Frank Catalano's "Mighty Burner" debuted at #11 for its first week on Billboards Top Jazz Chart! May 6, 2006
DOWNBEAT Magazine May 2006, John Ephland,
Frank Catalano
Mighty Burner
Bright Records 501
There is a heft to this tenor saxophonist’s sound that tells me he couldn’t say it any other way. Listen to the opener, the title track that places Frank Catalano’s full throttle front and center, a modal rocker that suggests John Coltrane energy in the 21st century. That meaty sound has been around since the 27-year-old started recording for Delmark as a college student.
The main soloist on this live album recorded at Chicago’s Green Mill and Edgewater Lounge clubs (the final track is a studio cut), Catalano uses Mighty Burner as a platform to just plain blow. I can’t remember the last time when I heard an album with only one soloist. Over the course of these six tracks, the method is a similar one: medium-tempo rockers with rhythm section in tow, a blues progression or simple one-chord sustain the framework. Think of it as a suite, a series of tunes that let us hear a bar-walkin’ honker, circa 2005. Apart from Catalano, it’s drummer Robert Gay who’s most prominent.
As if to tell listeners that that initial rock impulse wasn’t just a come-on, the followup “Love Bugaloo” serves as a nifty part two, this time as a blues, same tempo, same vibe, with tons of heart. Staying the course with no attempt to veer off it (there’s some duet work between Catalano and Gay on “Tuna Town”), the tenorist has a lot of nerve, and originality, for simply keeping it simple.
The funk starts to creep in on “God’s Love For Music” as Catalano brings on some electronic keyboard work, courtesy of Greg Spero, regular pianist Vijay Tellis-Nayak donning some keyboard work of his own in tandem with electric bassist Shawn Sommer on the closer.
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By George Harris All About Jazz LA/ SF
Saxophonist Frank Catalano puts out a no holds barred “live” recording that goes straight from the jukebox to your living room. Hard swinging, extroverted and unabashedly blistering, Catalano revs up his sax with his band and shakes the ground with five originals and “Mighty Burner,” a tune associated with Charles Earland (who Catalano toured with as a teenager), that will get you hollering and stomping for more. The title piece harkens back in energy to Joe Henderson’s electrifying playing on Larry Young’s groundbreaking Unity. The battle between Catalano and drummer Robert Gay on “Tuna Town” makes the mercury rise to catastrophic levels. The band continues to heat it up, almost spontaneously combusting on the fortissimo “Love Bugaloo,” Mighty Burner may be recorded before a live audience at Chicago’s The Green Mill, but I doubt if there were any survivors by the evening’s end. By the time the last live note is played, you can’t help but heave a sigh of exhaustion. This is a roller coaster ride par excellence. Jump in, put the strap on, raise your hands high, and hang on for the ride! May 2006
Glenn Astarita All About Jazz
Tenor saxophonist Frank Catalano huffs, puffs and blows the house down during these torrid jazz-rock numbers. During years of touring with the late organist Charles Earland (“The Mighty Burner”), drummer Louis Bellson and crooner Tony Bennett, the saxophonist has acquired uncanny maturity for a 27 year-old artist. He’s the primary soloist throughout these six pieces, often featuring blistering straight-four grooves and soulful overtones. With his quartet and guest artists along for the ride, Catalano’s massive sound and raucous mode of attack is energy well spent. He’s a rebel rouser via his grueling honks, squeals and fluently articulated flurries, spiced up with raspy overtones. Add his seemingly unstoppable momentum and broad jazz-based vernacular, and this is a pumped-up affair, teeming with guts, glory and plenty of chutzpah!
By Mark Corroto All About Jazz
If I were a saxophonist, I certainly would want to be Maceo Parker for a day. Frank catalano Certainly had the long-time James Brown sideman on his mind when he recorded Mighty Burner.
With three fine Delmark hard bop discs under his belt, the twenty-something Chicagoan unleashes this crowd-pleasing live session. He takes no pauses, focusing on quartet music, soloing liberally and barely pausing for a minimal drum solo by Robert Gay. The title track is a rocked-out blues that presses the accelerator continuously. Jazz snobs certainly should avoid the funky music laid down here. Catalano plays bar-walking pleasers throughout. (I think Mr. Coltrane dipped his big toe into some of this pleasure early on too.)
If Catalano weren’t a major talent on the saxophone, this guilty pleasure of an album would call for a pass. But he tosses some smart blues improvisation within the honking on “Burner’s Blues,” and the funk lays heavy on “God’s Love For Music,” with some sizzling electric keyboard and bass backing. While the disco remix tacked onto the end is very forgettable--did somebody call for a 1970s soundtrack?--the live tracks are a jazz fan's guilty pleasure.
