7-10p | $12
frankpuzzullo.com
Featuring Frank Puzzullo on piano, Mark Buselli on trumpet, Andy Fusco on saxophone, Bob Bowman on bass, and Joel Spencer on drums.
“Puzzullo’s album is keeping the flame alive with his cooking take-no-prisoners quintet… Buselli’s playing is relaxed and flowing, and Fusco’s alto sax complements Puzzullo’s hard, swinging bebop lines.
Bob Bowman’s bass and Joel Spencer’s drums have driving swing and bop accents that propel the quintet to a high level. Opening track “You Do” is a freewheeling bebop romp that sets the tone for the whole record. Puzzullo’s solo shows his reflective and sensitive side on the ballad ‘Spring is Here’.”
-Chuck Workman, NUVO
about Frank…
Frank Puzzullo is a jazz pianist, composer and jazz educator. His most recent album was recorded in 2011, and consisted of original compositions by Frank.
Puzzullo, a native of Syracuse, NY, was a youth when upstate New York was a hot bed for jazz. After high school, he played semi-pro baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals’ farm team, and worked in the off season as a pianist accompanying the big name entertainment that came to Syracuse. He worked with Chuck Mangione, Woody Herman and Buddy Rich, then went on to complete undergraduate and master’s degrees in music education from Murray State University in Kentucky.
In the 1970s he headed to New Orleans where he was pianist with the Al Belletto Band, performing regularly at the Playboy Club. He also performed with Al Hirt and recorded with Pete Fountain. Loyola University in New Orleans asked Puzzullo to head its jazz department, where he developed its Jazz Study Major. He then went to the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and developed its Jazz Study Major.
For 23 years, Puzzullo appeared in the New Orleans Jazz Festival and headlined various jazz festivals. Some of the artists he has performed with include Ira Sullivan, John Faddis, and Dizzy Gillespie. He also performed with Al Hirt at the New Orleans World’s Fair.
In the last decade he has performed with artists such as Chuck Mangione, Red Holloway, James Moody, James Spaulding, Bob Mintzer, Marvin Stamn, Alex Sipiagin, Bob Sheppard, Billy Drummond, and Rufus Reid.
From 1982 to 2011 Puzzullo was Associate Professor of Music Education (Jazz Studies) at Ball State University in Muncie, IN. He developed the school’s jazz minor. He also developed an “Art of Jazz” Series where numerous artist are presented in concert.