Previous NEWS FROM THE FRONT 2007 articles...

Previous NEWS FROM THE FRONT 2006 articles...

Previous NEWS FROM THE FRONT 2005  articles...

[ top ] | [ index ]

 MARCH / APRIL 2008 

March/April 2008

Up until now I've been doing pretty good at keeping up with the month-to-month updates here. It does look like most of March got away from me. I do have a good excuse, which I will get to toward the end.

In the mean time, quite a bit is coming up. First, a BrewErie gig with Steve Trohoske's FREE SPEECH has been added on March 29. Joel Pollaci of J.D. and the Sons of Rhythm note will be playing traps. The group plays a jazz-funk pocket with a looser, more open format. This will be part of the Arts and Drafts festival at the 'Brew, so we hope to see you there.

March 31 through April 4 finds One World Tribe in Franklin, bringing the Music of the People to the schools. OWT has presented a number of performance/teaching seminars over the last few years. We look forward to revisiting Franklin and enjoying their curiosity and enthusiasm. We are also looking forward to the completion and release of CD number three. I will keep you posted.

Cat's A Bear joins jazz saxophonist Pete Mills at the Breeze, 14th and State, for an evening of standards and a few of Pete's originals. So far the playing sounds great, and so do the original tunes. We are looking forward to welcoming Pete to Erie. Pete's new CD Fresh Spin recently recieved 3 1/2 Stars in DOWNBEAT Magazine's recent review. You can find out more about Pete at www.petemills.com or by visiting his MySpace page at www.myspace.com/petemillsjazz.

Scotty's welcomes 3bop on bassist Steve Trohoske's annual birthday gig. Brad Amidon will join us for a night of hard bop, straight ahead and modern jazz. Steve and I are joined by saxophonist Allen Zurcher the following evening at a private residence.

I also keep busy here at the "home office," so to speak. Justin Voty continues to record tracks, adding both depth and scope to the existing cuts, and adding a few new ones with vocalist Russell Phillips, who has an exceptional voice. Justin returns on the 28th for an evening session; thus I am unavailable for work that evening.

I mentioned in the beginning that I had a tardiness excuse. That partly involves the studio, and partly involves a project that seems to be growing in intensity and scope every year.

Every second week in June Long's School of the Dance puts on a two-evening dance recital for the many students of the school. This is an enormous undertaking, and through Joe Dorris of Cat's A Bear, I have been getting more involved with on each pass of the show. Initially I entered years ago as a player, then more recently as an arranger, then producer of dance CD singles, and this year as audio editor for the pre-recorded CD tracks now being used.

An interesting musical compromise has been reached which creates a unique technical requirement. Long's has a long and clearly established history of supporting and presenting live music in each of their yearly performances. As difficult as this can be, they have never wavered from this approach.

What has also been difficult has been rehearsing literally thousands of dancers without consistent tempos and recordings. These track must also be limited to shorter durations than even the current three-minute song format of commercial radio.

This has led to the use of pre-recorded tracks along side of live performance. While this is not an unheard-of phenomena in contemporary music practice, it is no less tricky than it sounds.

Last year Joe and I prepared a number of singles for the show that the younger dancers could practice to and dance to at the show, and also prepared charts for the musicians, including Bb parts for Phil Papotnik and Dale Zimmerman who play the show every year along with Laurie Hitt, Joe Dorris, Tony Stefanelli and Nick "Tito" Ronzitti.

This year Joe gathered recordings of most of the material, and I had the remainder of the charts in fake books excepting one provided by Laurie. Thus the project began with the transcribing of seven or eight tunes, and then the recording to date of fifteen two-minute multi-track singles of the music.

I did these with Cubase LE on my second tower, playing in piano, bass, banjo, clarinet and trombone parts with the Roland-Ready Stratocaster and the GR-30 Synthesiser. Although the tracking can be quirky, and did require some corrections in Cubase's editing software, I was able to get all the tracks done in a little over a week, and mixes out to the clients for approval.

