About Blues For George...
No style of music has ever been more difficult to define than jazz. Perhaps this is because jazz has always cast a jaundiced eye upon anything as fixed and formal as definitions and categories. Jazz is, at its heart, an ebullient celebration of life. Whether joyous, introspective, or 'low down and dirty', jazz is perhaps the most expressive of genres, the most eloquent at conveying the full spectrum of human emotion.
Jazz is sophisticated music. Like a good whiskey, it takes a long time for a jazz musician to mature. And like a good whiskey, jazz reaches to the very soul, and reminds one that life in its full expression does not leave one unmoved.
Frank Hosford's music has evolved and matured over a span of six decades. It is a full-bodied distillation of the wisdom gained from a life well-lived. It covers a range of emotion and is expressed with a range of instrumentation. But through it all runs a common thread of craftsmanship and passion. Music flows as easily from Frank Hosford's fingers as a fine brandy flows past one's lips. And like a fine brandy, it lights a flame within the heart.
That said, this album was unlike any I've ever made: Frank would come to the studio whenever he felt like it, play something once, ask if it was good enough, and then play something else. After a few of these first and only takes, he'd go home. It was left to me to add most of the other instruments, and sometimes I didn't even know the song. But that's how he taught me to play -- he'd play whatever he wanted, and I had to figure out how to keep up. I guess it saved him the trouble of teaching me dozens of songs in advance, and forced me to develop my ear at an early age.
Frank and I were joined in this project by a good friend and excellent musician, Rich Hughes, playing both trumpet and guitar. (Lest anyone mistakenly give me credit, Rich plays solo guitar on Moonlight In Vermont, Polka Dots And Moonbeams, and the solo first chorus on The Girl From Ipanema -- I play guitar everywhere else.) Rich's performances on both instruments were like Frank's -- first takes. I guess when you're as good as they are, you don't need to do things twice.... (The two months it took to make the album are my fault -- if they'd left me out, they'd probably have had it done in two weeks....)
The album is very spontaneous as a result, and that freedom, that spontaneity, gives it an infectious quality sometimes found lacking in more rehearsed works. Not that this 'damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead' approach came at the expense of quality; just that some things can't be rehearsed, and this album is a potent reminder of that. Each song captures the moment in which it was recorded, and like all good jazz, nothing on this CD ever has been or ever will be played the same way twice.
As for a bio of Frank, I think the music says more about him than anything I could say; his years of dedication, his years of experience, are immediately evident upon listening.
This CD is dedicated to the memory of another fine musician, George Fritton, who was taken from the world much too soon. No one who knew George will ever forget him. And to those who didn't have that privilege, let me just say that this music is as much a reflection of George's joie de vivre as it is our own.
Paul Hosford
Painted Heart Music -- "Music Of The Heart"
Paul Hosford and his wife, Lori, own and operate their own record label, Painted Heart
Music, LLC, which has released 10 full-length CDs and one CD single (as of March
2003). The Hosfords have operated a small recording studio (in which Blues For George was
recorded) for 16 years, utilizing vacuum tube equipment designed and built by Paul.
Hosford plays a number of instruments besides those featured on Emergence, and has
composed over 50 musical works. In addition to operating their studio, Hosford
performs, teaches guitar, demonstrates stringed instruments in area schools, and tunes
pianos.
Hosford's primary musical influence has been his father, jazz pianist and composer Frank
Hosford, but he has been influenced by many other musicians on many instruments. His
main focus has long been on composing and recording his own music (he made his first
multi-instrumental recording at age 12), but he has performed in a number of settings.
The Hosfords invite you to visit their website (www.paintedheartmusic.com) to hear
music from their other albums and learn more about their musical undertakings.
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