A Concert Review of Frankie V

From the Harvard Crimson
V Is for Victory
By James Crawford , Crimson Staff Writer

Frankie V is huge in just about every sense of the word. Physically, personally and emotionally, the trumpet and flugelhorn player exudes an air larger than life. He brought that personality to Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge on Nov. 3, assembling a six-piece band including percussionist Eguie Castrillo and guitarist Bruce Bartlett, in one of Frankie’s three stops in town this year.

While he’s only here infrequently, in a sense, Frankie’s (the “V” stands for Vardaros) return to Cambridge represents a homecoming of sorts. The Long Island native cut his teeth at the Berklee School of Music across the river in Boston, and Ryles has long been a proving and training ground for many Berklee students. Undoubtedly, Frankie has visited before, playing under the lithograph of the venerable Lester Young. This night, Frankie seemed especially welcome, hamming it up with the capacity crowd and coaxing from his sidemen a uniquely smooth jazz-funk sound under Ryles’ sweaty lights.

Frankie confesses that his true love is the trumpet, but he’s parlayed his general largesse into a meaty flugelhorn sound that he alternates with its higher register cousin. Sometimes switching up horns mid-piece, Frankie maintained striking speed and agility with the flugelhorn, showing a dexterity not normally found on the instrument. While finger-crunching runs are usually the trumpet’s domain, Frankie managed to translate those abilities to the flugel while covering Stevie Wonder’s “Another Star” from Songs in the Key of Life. Without Wonder’s voice, the disco-funk classic lost a little of its original melancholy, but Frankie compensated, filling the void with his improvisation. He swayed with complex lyrical overtures, punctuating them with hot runs and fiery licks. As such, his playing strayed alternately between accessible melodies and less approachable harmoninvention. Frankie was definitely more at home with the accessible, and this trait manifested itself in his performance.

In “Another Star,” Frankie put down his trumpet, picked up the microphone and did something uncharacteristic for a jazz performer—he encouraged audience participation. Supported by Castrillo, he urged the audience to sing, recapturing the introduction of Wonder’s original track. The only reason it didn’t seem bizarre was that earlier in the evening, Frankie stepped into the crowd, joking and shaking hands while his rhythm section furiously pounded out Latin beats. The effect was truly surreal. With a radio microphone fitted into the bell of his trumpet, Frankie occasionally broke from conversation to play the melody and then resumed pressing the flesh. Couple this spectacle with Frankie playing from behind the audience while his sound flowed from the speakers in front, and the result was something disorienting (but ultimately welcome). Jazz is already one of the most democratic musical forms in that the artist feeds from the audience’s applause; Frankie just seems to be taking this ideal to the next logical level by making the music more approachable.

But don’t confuse “approachable” for “bland.” Frankie’s playing does border on the conservative side, but in his compositions, the depth of his musical knowledge emerges. The amorphous, ethereal introduction to “Mi Amiga Mi Amore” paid obvious homage to Miles Davis’ landmark album Sketches of Spain, and another self-composed number, “Smooth Ride,” has a lovely and palpably soothing warmth. Frankie always seemed more at home on his own compositions, extracting more complexity from their chord changes than from his various covers. Whether during forays into straight-ahead rock music or the fluid turns of Latin-infused funk, Frankie V has a clearly cultivated melodic sense, but his sidemen don’t always come along for the ride.

Frankie’s guitarist on this particular night, Bruce Bartlett, is a well known commodity in Boston circles. He holds court regularly at Ryles, and in doing so has been elevated to mythic musical status. Whether seamlessly integrating Frankie V’s spontaneous melodies into his own supple chord-building or cheekily paying homage to arena rock in the club’s small confines, Bartlett was the rhythm section rock on which Frankie was able to build great flights of fancy. Pianist Israel Tannenbaum played an almost ironic performance, leaping up and down the keyboard in vertical chords under the effigy of Lester Young, a soloist renowned for his horizontal and compressed playing. Tannenbaum also contributed one of the evening’s more poignant moments, a fractured version of “Happy Birthday” before the band gave it an abbreviated dirty funk treatment. Eguie Castrillo occupied a middle space on the congas, sometimes meshing with the rest of the rhythm section’s ideals, but at other times, seeming almost at odds with drummer Nomar Negron, who played drum set. On “Mi Amiga Mi Amore”, the two traded combative fours (four-bar solo segments); instead of amicably pushing each other to greater creative heights, the same goal was accomplished antagonistically, as if they were attempting to show up one another (for the curious, Castrillo won). The spectacle was out of place for a night where the leader was being so inclusive. Negron also tangibly lacked a sense of subtlety. For the night, funk’s bombast was tempered by the subtlety and nuances of Latin music, but someone forgot to tell the drummer. Negron pounded his way through most pieces, with little regard for the subtle moods being created around him.

