Jazz Articles about Frank Gambale

like 377

GHS: The Best of GHS

by Woodrow Wilkins
November 10, 2009

GHS is almost like listening to The Police without a human voice. The letters are the initials guitarist Frank Gambale, bassist Stu Hamm, and drummer Steve Smith. GHS is the anti-smooth ensemble from Tone Center Records. Their intent was to represent music fans who wanted more improvisation and more interaction among the players. Gambale spent several years with the Chick Corea Elektric Band as well as Smith's outfit, Vital Information. Hamm and Smith worked together on some of ...

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Frank Gambale: Parallel Lines

by John Kelman
September 7, 2006

Emerging in the mid-1980s, Australian-born guitarist Frank Gambale rose quickly to the upper end of the fusion food chain. While Scott Henderson was the first guitarist in keyboard legend Chick Corea's Elektric Band, it's Gambale who is best remembered for his work on a string of the band's albums beginning with Light Years (GRP, 1987). And when Corea decided to reform the quintet in the early part of this decade for an album and a couple of tours, it was ...

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Frank Gambale: Natural High

by John Kelman
February 2, 2006

Committed fusioners might be disappointed when they read the back cover of shred-meister Frank Gambale's latest release, Natural High. After all, the Aussie guitarist is best-known for his high-volume, high-velocity chops as a member of Chick Corea's Elektric Band and on his own series of albums, including Raison D'être (Wombat, 2004)--which, featuring his innovative Neauveau Tuning, represented both consolidation and departure.

The personnel on Natural High looks promising. Otmaro Ruiz may not be a household name, but he's made significant ...

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Frank Gambale: Raison D'etre

by Dan McClenaghan
April 22, 2004

I have to admit that I lost track of guitarist Frank Gambale over the years. His sound jumped out at me for the first time on the Chick Corea Elektric Band's Inside Out (GRP Records, '90). That disc--which I suppose falls into the fusion category--is a minor classic; and Gambale's contribution--borne out by a fresh listen with more experienced ears--is considerable, especially in the harmonics department. Which makes Raison D'être all the more intriguing, since the guitarist has taken his ...

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Frank Gambale: Raison D'etre

by John Kelman
April 9, 2004

Guitarists are a funny lot; so many of them, not content with the harmonic/intervallic potentials of standard guitar tuning, experiment with a myriad of alternate tunings, sometimes with the expressed purpose of emulating the kind of chromatic chordal capabilities of the piano. As if there isn't enough to explore with the standard instrument, they feel a burning need to reinvent its harmonic capabilities, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Take fusion-burner Frank Gambale who, with his Neauveau Tuning, has ...

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Frank Gambale: Raison D'etre

by Jerry D'Souza
April 7, 2004

When Frank Gambale discovered a new tuning for the guitar by which he could get piano harmonies that were not previously possible, he patented it as “Nouveau Tuning.” This new tuning does open up the guitar; the voicing is brighter and brings in a nice enough harmonic touch. He uses a double-neck Yamaha guitar that gives him both his Nouveau Tuning and the ambit of a regular guitar.

Gambale divides his time between nods to rock and music ...

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Frank Gambale - Stuart Hamm - Steve Smith: GHS3

by Glenn Astarita
December 4, 2002

The super trio reunites again for a set brimming with pummeling rhythms and joyous musings. Here, Frank Gambale employs both electric and acoustic guitars amid his now infamous chord sweeping techniques and mesmerizing single note leads. As this mighty rhythm section offers a rather ominous delivery, whether Gambale is exploring lyrically rich themes or driving the proceedings into the ozone.

The band provides an entertaining mix, consisting of jazzy hooks, climactically oriented crescendos and difficult to perform ...