4214 - JOEL FRAHM & BRUCE KATZ - Project A (2009)
JOEL FRAHM & BRUCE KATZ
''PROJECT A''
AUGUST 25 2009
58:37
1/The House That Jack Built
Paul Barry/5:02
2/Love the One You're With
Stephen Stills/5:35
3/Don't Play That Song
Ahmet Ertegun / Betty Nelson/5:27
4/Spirit in the Dark
Aretha Franklin/8:26
5/It Ain't Fair
Ronald Dean Miller/8:48
6/Maybe I'm a Fool/6:15
7/What a Friend We Have in Jesus
Charles C. Converse / Joseph Scriven/6:15
8/Rock Steady
Aretha Franklin/7:44
9/Packing Up, Getting Ready to Go/5:05
Marty Ballou /Bass (Acoustic)
Jay Collins /Sax (Baritone)
Lorne Entress /Drums
Joel Frahm /Sax (Tenor)
Jerry Jemmott /Bass (Electric)
Bruce Katz /Hammond B3, Organ (Hammond), Piano, Wurlitzer
Kenny Rampton /Trumpet
Ralph Rosen /Drums
Chris Vitarello /Guitar
REVIEW
by Michael G. Nastos
Tenor saxophonist Joel Frahm and keyboardist Bruce Katz pay instrumental tribute to the rhythm & blues tunes of pop icon Aretha Franklin in a manner that is removed from stock arrangements or rote interpretations. Frahm and Katz tend to change things up a bit on the majority of these well-chosen selections, which bear only a minimal resemblance to the powerful songs of Sister 'Re. That Frahm's modernistic personal style is sublimated, or that Katz doesn't groove hard and strong, is not the issue. What is at hand makes this group stand alone as a unit dedicated to this music of their youth, leaving karaoke or copycat charts to much less-talented musicians, as they bring a different heartfelt aesthetic to these proceedings. Electric guitarist Chris Vitarello is a major factor adding new voicings, while Franklin's electric bass guitarist Jerry Jemmott makes his funky presence felt on five of these selections. The always exemplary and talented Katz rotates on piano, Hammond B-3, and Wurlitzer, while a two-man horn section is added on three tracks. Of the obvious modifications, "Maybe I'm A Fool" is a sprightly waltz with Katz on piano in more an N.Y.C. street style, while the famous "Rock Steady" is much lighter on its feet than the original, and does not necessarily "get down" with dual bass, drums, and electric pianos. Completely off the charts, Vitarello's slide guitar à la Duane Allman or Derek Trucks moves in secular-to-New Orleans-shuffle modes during "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." Frahm's influences cum King Curtis via Michael Brecker clearly come to the surface on the choogling shuffle "Love the One You're With," but the churchy organ of Katz spurs a light or loping funk and some clockwork rhythms for "Spirit in the Dark" where the tenor saxophonist adopts a spiritual stance akin to John Coltrane. A very slow, urban blues accented by Vitarello and the horns identifies "It Ain't Fair," similar to the Art Blakey/Bobby Timmons evergreen "Moanin'," while back to New Orleans, the upbeat, funky pace of "Packing Up, Getting Ready to Go" might have been a better first number than the last selection. Unfortunately, the opener "The House That Jack Built" is the one track that really falls flat, a clearly simplified cover that belies the creative nature of these musicians. Overall this recording expresses a good time had by all, clearly a labor of love, and brings Franklin's Detroit gospel to star power rhythm & blues music forward in a different light. While not likely to shake and quake booties or turn dance music into an intellectual thesis, Frahm and Katz achieve a balance somewhere in the middle that should be pleasing to many younger jazz and older non-jazz fans.
BIOGRAPHY BY JOEL FRAHM
by Rovi
b. 1970, Racine, Wisconsin, USA. As a child Frahm studied piano and also played bassoon but while in eighth grade at the Stephen Bull Fine Arts School where he had tuition from music teacher Gary Mollenkopf, he began playing tenor saxophone. In 1985 he moved with his family to West Hartford, Connecticut, where, as a student at William H. Hall High School, he came under the wing of Bill Stanley, founder of the school jazz band. It was here that Frahm also encountered fellow students with an interest in jazz. One was a drummer named Bill Dobrow, the other was pianist Brad Mehldau. Frahm and Mehldau formed what was to become a long-lasting and productive musical relationship. They teamed up for a weekly engagement at a local club, a portent of much to come. While playing in the high school jazz band, Frahm also augmented his musical knowledge by listening to records by artists such as Art Blakey, Freddie Hubbard, Horace Silver and Miles Davis, paying particular attention to saxophonists Wayne Shorter, Bob Berg and Charlie Parker.