Regardless, Frankie V whittled out a fine performance from the rest of his band. He may play on the safe side of neutral, but Frankie makes for a compelling and engaging evening, on or off the stage.

Frankie V at Ryles Jazz Club on November 3

Published on Friday, November 30, 2001

Frankie V Oceans of Dreams

Jazz Zine Review

I must confess, this is the first time I've ventured to review a Smooth Jazz artist. Frankly, I don't really know if the same criteria in reviewing regular jazz artists applies to the Smooth Jazz artist.

I would like to think that the Smooth Jazz community is a bridge for listeners that haven't quite made up their minds about jazz music. Perhaps, if they accept this music it can lead them into the more serious aspects and various expressions of other venues of jazz.

I took on this project because I feel that the artist, Frank Vardaros (Frankie V) is purely a legitimate jazz player. He's been around and played with such notable musicians as Frank Foster, Nick Brignola, Clark Terry and recently finished a Summer Tour with Arturo Sandoval's Eastcoast Hot House Big Band. He spent the early years of his career as a screaming lead trumpet player. So, he definitely has the credentials and has paid some dues.

Smooth Jazz, usually, is not supposed to consist of too many intricate improvisations (the crux of jazz) the way we'd normally expect. Instead, we get merely the essence of jazz. Sort of like having the potatoes without the meat. But that's all right. Remember my theory, Smooth Jazz is there to lure the fence sitting listener over to the other side.

Listening to Frankie V's new CD release, "Oceans Of Dreams" I came away feeling a sense of romance. Frankie V's tone is big, round and pure. This is the type of music that conjures up images of a roaring fireplace, a bottle of bubbly, a couple of lovers... you get the mix. His selections are mostly contemporary love song favorites: Arms of love, I believe I can fly, Fire and rain and My heart will go on. Frankie has penned some of the selections as well: Oceans of Dreams, They're all for you, Lilac and Cia's song. I like his compositions and although they were set as dreamy ballads, I found them to be interesting, original and harmonically sound. Lilac is a very pretty piece that has some interesting statements. I could hear other jazz players expanding on this piece.

On the track, Arms of love and Through the fire, Frankie breaks the Smooth Jazz Code and does some serious improvising which perks me up and has me listening more carefully, rather than casually. What I derive from these brief deviations is that the cat has the chops! I'd love to hear more of this from a future recording date.

So, if you know someone that just isn't quite sure about accepting jazz, turn them on to Frankie V's, Ocean of Dreams. Or, if you need something to cap off that romantic evening you have planned, this CD will set the mood perfectly.

History was made in Boston, MA in May of 2000, with the Summon the Legends Concert featuring Maynard Ferguson and Arturo Sandoval. Check out the review which also talks about Frankie V.

Boston, Massachusetts.  May 14, 2000

A concert review by MF fan Rusty Lerner

I was very fortunate to have caught the Maynard / Arturo concert on May 14 in Boston. I live in Thailand all but two or three weeks of the year and just happened to be visiting friends in New York at the time. I made a special one-night trip to Boston to see the show.

The concert was held at the performance center of the Berklee School of Music, where I believe at least one of MF's kids studied (daughter Wilder, perhaps?). Both Maynard and Arturo were backed by the "Boston Metropolitan Orchestra", conducted by Kevin Kaska. I had never heard of this orchestra before, but with Mark Van Cleave and Boston trumpet legend Frank Vardaros ("Frankie V") on trumpets, who could possibly complain?

The orchestra opened up the show with their "Summon the Legends Overture", a piece composed by Frankie V and dedicated to Maynard and Arturo. Then Arturo and his sextet came out to play a number of his tunes: "A Mis Abuelos", "To Diz with Love", "An Englishman in New York", and "Sandunga".

I had never seen Arturo in person before, but have most of his albums. What a thrill! The guy is definitely a trumpet god (that's god with a small "g"; the big "G" is still reserved for The Boss!). His playing was technically magnificent, improvisation superb, and forays into the stratosphere thrilling (although much thinner than MF's: a number of times, he positioned his microphone all the way inside the bell of his horn to get the sound to project). Chip McNeill was on saxophones and was terrific as usual (later in the show, MF would chide Arturo for having "stolen" Chip away from him a number of years ago).

