Jazz Articles about Frank Glover

Mark Ortwein: It Was Time

by Jack Bowers
March 16, 2023

A byproduct of waiting as long as Mark Ortwein has to record one's first album as leader can be reaching too far and trying too hard to achieve perfection. That seems to be the case with It Was Time, wherein Ortwein's versatility is never in doubt--he plays nine instruments on the album--but his musical choices are too often below the norm. Whatever the reason or reasons, Ortwein planned the program to suit his taste and is answerable for the outcome. ...

Frank Glover: Going A Different Way

by AAJ Staff
May 5, 2010

Intelligent and outspoken, Frank Glover began playing clarinet when he was eleven years old. On entering college, he trained for nearly two years at Indiana University before striking out on his own; upon the independent release of Politico in 2004, he was signed by Owl Studios and the album was re-released under that label in 2009. Initially training as a classical clarinetist who also plays saxophone, the music of John Coltrane grabbed him; he experienced a musical epiphany as a ...

Frank Glover: Abacus

by AAJ Staff
May 5, 2010

Every once in a while a musician comes along that lives and breathes the music. It comes out of his brain, his fingers, his mind and heart. Having debuted with Politico (Owl Studios, 2009)--a reissue of his 2004 self-produced release--clarinetist Frank Glover might just be one of those musicians. Full of soundscapes that reflect the inner as well as the outer life, Abacus takes his music one step farther in textured, deeply colored ways.

Glover, relatively ...

Frank Glover: Politico

by AAJ Staff
February 4, 2010

First released independently but now re-released by Owl Studios, classically trained clarinetist Frank Glover's Politico is a smashing debut; an atmospheric, concatenated narrative.

The clarinet is a peculiar wind instrument with a smooth, sometimes guttural sound that's either loved or hated. Not as bold as a trumpet, it could get overwhelmed in a quartet setting, or at least take a back seat, as it does sometimes in a classical Philharmonic orchestra. Not so with Glover's hands ...

Frank Glover: Politico

by Bruce Lindsay
October 24, 2009

Politico was self-released by Indianapolis-based clarinettist Frank Glover in 2005. Four years later it has gained a commercial release and one question arises--why did it take so long? The breadth of writing, arranging and playing talent on this album is impressive, and the result is an involving and intensely emotional set of compositions that deserves wide exposure. Three ensembles are featured: a quartet, a string orchestra and a 14-piece jazz orchestra. The album opens in fine style ...

Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra: Happenstance

by Jack Bowers
March 1, 2000

Almost every year, it seems, a marvelous new big band comes out of nowhere to bowl me over and leave an irrepressible smile on my face. In '98, the mile--wide grin was occasioned by the high--flying Hawk--Richard Jazz Orchestra from Austin, TX, followed last year by trumpeter Kevin Seeley's dazzling Emerald City ensemble from Seattle, WA. As the new millennium dawns I'm smiling rhapsodically again, and the impetus this time is the sharp and swinging Mark Buselli--Brent Wallarab Jazz Orchestra ...