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RJ Franco
Franco Ambrosetti: Sweet Caress
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Back in 2022, I reviewed Nora, a beautiful album by Swiss flugelhornist Franco Ambrosetti backed by strings lushly arranged by Alan Broadbent (go here). Now, Franco and Alan have released a second album, Sweet Caress (Enja), recorded at the end of 2023. It features that same sterling group of musicians: Franco Ambrosetti (flhrn), Alan Broadbent (p,arr,cond), John Scofield (g), Uri Caine (p), Scott Colley (b), Peter Erskine (d) and Sara Caswell (violin, concertmaster). The self-taught Franco began his recording career ...
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Franco Ambrosetti: Nora
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
When Alan Broadbent isn't playing extraordinary jazz piano with his trio, he's typically hard at work arranging and conducting a large orchestra for a jazz artist or vocalist. In the case of Swiss flugelhornist Franco Ambrosetti's new album, Nora (Enja), Alan is at the helm of a 22-piece string orchestra, and the result is gorgeous, reflective and perfect for this time of year. The album also features guitarist John Scofield, bassist Scott Colley, pianist Uri Caine and drummer Peter Erskine. ...
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Franco Cerri (1926-2021)
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Franco Cerri, one of the world's finest jazz guitarists whose records and reputation have escaped most American jazz aficionados due to his desire to spend his career in Italy, died on October 18. He was 95. Ruggedly handsome with a joyous sense of swing and impeccable taste, Cerri (pronounced “Cherry") made nearly all of his recordings in Milan, starting in 1945. Touring American jazz stars knew him well and that he could play bass as proficiently as the guitar. Over ...
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Franco Ambrosetti In Splendid Company
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Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
The Swiss trumpeter and flugelhornist assembles a group of contemporaries to play his compositions and a couple of cherished standard songs. Ambrosetti’s fluid improvisations, sometimes with a Miles Davis bent, are consistently impressive. So, too, is the work of the star-filled rhythm section of pianist Uri Caine, guitarist John Scofield, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Among the highlights are Ambrosetti’s “Silli’s Waltz,” named for his wife. Although one may usually think of Scofield as an earthy player, his ...
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Buddy De Franco (1923-2014)
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Buddy De Franco, a highly accomplished and exquisite jazz clarinetist who began his career in several leading swing bands of the 1940s before pivoting to bebop in the late 1940s and early '50s and teaming with leading jazz artists throughout the LP era, died on Dec. 24. He was 91. Buddy's first recording in 1943 was as a member of the Gene Krupa Orchestra. He soon joined Charlie Barnet after Krupa's pot bust and then Tommy Dorsey in the mid-1940s, ...
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Billy White releases debut album "First Things First" on Porto Franco records
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Billy White
Pianist Billy White's debut recording, First Things First, is a glimpse into a musically omnivorous world reminiscent of a young Herbie Hancock. The San Francisco-born and New York-based 27-year old has already packed a panoply of experience into his young career: a degree in ethnomusicology from UCLA, a stint with French jazz/hip-hoppers Heezbus while living in Paris, scoring films, and studying Gnawa trance music in Morocco, to name a few. But First Things First is his crowning achievement so far. ...
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Michele Choiniere Gives New Voice to Long-lost Franco-American Songs
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rock paper scissors, inc.
The Lone Songbird in the Woods: Michele Choiniere Gives New Voice to Long-Lost Franco-American Songs on La Violette
Along the borderlands between the US and Canada, a lone songbird sings with a voice clear, rich, and distinctly French. Her name is Michele Choiniere, and nestled in the northwestern Vermont woods, she continues a once thriving Franco-American oral tradition that recalls the bright cheer of kitchen parties, the wry pleasures of courtship, and the sway of a waltz.
Known for her ...
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Spirit of a True Sculptor: The Emergence of Mastery Sculptor Franco Castelluccio is the Artscene's Next One to Watch
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Michael Ricci
MIAMI, FL -- It only takes one glance to see in the sculpture of Franco Castelluccio the work of a true master. Mr. Castelluccio was in his twenties before he touched his first piece of clay. His life was never the same; his inspiration seemed to spring from a newly awoken passion within. Herein lies the beauty of true genius.
Currently living with his family outside of Orlando, Florida, Mr. Castelluccio's studio is a veritable treasure trove of pieces that ...
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Buddy de Franco + Sonny Clark, PT 2
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
By 1954, the clarinet was all but finished as a solo instrument. Benny Goodman was largely a nostalgia act. Artie Shaw was completing his final recordings with his Gramercy Five. And other leading jazz musicians who played the “stick" did so out of necessity for studio work or as a secondary instrument. One of the only full-time practitioners exploring new ground was Buddy De Franco. But Buddy was fully aware of the clarinet's image problem. Its happy, pleading sound was ...
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Buddy de Franco + Sonny Clark, PT 1
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Clarinetist Buddy De Franco has had a series of astonishing careers. He has been a leading swing era musician, a big band leader, a bebop headliner, an early participant in merging small-group jazz with the American Songbook, a polytonal experimenter, and champion of all forms of the music. Buddy's first 10 years alone are remarkable. In 1943 he recorded with Gene Krupa, then joined Tommy Dorsey and Charlie Barnet's bands in the mid-1940s, played with George Shearing in the late ...
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