A funktacular swirl of sounds calling forth ancient wisdoms from deep in our cells. A reminder that rhythm is who we are and to keep making life as funky as possible!
—Murf Reeves, WWOZ
A new record bringing together some of the most fearless voices in modern music: Vernon Reid (Living Colour), Nduduzo Makhathini, Jason Marsalis, Lenny White (Miles Davis and Return to Forever), G Calvin Weston (Ornette Coleman), Donald Harrison and Bill Summers (The Headhunters).
This album is a collision of alt-jazz, progressive blues, and improvisational fusion- equal parts groove, chaos & cosmos. It doesn’t sit neatly in any category, and that’s the point! Think Ornette meets King Crimson in a NOLA warehouse.
Recorded & Mixed by F-Bomb at NTA Studio
Mastered by Justin Weis at Trakworx
All Songs written by Frank Swart- Funkwrench Music BMI
with the exception of “Drowning Man" Swart / Gilbert BMI
“Satisfreaktion" Swart/Harrison Don Har Music BMI/Keenan Renaud Mcrae BMI
“Ode To Jeff Beck" Swart/Holzman- Ammonia Lisa Music, ASCAP
All compositions exclusively administered by Chittenden Music BMI
After meeting his future wife and deciding to leave Boston, he spent periods living and working in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Nashville where he led the experimental jam band Funkwrench (which is a nickname for a bass). He engineered the first Pixies demos, worked with Patty Griffin off and on for 17 years, recorded with Morphine, produced and performed with cult underground art-rock band Billy Nayer Show, was part of the acid jazz group Junk/Post Junk Trio, was a founding member of the psychedelic electric blues trio SIMO, and recorded and toured with such artists as Norah Jones, The Indigo Girls, John Hiatt, and Buddy Miller.
After settling back in San Francisco in 2017, Swart and publisher-producer Brian Brinkerhoff founded the Need To Know label, Skunkworks Studios, and Funkwrench Blues. Utilizing Swart’s instrumental blues-oriented compositions and such talents as guitarist Rick Kirch (who worked with John Lee Hooker) and a variety of drummers, they have made recordings with over 200 notable artists. A partial list includes Guitar Shorty, Cash McCall, Fareed Haque, Jim Campilongo, John Hammond, Sonny Landreth, John Primer, Albert Lee, Vieux Farke Toure, Mr. Sipp, Tommy Castro, and Duke Robillard but that only hints at the wide variety of performers.
This album is a collision of alt-jazz, progressive blues, and improvisational fusion- equal parts groove, chaos & cosmos. It doesn’t sit neatly in any category, and that’s the point! Think Ornette meets King Crimson in a NOLA warehouse.
Track list and credits
- Reflections From The Future (feat. Nduduzo Makhathini, Lenny White, David Boyce, David DR Robbins & Frank Swart)
- Mr. Coleman (feat. Vernon Reid, G Calvin Weston, David DR Robbins & Frank Swart)
- Drowning Man (feat. Orlando Gilbert, David DR Robbins, Peter Varnado & Frank Swart)
- Satisfreaktion (feat. Guitar Shorty, Donald Harrison, Bill Summers, Roland Barber, David DR Robbins, Alvino Bennett, Rich Kirch & Frank Swart)
- Indelicate Balance (feat. Grant Green Jr., Hamid Drake & Frank Swart)
- Funk-ish (feat. Jason Marsalis, Roland Barber, David DR Robbins & Frank Swart)
- Ode To Jeff Beck (feat. Adam Holzman, Roland Barber, David DR Robbins, Derrek Phillips & Frank Swart)
- Amerika The Brutal (feat. Joseph Bowie, David DR Robbins, Alvino Bennett & Frank Swart)
- For Lu (feat. Nicole McCabe, Peter Varnado & Frank Swart)
Recorded & Mixed by F-Bomb at NTA Studio
Mastered by Justin Weis at Trakworx
All Songs written by Frank Swart- Funkwrench Music BMI
with the exception of “Drowning Man" Swart / Gilbert BMI
“Satisfreaktion" Swart/Harrison Don Har Music BMI/Keenan Renaud Mcrae BMI
“Ode To Jeff Beck" Swart/Holzman- Ammonia Lisa Music, ASCAP
All compositions exclusively administered by Chittenden Music BMI
About Frank Swart
Frank Swart was born and raised in Boston. He grew up hearing the big band swing records and classic Broadway show albums that were in his parent’s record collection, along with the music that his sister (who was ten years older) listened to including the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Sly and the Family Stone, and Led Zeppelin. He also developed a love for Miles Davis’ 1970s recordings, the spiritual Jazz of John and Alice Coltrane, and the deep soul and blues of Chess and Stax records. After some ungratifying drum lessons, when he was 13, his sister bought him a bass. “I was able to play it immediately, learned some riffs from a guitarist, and was soon practicing eight hours a day.” As a teenager, he worked with rock, blues, and acid funk bands. Very interested in making recordings, Swart rented a recording studio in the basement of a hair salon on the graveyard shift and taught himself how to engineer and produce records.After meeting his future wife and deciding to leave Boston, he spent periods living and working in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Nashville where he led the experimental jam band Funkwrench (which is a nickname for a bass). He engineered the first Pixies demos, worked with Patty Griffin off and on for 17 years, recorded with Morphine, produced and performed with cult underground art-rock band Billy Nayer Show, was part of the acid jazz group Junk/Post Junk Trio, was a founding member of the psychedelic electric blues trio SIMO, and recorded and toured with such artists as Norah Jones, The Indigo Girls, John Hiatt, and Buddy Miller.
After settling back in San Francisco in 2017, Swart and publisher-producer Brian Brinkerhoff founded the Need To Know label, Skunkworks Studios, and Funkwrench Blues. Utilizing Swart’s instrumental blues-oriented compositions and such talents as guitarist Rick Kirch (who worked with John Lee Hooker) and a variety of drummers, they have made recordings with over 200 notable artists. A partial list includes Guitar Shorty, Cash McCall, Fareed Haque, Jim Campilongo, John Hammond, Sonny Landreth, John Primer, Albert Lee, Vieux Farke Toure, Mr. Sipp, Tommy Castro, and Duke Robillard but that only hints at the wide variety of performers.
For more information contact Scott Thompson Public Relations.