Arturo was quite chatty during his part of the show, joking that only the chance to play with MF could have gotten him to stand up his mother on Mother's Day. As it was "MF", though, he said that his mother would surely understand! Arturo made many reverential comments about Maynard and is clearly a fan from way back. He did say, though, at one point when introducing "To Diz with Love" (the tune he wrote in memory of Dizzy) that "Diz is still my number one". I guess we can give him that, since Diz was his mentor for many years and actually helped in his defection to the US in 1990.

After Arturo's set, local trumpet man Frankie V played a solo, "Mi Amiga Mi Amore" backed by the orchestra and Arturo on piano (I had no idea what a great pianist he is! He also played percussion and did a super DiBlasio-style scat routine at one point). The tune was a composition of Frankie's which appears on his recently-released first solo album, which was produced by Arturo. Frankie did a pretty credible job -- not easy an easy task when you're on the same stage with two legends of MF's and Arturo's status.

After a brief intermission, the big moment came. A shiver went down my spine (as it always does) as the brass section entered "Blue Birdland" and "The Boss" was announced. MF bounded out onto the stage like a kid a quarter of his age. I knew from the second he put his horn to his mouth that he was "on" that night. He nailed almost everything he went for with apparent ease.

Before the first number, MF recounted his first meeting with Arturo back in the early '80s. Arturo was still with his Cuban band Irakere at that time, and was making his first visit to the US. MF was invited to appear at one of the band's gigs, and ended up trading horns with Arturo -- a mistake, MF recalled, as Arturo was apparently playing a piece of junk at the time. So, Arturo sounded great on MF's Holton, but MF sounded lousy on Arturo's Cuban axe! In any case, MF paid Arturo a huge compliment by referring to him as "the world's greatest trumpet player".

The first tune up was Birdland, which was hot as usual. The orchestra was playing along, but I honestly did not notice them and don't think they added too much. Although the program indicated that "Caravan" was to be next, MF replaced it with "I Love You", which was done flawlessly.

Then came "Sweet Baba Suite", which is the only tune I think to have really benefited from the full orchestra backing. It was beautiful and moving, and the crowd ate it up. I was hoping MF would treat us to some licks on the Firebird, but he stuck with his main axe throughout. 

Next was Cajun' Cookin', during which MF dragged Arturo out onto the stage to trade licks (Arturo was clearly visible in the wings during the whole MF set, obviously enjoying it). There was the usual segue into "Saints", then the MF Medley as MF and Arturo strolled through the crowd shaking hands.

The final scheduled tune was "A Night in Tunisia", with MF and Arturo both paying tribute to Dizzy Gillespie. Arturo seemed genuinely in awe of MF at several points as they were trading licks, shaking his head in disbelief. It really was interesting to hear them side-by-side: although Arturo is a wonderful player, there is just something about MF's soaring sound quality that just cannot be matched for pure excitement.

Before the finale, Frankie V came out to present awards to Ed Sargent and Bruce Galloway as the "keepers of the legends". Ed seemed genuinely moved by the gesture, and began to get a little misty-eyed I think as he paid tribute to his Boss of 18 years, saying that "you all know the musician, but I know the man -- and God never put a finer person on this earth than Maynard Ferguson". Almost brought a tear to my eye, too!

For the grand finale, MF pulled out the full, original arrangement of "Hey Jude" as it appeared on MF Horn II. He must not do so very often, because it was the only tune of the evening for which he needed the sheet music (putting on his glasses to see it better). Arturo did a pretty good job of following along (he had obviously not rehearsed it), and the MF trumpets were joined by the BMO trumpets in the crowd for the chorus. The sound in the hall was astounding, with MF and Arturo both giving their all into the microphones and the three MF trumpets and four BMO trumpets wailing back from the audience. MF and Arturo really nailed the ending.

All in all, the MF band performed very competently all evening. The solos were all good, with that of the drummer Brian Wolfe standing out particularly. Interestingly enough, Pete Ferguson was the only one on the bandstand who didn't take a solo. Also, the brass were seated throughout the show, rather than standing as they usually do (possibly so as not to block the view of the orchestra behind them). All were dressed to the teeth in black tie (Maynard with a black and white silk scarf draped nattily around his neck).

The show lasted a full three hours, and from their thunderous response, the crowd obviously still hadn't had enough. But, all good things must come to an end I guess. I hung around afterwards, getting to greet Arturo and chat with The Boss a bit. Both were clearly still on a high from the performance (as was I!).

So -- one of my great MF evenings, right up there with seeing him perform at Sai Baba's ashram in 1993, and for a home town crowd in Ojai in 1983. Y'all shoulda been there!