Frank Catalano @ S.P.A.C.E. in Evanston, IL

FRI JUNE 2

Doors: 7:00PM

Frank Catalano Saxtet

In 2023, Legendary Saxman Frank Catalano will be touring the USA, Europe and Asia extensively as well as releasing a collection of recordings from his many performances at New York’s legendary Birdland Jazz Club. These recordings feature Herbie Hancock Headhunters alum Mike Clark and will be Franks 5th album on the Ropeadope label. Frank regularly teams up with his long-time friend and Smashing Pumpkins drummer, Jimmy Chamberlin. Forbes Magazine profiled Frank for his performances with The Violent Femmes including Riot Fest and Brooklyn Steel. A documentary was made about Frank by Belgian director Colin Donner. The film is titled Sugar Jazz and will premiere at the Tokyo Liftoff Film Festival. Tokyo #9 debuted at #1 on the Billboard Traditional Jazz Charts, has garnered millions of streams and topped the Spotify and Apple Music playlists. Love Supreme Collective debuted at #1 on the iTunes Jazz Charts and honors John Coltrane. Frank recorded Bye, Bye, Blackbird with David Sanborn and teamed up with Jimmy Chamberlin of The Smashing Pumpkins to release Gods Gonna Cut You Down. Franks Savoy/Columbia recording Bang! debuted at #12 on the Billboard Jazz Charts, while his recording, Mighty Burner was on the Billboard Charts for 20 straight weeks. When Frank was 18, he signed to Delmark Records and did a string of critically acclaimed recordings with Randy Brecker, Von Freeman, Ira Sullivan, Willie Pickens and Paul Wertico amongst others. Franks co-led album with Von Freeman, You Talking To Me, has become a cult classic. Catalano is the only known saxman to have performed with Miles Davis, Charles Earland, Elvin Jones, Junior Wells, Randy Brecker, Stan Getz, Betty Carter, Tito Puente, Tony Bennett, Les Claypool, and Louis Bellson while still in high school! Frank has been profiled by countless media including: The New York Times, Forbes, Downbeat, CMJ, JazzIz, Jazz Times, NPR, PBS, Chicago Tribune, Huffington Post, etc. As a sideman, Catalano has been heard by millions of people thanks to his collaborations with Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce, Maurice Joshua, Destiny’s Child, John Legend, Tony Bennett, Seal, and others.

Signed to Chicago’s Delmark Records as a teenaged-native-son-protégé of Von Freeman, the now 41-year-old Frank Catalano has become a distinctive improviser, prolific composer, patented inventor, brand ambassador, and unparalleled collector of vintage saxophones. With his distinctive voices, both in speech and on saxophone, Frank exudes infectious enthusiasm. He has been described as a traveling locus of creative energy — seemingly interested in, and good at everything.Frank’s early professional career was marked by an accident in which the middle finger of his right hand was severed then reattached. He had to re-learn the saxophone, sparking a stylistic expansion from his Chicago-school roots to being featured in bands across the jazz and pop spectrum on recordings by Jennifer Lopez, Destiny’s Child, John Legend, and Seal.After stints recording for Savoy Records and producing records for Columbia, Frank landed at Rope-a-dope where his four Billboard Jazz Chart topping recordings featured jazz-playing rock stars including drummer Jimmy Chamberlain from the Smashing Pumpkins and saxophonist David Sanborn.

In 2023, Legendary Saxman Frank Catalano will be touring the USA, Europe and Asia extensively as well as releasing a collection of recordings from his many performances at New York’s legendary Birdland Jazz Club. These recordings feature Herbie Hancock Headhunters alum Mike Clark and will be Frank’s 5th album on the Ropeadope label.

Frank Catalano – Cut It Out!?!
Delmark DE 501
Compact Disc (2009)

Jazz legend Louie Bellson said in his notes to this CD, “Having just performed 12 shows with Frank in Chicago, I can honestly say that I feel he is one of the greatest saxophonists on the planet! There is no question in my mind that Frank catalano will follow in the footsteps of the masters like Charlie Parker and John Coltrane and push the boundaries of jazz where they have never been before.” The self-taught, 19 year old, bebop tenor saxophonist is also accompanied by Willie Pickens, Brian Sandstrom and Robert Shy.

https://delmark.com/product/525/

Von Freeman & Frank Catalano – You Talkin’ To Me?!
Delmark DE 525
Compact Disc (2000)

Last year Delmark issued the tenor sax tandem of Von Freeman & Ed Petersen on Von & Ed (Delmark 508). Here’s another locking of horns, this time with Von and Frank Catalano. In all the years that Von Freeman has been conducting jam sessions at Chicago’s Apartment Lounge, not too many young suburban white kids have walked through the door looking for a shot to jam with the master. Frank did and made quite an impression on Von. Years later, the tenorists teamed up for an afternoon set at the 1999 Chicago Jazz Festival, where their chemistry was evident from their first notes. In the studio, they picked up where they left off, building on the distinctive harmonies produced by Catalano’s flinty sheets of sound and Freeman’s voluble, thickly intoned notes. Catalano and Freeman strike a heady balance between ripping changes and deep sighing emotion.