It came to our attention today that musician Anthony (Tony) Philip Duran passed away on December 19, 2011 surrounded by family in his home after a two year battle with Prostate Cancer.
Tony Duran was born on October 14, 1945 in Los Angeles, CA to Leonard Lincoln Duran and Henrietta Adeline (Penny) Duran. He graduated from Garfield High School in 1963 in East Los Angeles. Tony then joined the U.S. Army in 1965 and served until 1967 when he was honorably discharged. He was an accomplished musician having contributed slide guitar and vocals to Frank Zappa’s albums “Waka/Jawaka”, “The Grand Wazoo” and “Apostrophe”.
He toured with Zappa’s Grand Wazoo Orchestra, September 1972, and with the Petit Wazoo Orchestra (or the Mothers, as they were called at that time) from October until December 1972. He can also be heard on “Joe’s Domage” and “Imaginary Diseases”. Tony was the lead guitarist of the band Ruben and the Jets, whose first album was produced by Frank Zappa in 1973. Tony had a passion for music and was a dedicated husband, father, grandfather and brother. He recently retired from the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Temple, Texas after 34 years of faithful service.
– featured a lineup of John French on drums, John Thomas on keyboards, and Moris Tepper and Denny Walley on guitars. The band represented what was left of the post-Bongo Fury band the Captain had put together after Elliot Ingber and Bruce Fowler had left.
