Contact

To contact the Dave Frank School of Jazz in Manhattan visit DaveFrankJazz.com or email dave@davefrankjazz.com

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Portrait of New York: From Ralph A. Miriello, Jazz Journalist

I first learned of Dave Frank back in 2008 when I was writing for the online jazz magazine jazz.com. One day a package came in the mail with a nice note from pianist Dave Frank, requesting that I have a listen to his solo piano CD titled Turning It Loose, a copy of which was enclosed. Dave runs his own jazz school;2 in New York City. From the opening moments I was immediately grabbed by the intensity and technical proficiency of this amazing player! To my great surprise here was a virtuoso pianist who had something different to offer and was flying under the radar screen. I was hooked.

Dave is a completely self-contained solo piano stylist and composer who has a full, vibrant sound with a dazzling improvisational wit. When you first hear Dave it is his left hand that sends you into a trance. He has mastered a walking bass line that would be the envy of any pianist.

On Portrait of New York, his latest album, you can hear the depth of Dave’s pianistic achievement. From the first song Full Force NYC, a clever take on the classic Tangerine, you hear the unerring metronomic consistency of Dave’s walking bass line. His left hand is a marvel that anchors the piece. He improvises his bass lines against multiple harmonies, while at the same time further improvising on the melody in his right hand at breathtaking speed. Just listen to his version of Juan Tizol’s Perdido, my personal favorite on the album, to hear how masterfully he has created his own idiom. In a world of so many imitators, Dave has crafted his own style.

Portrait of New York contains another side of Dave Frank not to be overlooked, the musician turned impressionist. With compositions like Broadway Boogie-Woogie, Bowery Blues, Lower East Side Shuffle, Manhattan by Moonlight and Times Square, he uses his limitless musical palette to vividly recreate the sights and sounds of the various neighborhoods of his native New York City. His composition McKenna/McCoy is another stylistic homage to two of his influences, Dave McKenna and McCoy Tyner.

Despite his penchant for liking to “burn” at breakneck speeds, Dave can play a moving ballad, offering his own ruminative approach on the poignant Richard Rodgers composition This Nearly Was Mine and on Gershwin’s lament, My Man’s Gone.

Portrait of New York should elevate the name and reputation of Dave Frank into the lexicon of those who present the very best of solo jazz piano.

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Portrait of New York: From Dave Frank

This record is dedicated to my friend and co-conspirator Paul Bagin, who has engineered, mixed, ;8mastered, and co-produced five solo records with me over the last fifteen years. It is fantastic to be in the studio with Paul, he’s a terrific guy and has absolutely the BEST ears in the business. It’s been a thrilling adventure to work on these projects with Paul and I thanks him for his patience and expertise. Many thanks go to Walter Fischbacher and Lofish Recording Studio, to my wife Hari for her patience and support, to ;2Randy Klein at Jazzheads Records for his dedication to his artists, to Lena Adasheva for her superb photography, to Richard Mantel for his expert graphic design, to Kenneth Morales for his art consulting, to Mile's Café, and to Paramahansa Yogananda and Yogi Bhajan for their ongoing spiritual inspiration. A special thank you also goes to the late, great Charlie Banacos for mentoring this project.

To me, all art is an expression of the creativity of God. His many aspects never fail to amuse, engage, inspire and bewitch us. My gratitude goes to Him for the time and energy He gave me to conceive and complete this project.

Blessing and keep swingin’!

—Dave Frank, August 2010