Strazzatonic (3 Lps On 2 Cds)

Frank Strazzeri

 

Featuring: Frank Strazzeri (Fender Rhodes p), with Conte Candoli, Gary Barone, Bobby Shew (tp), Frank Rosolino (tb), Don Menza, Sam Most (ts, fl), Gene Cherico, Harvey Newmark (b), Dick Berk, Steve Strazzeri (d), Don Alias (perc)

REFERENCE: FSRCD 886_2

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After his arrival in Los Angeles late in 1959, the versatile and impressive work of upstate New Yorker, pianist-composer Frank Strazzeri (1930-2014), began to earn him a fast reputation, and his playing in local jazz groups and on albums by Terry Gibbs, Herb Ellis, Red Mitchell, Harold Land, Carmell Jones and others, didn’t go unnoticed.

An utterly devoted jazz musician, he transformed his many influences, among them Bud Powell, Horace Silver, Carl Perkins, Hank Jones, into an inventive, direct, exciting, cliché-free personal expression, distinguished by an absence of superfluous gesture, and delivered with a crisp, bright sound in medium and fast tempos. And he was also to reveal a considerable talent as a composer on his own records.

On the three albums included here, Taurus (1973), Frames (1975) and After the Rain (1975), he wrote all of the material and used, including Don Menza, Frank Rosolino, Gary Barone, Conte Candoli, Gene Cherico and Bobby Shew, who spoke glowingly of him as “a giant, a master, an incredibly underrated player, a complete genius.” These albums show why he was so revered by his peers.


Tracklisting:

CD 1

01. Taurus 4:42
02. Lazy Moments 4:25
03. Strazzatonic 9:14
04. Calcutta 5:24
05. Sphinx 7:40
06. View from Within 6:10
07. Injun-Jo 6:01
08. Ballad of the Matador 6:42
09. Jo Gee 8:07

CD 2

01. La Mosca 7:05
02. Frames 6:43
03. Evening in Madrid 6:11
04. After the Rain 4:32
05. Philadelphia Flyer 9:06
06. Rush Hour 8:36
07. Blue Dawn 4:52
08. The Third Eye 6:40
09. Cloudburst 9:50

All compositions by Frank Strazzeri


Sources:

CD 1, tracks #1-6, from the album
"Taurus" (Revelation Records REV-20)
Later issued as "View From Within"
(Creative World CW 3003)

CD 1, tracks #7-9 and CD 2 #1-3 from 
"Frames" (Glendale Records GLS 6002)

CD 2, tracks #4-9 from the album
"After the Rain" (Catalyst Records CAT-7607)



Personnel on "Taurus" / "View From Within":

Conte Candoli, trumpet; Frank Rosolino, Don Menza, tenor sax, flute; Frank Strazzeri, Fender Rhodes piano; Gene Cherico, bass; Dick Berk, drums.

Recorded at Sage & Sound, Hollywood, Jan. 6, 1973


Personnel on "Frame":

Gary Barone, trumpet; Frank Rosolino, trombone; Don Menza, tenor & soprano sax, flute; Frank Strazzeri, Fender Rhodes piano; Gene Cherico, bass, Fender bass; Steve Schaeffer, drums; Allen Cecchi, Chuck Pisticello, percussion.

Recorded at Sage & Sound, Hollywood, spring 1975


Personnel on "After the Rain":

Bobby Shew, trumpet, flugelhorn; Sam Most, tenor sax, flute; Frank Strazzeri, Fender Rhodes piano, moog, string synthesizer; Harvey Newmark, bass, electric bass; Steve Strazzeri, drums; Don Alias, congas, percussion.

Recorded at Sage & Sound, Hollywood, summer 1975



Recordings conceived & produced by Frank Strazzeri

Co-producer: Pat Britt on “After the Rain”
Recorded and mixed by Jim Mooney at Sage & Sound Studio, Hollywood

Compiled for CD release by Frank Strazzeri & Jordi Pujol


Stereo · 24-Bit Digitally Remastered

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This CD is dedicated to the memory of Frank Strazzeri