The Black Page

Drummer Terry Bozzio said of the piece: He wrote it, because we had done this 40-piece orchestra gig together and he was always hearing the studio musicians in LA, that he was musing on that, talking about the fear of going into sessions some morning and being faced with "the black page".

One notable difference in this version is that the final set of tuplets feature a rhythmic change and are repeated three times to conclude the song.

The 1991 live album Make a Jazz Noise Here includes a so-called "new age version", which incorporates lounge and reggae music.

The 2006 tour also included, as special guests, Zappa alumni; singer & woodwind player Napoleon Murphy Brock, drummer Bozzio, and guitarist Steve Vai.

In the 2006 shows, "The Black Page" was played first as a drum solo by Bozzio and then a second time as a guitar duet with Steve Vai.

[citation needed] Drummer Morgan Ågren and guitarist Mike Keneally played the piece as an encore during Devin Townsend's "Empath Vol.