Here's a real tribute to Dad: Play his music, which also happens to be some of the most challenging and creative of the 20th century.

Dweezil and Ahmet Zappa are doing so by embarking on "Zappa Plays Zappa," also known as the Tour de Frank, in Europe this winter. They're tackling the vast catalogue of composer Frank Vincent Zappa (1940-93), who of course had a penchant for unique names for his children to go along with his unique music.

I won't attempt to jot down all the superlatives I have for the late Mr. Zappa as a composer, musician and social commentator - not enough space here - but suffice it to say his boys have tons of stuff to choose from when they develop set lists. And that's literally tons, by the way. Frank's legendary vault of tapes, documenting his performances from the '60s through early '90s, looks to take decades to thoroughly investigate.

At any rate, it's great to see real, live musicians continuing to play his music. Lord knows the radio won't. And much of it is tough to play, structured in bizarre signatures and chord changes. But some of the bands who attempt to tackle Zappa do it magnificently, such as Project/Object, a New York-based band I saw in Pittsburgh a few years ago. Next time they're in town, look them up!

Dweezil and Ahmet should be up to the task. Dweezil in particular is a tremendous guitarist, just like Dad. In fact, Dweezil was pretty darn good when he first played with his father, when the kid was 14. He's only gotten better in the two decades since.

Let's hope Zappa Plays Zappa goes over big in Europe (all things considered, it can't miss there), and the boys bring it back home for '06.

(Answer to Monterey Pop query: Moby Grape, as in, "What's purple and lives at the bottom of the ocean?" Seriously, that's where they got the name. And seriously, if you can find it, check out their debut album.)