Frank Catalano – Bang!

It could be quite interesting to wonder about a young sax artist when they grew their chops on the sax by listening & working with great jazz heroes like the Great Charles Earland & Randy Brecker. But one listen to “Bang!” from Savoy Jazz will have you think twice about the way Frank Catalano spends his time. Other than chillin’ steady at a café sipping on a courtesy cup of latte’. Waiting on you to make that move & press play.

The soul/funk jazz crowd should know about this. The immediate display of hypnotic drum shaking, funk nasty grooves polished into 10 indirect compositions highlights the extraordinary gifts Frank brings with the Tenor Sax. It reminds me of Javon Jackson’s boogaloo flow, or maybe the funky old school Hank Crawford records on Kubu. But in essence, it could be the overall appeal Funk organist Charles Earland had left on Mr. Catalano.

Track Listing:
~ Bang!
~ Soul Burner
~ Shakin’
~ My One & Only Love
~ God Made It Beautiful
~ Dam* Right
~ Funky Dunky
~ Night Moves
~ Later
~ Footprints

When the stoplight turned from red to green, Frank’s ‘bandwagon’ peeled out from the starting blocks with “Bang!” – how appropriate the title speaks. Right into the funky soul jazz game; And “Soul Burner” continues the mix, allowing Scott Williams to get in on some solo air time with his piano.; “Shakin'” starts off with a 3rd gear shift melody & the ‘James Brown’ era beats just keeps comin’. Straight jamming’ the hot box. The club scene had to be startled. Was this the Frank Catalano & band they came to expect?

The nite time chill for “My One & Only Love” (written by Guy Wood & Robert Mellin) settles down the tempo for a short while, all in the meantime appreciating Frank’s canny ability to author in a relaxing, sentimental composition – as to which the title speaks for itself. But that wont last long..

…because the crew goes right back after the soul jazz aura in “God Made It Beautiful”. And Frank tears into the mix with emotion, feeling & excitement; “Dam* Right” does it again & again. Just a simple melody & the band backs it with the funky flavor & sounds reminiscent to old school funk/soul jazz recipes of the 60’s/70’s. “Funky Dunky” receives the honorary ‘*’ for the repeat button. The funk just doesn’t stop!

Frank puts down the Tenor for a second & pulls out his flute for “Night Moves”. The track escapes into a modern traditional jazz feel & keeps you attracted to its overall appeal. Frank then changes musical direction with the 1 minute/ 41 second updated new school funky interlude, “Later”…..like we always tell one another on the way out the door – ‘Later!’

His interpretation of Wayne Shorters’ “Footprints” was outstanding, to say the least & it should be recognized. A whole different flow & mix, rearranged & completely abstract in parallel to the original composition from the master himself.

Franks’ day to shine, I believe, became evident with the arrival of “Bang!”. Released in July, 2008, the date of release shouldn’t matter. It still sounds fresh, ready & complete for the change this jazz industry may need. Not straying away from his influences, nor compromising music to relate to easy listening, smooth formatted sounds should make this project an easy target to go after. Soul Funk jazz listeners who appreciated Mr. Earland, Randy Brecker, old school George Benson, Hank Crawford, Ramsey Lewis, Stanley Turrentine, Freddie Hubbard, Big Joe Patton. Brother Jack McDuff, Quincy Jones, and some Jimmy McGriff will ‘shake’ to this. Be careful not to burn this one out. It should be spun back nice & slow to a cup of your choice.

T
The Urban Music Scene

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