Frankie V: One Smooth Dude

Frankie V is a large, round and smooth man with a large, round and smooth sound. Clad in a warm-up jacket and black cords, this soft-spoken flugelhornist and trumpeter could have been mistaken for your typical garage-collection suburbanite jazz aficionado—that is, until he put mouth to valve and sang out the mournful melody of Wayne Shorter’s “Footsteps.” From then on, the lyrical and deep sound of his horn reinvented the familiar tune, revealing and reveling in an inner sadness too often missed by breezy tenor saxophonists. From there it was on to the equally thoughtful “Another Star” by Stevie Wonder, whose ascending melody neatly complimented the falling cadences of “Footsteps.” As if to convince the audience that the tune had an intrinsic beauty separate from his sweet interpretation, he had the reluctant crowd sing it back in response; and on the fourth try they nearly got it right—but then he got it better.

After this smooth opening, Frankie switched instruments and tempos, kicking into sizzling Latin mode with a cut from his new album A.S., dedicated to Arturo Sandoval. Here the rhythm section began to show its chops. The percussionists (drum and conga players) performed a rocking and driving solo that got the previously staid audience vibrating in their seats. The pianist—playing on a Yamaha with a sound as bright as its polished finish—thumped out a series of chromatic arpeggios that got the audience pumping. But the peak was naturally Frankie’s sharp and tuneful playing that served to spike the cocktail and got the audience dancing. Not letting the pace lag, they moved into the universal funk favorite, Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon.” Here the other half of the rhythm section came to the fore. The bassist punched out the pentatonic riff in swift staccato beats; the guitarist wailed out a crackling solo that was perfectly punctuated by the pianist’s driving accompaniment; and again Frankie brought the tune to its climax with his fierce trumpet chops.

Nowhere to go from there but mellow, they decelerated into “Slow Ride” (the title cut from the new album) which Frankie played with a personal and meditative air, descending from the bandstand and playing among the tables, each time with a slightly different nuance. After shaking everyone’s hand with a hardy and humble “Nice to meet you, I’m Frankie V,” he retook center stage and the band gelled with their keystone back in place, listening to the tune one last time.

music

Frankie V

Ryles Jazz Club

Feb. 8th