After leaving high school in 1988, Frahm attended Rutgers University for a year before transferring to The Manhattan School of Music, and following graduation with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Jazz Performance he entered Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead workshop. Thereafter, he played with Maynard Ferguson and Larry Goldings and was also a member of Mehldau’s early 90s quartet with bass player Dwayne Burno and drummer Greg Hutchinson. In 1996, Frahm, who also plays soprano saxophone, reached the semi-final of the Thelonious Monk competition. After a 1998 duo fundraiser concert with Mehldau, on behalf of their old high school, the pair recorded in this format including 2004’s Don’t Explain. In the early 00s, Frahm toured and recorded with Jane Monheit, appearing on Taking A Chance On Love. In October 2004, Frahm was back again at his high school, this time with his quartet, for another benefit concert, this time on behalf of Gifts of Music, a non-profit community group that collaborates with Hartt School of Music to provide local students with music lessons. A session with Kenny Barron, Rufus Reid and Victor Lewis, the members of Stan Getz’s magnificent quartet, produced We Used To Dance in 2007. Not only does Frahm have full command of the instruments he plays, he is inventive and adventurous in his playing. The verve and enthusiasm he has for his music is thoroughly communicated to fellow musicians and audiences alike.
ABOUT BRUCE KATZ
Bruce Katz is a three time (2008, 2009, 2010) Nominee for the Blues Music Award (W.C. Handy Award) for "Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year", selected by the Blues Foundation of Memphis, TN.
While Blues is a very important part of his music, Bruce's music has more angles and influences, occupying a unique space where blues, "soul-jazz", jam-band rock, and all aspects of Americana Music collide into a style of original music all his own. He is equally comfortable playing Hammond B-3 Organ and Piano.
Besides leading the Bruce Katz Band, Bruce co-leads the CKS Band and is currently a member of the Gregg Allman Band, the Delbert McClinton Band, Jaimoe's Jasssz Band, and plays regularly with John Hammond and other artists as well.
Over the past twenty five years, Bruce has been an in-demand sideman as well as leading his own band. He has played and recorded with many of the leading names in blues and roots music, appearing on over 70 albums with artists such as Ronnie Earl, John Hammond, Delbert McClinton, Duke Robillard, Joe Louis Walker, Little Milton, Maria Muldaur, Jimmy Witherspoon, Eric Mingus, Paul Rishell, Mighty Sam McClain, Debbie Davies, David “Fathead” Newman and many others.
Bruce has performed at festivals world-wide, including the North Sea Jazz Festival, Edinburgh Blues and Jazz Festival, Glastonbury Festival, Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, Boston Globe Jazz Festival, Nice Jazz Festival, Notodden Blues Festival and many, many others.
Bruce has a lengthy background in classical piano. After hearing a Bessie Smith record when he was 10 years old, he started teaching himself blues and early jazz on the piano. He then heard boogie-woogie and swing music and continued his musical journey into more aspects of jazz and American roots music.
Bruce attended Berklee College of Music in the mid-1970s, studying Composition and performance. For the next fifteen years, he performed with many of the leading musicians in New England, and played “on the road” for long stretches of time. After a particularly long stint of touring in the late '80s with Barrence Whitfield and the Savages, he decided to come off the road and enrolled at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston where he earned a Master's degree in Jazz Performance and studied with Geri Allen, Paul Bley, Cecil McBee and George Russell. It was during this time that he conceived of and started writing music that became the Bruce Katz Band. Five months after graduation, he met Ronnie Earl, who soon invited him to join his band, The Broadcasters. During his nearly five-year stint with Earl, Katz toured the world and performed on six albums, writing and co-writing many of the tunes, such as "The Colour of Love," "Ice Cream Man," and "Hippology." The album “Grateful Heart” (Bullseye) won the Downbeat Critics Poll for Best Blues Album of 1996.
In 1992, Katz debuted his first solo album, "Crescent Crawl", on the AudioQuest label. He released "Transformation" the following year. Just before the release of "Mississippi Moan", his third solo album, Katz left the Broadcasters to concentrate on a solo career. At that point, the Bruce Katz Band began touring the U.S. and Europe, and has been his primary focus.
Bruce’s 2008 CD, “Live! At the Firefly" (Brown Dog Music/Vizztone) , was received with critical acclaim. The new CD rose to #11 on the National Living Blues Radio Chart, and received substantial play on XM/Sirius Satellite Radio Bruce has also been the subject of a recent feature story in Blues Revue magazine as well as reviews and features in Jazz Times, Downbeat and many major international blues and jazz magazines.
In addition to performing, Katz teaches piano, Hammond organ and theory privately at his studio in West Shokan, NY. He taught previously at the Berklee College of Music in Boston for 14 years in the Harmony and Piano Departments. He also conducts Master Classes in Hammond B3 and Blues History, which he has done at various music festivals worldwide.
Formerly from Boston, Bruce has been based in Woodstock, NY since 2005.
The Bruce Katz Band maintains an active touring schedule throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe.
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