We will be adding some vocals by "flying them in," as in importing .wav files into Cubase and then manually lining them up with the music (which is tricky but not as hard as it sounds.) So far Joe's daughter Deva is handling the first batch, which I will start mixing in next week.

After preparing that music, I immediately went to pulling tracks off of CDs and doing what are called "cuts," which are quick-fades and splices that allow the dancers to move the performance at the pace they desire.

And of course, it should all have been done yesterday....

But, we are actually on schedule with last year and the years before, and we have pulled it off every year so far. Which does keep one awfully busy in the spring.

Thus, that is my excuse. I was busy in a good way, but one which has a number of deadlines attached. That also means this will have to suffice for April, and there may be more gigs coming towards the end of April, so please check the Calendar of Events as we get closer to the dates.

Let's hope something resembling spring will come around soon, so we can open the windows and get some air. Time to put the dog out to moult, while I prep tracks and do horn charts for the trumpet and tenor sax.

Until next time,

peace - f

[ top ] | [ index ]

 FEBRUARY 2008 

February has a bit of a reputation to overcome. In addition to being the shortest month of the year, it is also considered to be the month of depression, due both to light deprivation and cold temperatures. In short, it's the notorious dead of winter.

This year, I prefer, in true Quixotic fashion, to think of February as early spring.

It certainly began well. Guitarist/Composer Joe Frisina's Too Big Power kicked off the month at Otter's Pub on the first, with a full house enjoying original rock-and-roll. Things seemed to come together that evening, including the sound and the crowd. Playing bass with Rickie Hopkins is always a blast, and Keith Homerski really helps to fill out the sound. Thanks to Anne for all her help as well, setting up, documenting, and being the band's hostess.

Saturday brought 3bop back to Scotty's for a great evening of trio jazz. This club has an atmosphere that lets musicians cut loose and play, reminiscent of after-hours clubs and jam spots where musicians are expected to flex their chops and soar. We dipped into our cross-section of swing, hard bop, funk and latin, exploring and celebrating the end of our hiatus. 3bop plays again Friday March 7, and Friday April 11.

I play solo jazz guitar at the Erie Club on the 5th, and will return there on March 14th for a Member's Wine Tasting event. I am joined in my jazz guitar endeavors by Tony Stefanelli on bass and Nick Ronzitti (aka Tito) of Cat's A Bear at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center on Saturday the 9th. We are playing for the Montessori Regional Charter School fundraiser from 7 - 10pm.

I will be joining Steve with a project called Free Speech on February 15 at Scotty's for an evening of funk and groove music. Keyboardist and piano tuner-extraordinaire Dan Hallett and drummer Joel Pollaci will complete the quartet. Joel is known for his conga playing, and is one of many J.D. and the Sons of Rhythm alumni performing with me this month.

Steve, Nick Ronzitti and myself will play on the 16th for the Mayville, Ny Jazz Festival, appearing at the Webb's Captain's Table from 9pm to midnight. J.D. Jazz plays at the Breeze on Friday the 29th from 7-10pm, at a fundraiser for the Erie Day School, with Joe Dorris on drums and vocals, Tony Stefanelli on bass, and Nick on congas.

One World Tribe travels to Maryland on the 22nd. We are completing details on our third album, and taking care to see that we get it right. I will keep you posted here as news develops. We come home to Docksider's on March 21.

Valerie Horton Brown Project plays for Kathy Dahlkemper at Capers on the 23rd, and for the Erie Art Museum on March first. This band has some of the best vocalists in Erie or anywhere in Valerie, Rusty Jackson, and Preach Freedom of OWT. Bassist Kenny Cornelius and drummer Norby round out this funky rhythm section, with Preach adding some congas and Rusty on keyboards. I break out the solid body and the synth for this one. These will be evenings of great dance music, with Valerie leading the way.

Justin Voty is currently in the studio with the Speaking Giawiio project. Cat's A Bear saxophonist Phil Papotnik has been adding sax tracks to Justin's CD-in-progress. We mix some more this month, and see where it goes from there. The project is as much a study and learn process as it is a final recording, the result being that each step creates more focus and clarity to the music.

