie 200 Motels ( 1969 ) and the film of the Roxy performance. Sessions for a small number of other performers were undertaken by Underwood during the 1970s , most notably Jasun Martz , the band Ambrosia and jazz-keyboardist George Duke . She used the name Amanda B. Reconwith for contractual reasons. By some accounts (which are vague), she retired from music by the beginning of 1980 , concentrating instead on her family. However, in a 1993 interview she revealed that one final session for Zappa was undertaken shortly before his death from cancer in December of that year. DISCOGRAPHY
MOVIES
|
|
|