Press Release for "Mighty Burner"
CHICAGO (April 19, 2006) – Tenor saxophonist Frank Catalano blows back to his Chicago roots with Bright Record’s release of Mighty Burner, an all-improv, all-original album recorded live at Windy City mainstays Green Mill and Edgewater Lounge clubs. Titled after the late Philadelphia soul-jazz organist Charles Earland, Mighty Burner is a high-energy jam that proves this 28-year old sax master is rocketing into his second decade of recordings with the dynamic force of a seasoned pro.
“This is where my heart and passion lie,” said Catalano, who debuted as a high schooler jamming with Earland in 1995. “Every time I played with Earland, he had this great danceable groove that I loved. That groove is what I tried to bring to Mighty Burner.”
The title track Mighty Burner is a hard-driving, up-beat tune with funky riffs. Love Bugaloo kicks back to the sounds of 60s soul jazz followed by Tuna Town, an Eddie Harris-inspired vibe with slamming melodies. Burner’s Blues is a Chicago-style 12-bar blues and God’s Love for Music is a nod to Earland with spirited, soulful organ riffs backing up Catalano’s tenor. The final track is a studio cut of the title track mixed by Maurice Joshua.
A little more about Frank:
Right place at the right time? Absolutely. Luck? Definitely. But after Frank Catalano stepped in for a no-show tenor sax during jazz organist Charles Earland’s set at Andy’s Jazz Club in Chicago (a club the then 17-year-old slick-talked his mother into taking him to that night) it wasn’t luck that made him the youngest solo artist signed to the legendary Delmark label, a tour buddy of Tony Bennett, a U.S. Patent-holding sax innovator or the youngest saxophonist ever voted into the DOWNBEAT Critics Poll.
Catalano--who bought his first sax at 12 with the money he saved mowing lawns for hot summers--a member of a small, but exclusive club: young musicians who have experienced and worked with the greatness of people like Charles Earland, Tony Bennett, Von Freeman and Randy Brecker. At only 28, Catalano remembers what music sounds like. His experience, a hard-earned musical pedigree, along with degree in classical composition from DePaul and raw, natural talent have fused together to create a saxophonist with missile-speed fingering and a unique styling that has attracted the likes of Santana, whom he toured with at the ripe age of 18. Stars like John Legend, Jennifer Lopez and Destiny’s Child have all invited Catalano to contribute on some of the top albums of the past 12 months, including Maurice Joshua’s remix of “Ordinary People.”
Luck is a funny thing…it’s been said that the harder you work, the more of it you have. At the age of 16, while messing around with the engine of a ‘72 Beetle in front of his mother’s house, Catalano severed off his right, middle finger. A career ending move? It could have been. But, after reconstructive surgery, Catalano forced his hands to relearn technique, skill and artistry. He triumphed a glistening musician and signed with Delmark to record his first solo album, “Cut it Out,” with trumpeter Ira Sullivan at only 19.
Catalano’s tinkering with machines has a more musical bent now. While recording with Ministry in 1999, Catalano was inspired by the band’s use of sampling and engineered a unique sampling keyboard attachment for the saxophone. His device was patented on Dec. 11, 2001, coincidently on the two-year anniversary of his mentor, Charles Earland’s, death.
Catalano’s performances, both live and recorded, are electric. He also can be heard on his Delmark solo albums “You Talkin’ to Me?!,” which includes a tandem tenor session with Von Freeman, and “Live at The Green Mill,” with Randy Brecker on trumpet. Over the past ten years he has appeared on disc and in person with Louie Bellson, Tito Puente, David Sanborn, Betty Carter, John Medeski and DJ Logic.
Catalano began playing the sax at 10, after a local music store held an assembly at his grammar school. He chose the saxophone because to his 5th grade eye "…it looked cool and it only cost $4.00 a week to rent." Catalano believes that children come to music for as many reasons as there are children, and he is committed to contributing to that process. A Chicago native, he volunteers for the Off the Street Club, running the after school jazz program, and is the artist in residence at College of Lake County.
He can be heard regularly at Chicago’s Green Mill. Catalano also is a spokesperson and performing artist for Yamaha and Vandoren.
If you ask Catalano when and how he knew that music and the saxophone were going to be his life, he’ll pause, then he’ll tell you, "Around 17, I guess. People kept saying that this is where I should be. I was already making a living as a sax player by then. It’s what I do." Lucky thing, for us.
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