It's no light undertaking playing the music of Frank Zappa, even for one of his sons. Dweezil Zappa played guitar in his father's bands occasionally when Frank was alive, but that wasn't enough to prepare him to lead a Zappa revival band on a 29-date tour of Europe and the United States.

"It's something I've been thinking about for a long time, but I needed to raise the level of my own skills to play the music properly," Dweezil says from his home in Los Angeles. "I had to learn a lot of stuff about theory and harmony and ways to express musical concepts, which I've been doing for the past two years."

The result is Zappa Plays Zappa, a group of young unknowns assembled by Dweezil who will be joined by three stars from Zappa's stellar bands of the 1970s and '80s: singer and horn player Napoleon Murphy Brock, guitarist Steve Vai and drummer Terry Bozzio. (Dweezil's brother Ahmet will not be along on this tour.)

There's been no shortage of similar bands featuring Zappa alumni in recent years. The Grande Mothers, with Brock singing and Roy Estrada on bass, played Prague two years ago, and Project/Object, fronted by Ike Willis, regularly tours the United States. But neither meets Dweezil's exacting standards.

"I have nothing good to say about either of those bands," he says. "There's some history between some former band members and the family that is not pleasant. And Frank wrote the music to be played in a specific way. You don't get to change it just because you were in the band."

Dweezil is being beyond scrupulous in trying to re-create his father's original intent and sound. "We're playing the same notes and the same arrangements and, in a lot of the music, using the same equipment or a very close re-creation of the equipment," he says. "It is as detail-oriented as it can be. We've spent a lot of time and effort getting the music the way Frank would have done it."

Dweezil also emulates his father's work habits. He auditioned members for the band by making them transcribe and play difficult songs like "The Black Page" and "Inca Roads." And then he drove them in three months of rehearsals before hitting the road.

"A lot of material has to be prepared for a tour like this, so we did quite extensive rehearsals," Brock says. Of his new bandmates, he says, "They're good musicians. There's going to be a lot of very surprised and pleased fans when they hear this version of the band."

The material was culled mostly from the '70s, in particular the Apostrophe and Roxy and Elsewhere albums. "That's my favorite period," Dweezil says. "Frank was working on those records when I was a young kid, and the rehearsals and concerts left a huge imprint on me." There will also be forays into earlier albums like We're Only in it For the Money, and showcase pieces for the stars, such as Punky's Whips featuring Bozzio.

This is all a wet dream for Zappaphiles, who know every lick of every song on the 63 albums Zappa released during his lifetime. But that's only part of the audience Dweezil hopes to attract. "We're hoping younger people will be inspired to come," he says. "Parents who are fans should bring their kids."

That was one of the reasons for putting together a fresh, young band — to attract a new generation of listeners. "We want new people to experience Frank's music," Dweezil says. "One of the things I want to impress upon a younger audience is that it's possible to go beyond what they know about music."