Cat's A Bear recently tested out a new performance space. We are working towards establishing a venue here in Erie for special jazz events, bringing back artists such as Greg Abate, Richie Cole and Frank DiBussolo. I don't want to give too much away yet, but let's just say that by the middle of the summer we will have both feet in the door of a great place to bring music, with recording capabilities for live show documentation. Stay tuned for more details.

Another sign of spring is the beginning of preparations for Long's School of the Dance's yearly June performance. I will be doing chord and horn charts for the show, and that means starting now. We will also be doing some new dance singles here at the studio over the next few months. This is always fun, and watching the kids do their thing is a blast. This gig heralds the beginning of summer for us here in Erie, so we look forward to that as well.

All told, things seem to be looking up; blossoming in a way. So I will take this all as a sign of spring, and emulate the crocuses next to the side door that come up every year at least a month early, usually getting dumped on by one or two more snow storms in the process. Somehow they seem to survive it all with that built-in optimism, as do we all.

Until next time,

peace - f

[ top ] | [ index ]

 JANUARY 2008 

A new year is upon us, so to kick off 2008 I thought I would start with Happy New Year wishes for success and inspiration in the coming year. We are in the midst of revolutionary changes in the music industry, and I believe it will be a time that favors musicians who learn to be independent artists and entrepreneurs; people who are in charge of their own musical fate. Thus, I toast those who attempt this journey with the commitment and courage that it takes, and wish us all the best of luck with all of our endeavors.

I also thought this would be a good time to present a comprehensive scope of the services I can offer my fellow musicians in our quest for successful independence. Knowledge and skill are our best assets, and acquiring these often helps develop the patience, tenacity and long-term thinking that we need to achieve our goals.

These services have been offered primarily to those within geographic proximity to the Eastern Great Lakes Region of the United States where I am located. I have recently begun working with current students in more remote situations, and extend this offer to others in the Continental United States who wish to get more direct study and services from a distance. If you are interested in long-distance lessons by email or by phone, you may contact me at frank@franksinger.com to arrange details.

Please note that confirmed payment in advance in United States Dollars will be required for all arrangements, and payments must be in cleared check or money-order only. I also place a cap on the amount in advance I can accept comfortably, and will not accept higher amounts.

Here is a general listing of services, some of which are only available locally, such as the recording services and duplication services.

• Private Instruction
  • Instruments:
    • Guitar
    • Piano / Keyboards
    • Bass Guitar
    • Drums (trap set only)
    • Saxophone
    • Any other instrument where the student knows the full-range chromatic scale and all basic technique
  • Styles:
    • Jazz, Blues, Fusion
    • Rock, Funk, Hiphop
    • Latin, including Salsa
    • World Beat, including Reggae and Afro-Carribean
    • Classical (composition)
  • Other Instruction Options:
    • MIDI Recording with Reason 2.5
    • Audio Recording with Cubase LE
    • Composition, Arranging, Music Theory (advanced), Ear Training, Linear Rhythm Theory (advanced)
    • Drums as a Second Language (rhythm studies on the trap set for non-drummers)
• Small Recording Projects
  • In-house recording capabilities including:
    • MIDI (Reason 2.5, Cubase LE)
    • Audio Recording (Cubase LE - two-track simultaneous only, with one studio mic available for individual track input)
• CD Production and Duplication
  • Simple Audio .wav file editing for CD Mastering
  • CD-R Duplication with inkjet surface printing - no color limitation
  • Graphic Design for CD labels
  • Possible Graphic Design of Booklets and Backtrays (limited availability)
• Music Internet Services
  • mp3 conversion and preparation, including tagging
  • Web Site design (limited availability; hourly charges only, no per-job bids)
  • Internet graphic design and conversion
• Computer Instruction for Web Site Development
  • HTML (code writing for web site design)
  • Computer Graphics with Photoshop 7.0, ACDsee, Paint

Please check the calendar for upcoming performances over the next few months. There is more in the works, so please check back now and again as things get settled!

Other than that, best wishes for the Year 2008 to everyone, and to everyone everywhere:

peace - f

[ top ] | [ index ]