A former musician best known for his work as a percussionist with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention and Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band.

Tripp grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and started playing drums with school bands. He then became a classical music student and learned to play many percussion instruments including xylophone, tympani and marimba. In 1961 he was accepted to the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and became a regular member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. During this time Tripp worked with avant-garde composer John Cage in performances and workshops when Cage became composer in residence at the Conservatory of Music.

Having attained his Bachelor of Music degree in 1966, in 1967 Tripp accepted a scholarship to the Manhattan School of Music in New York, primarily in order to finish his Master of Music degree, but also to continue his exposure to contemporary music. It was in New York that Tripp met Frank Zappa and was invited to play for him at Apostolic Studio in New York’s Greenwich Village. Tripp went on to join the band and record 7 albums with Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, performing with the band on many tours throughout the US. and Europe.

In early 1968, the band relocated back to Hollywood. Zappa disbanded the Mothers in 1969 to form a smaller unit with Tripp and two others, and began performing and recording under his own name. Art had been spending time and discussing projects with Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart), so when the opportunity arose, he joined the Magic Band and moved to northern California. The move started a 5-year period of many recordings and tours in the US and Europe.

During this period he was asked to do albums with Ry Cooder and Ornette Coleman. He declined, so as to not take time away from rehearsing and touring with the Magic Band. But eventually conflicts caused the group to separate from Beefheart. They started composing and rehearsing new music, which ultimately was recorded on an album under the name Mallard.

However by then Tripp had become discouraged with the music business. He spent a time in the insurance business and then worked for a while as a studio musician before embarking on chiropractic studies in 1978, after which he started a successful practice in 1983.