Frank's Tune

Continued explorations of the composition by Frank Strozier.

To say that the former all-jazz radio station KJAZ in Alameda, California had an influence on my development as a musician is an understatement. Until its untimely closure, it was a continuous source of music that I would not have been otherwise exposed to.

The 1970s weren’t an especially good period during which a developing musician could find qualified instructors here, in the Bay Area. Accordingly, there were those of us who became autodidacts, by necessity. If a musician truly values something, they will pursue it.

The KJAZ broadcasters Phil and Sandra Brooks, especially, intoduced me to the referenced piece, which I first heard in 1976. It appears on Jack Wilson’s “Easterly Winds”, on Blue Note. Ahmad Jamal also recorded it for Impulse; see “At The Top: Poinciana Revisited, Live At The Village Gate”, from 1968.

I’ve never been one to wait around for commercial sheet music publications. It was decades before a comprehensive Monk anthology was finally published, so I got into the practice of transcription, direct from original source recordings.

Here are two current performances of Frank’s Tune that are based on my original transcriptions. The primary reference is Ahmad Jamal.

Comparing the two, you might discern the nuances; the ingenious chromatic harmonies that are superimposed on the underlying form. They’re a microcosm of Ahmad’s practices from the period. The Village Gate session features a crack rhythm section with Jamil Nasser and Frank Gant. I’m pressed to find a group in the Bay Area that can pull off these effects.

Thanks for listening!