The Stinger (feat. Alvon Johnson)

#152 in the Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumental Series, The Stinger, features a real deal, modern-day Bluesman, Alvon Johnson. Alvon is better known in parts of the world that cherish the blues as a still-breathing, vital, artform. He is constantly on the road, touring internationally to Hungary, Portugal, Poland, Malaysia, China, France, Italy, Japan, Singapore, New Zealand, Europe, Canada, The Bahamas, Australia, Russia, and the African continent. Alvon has sung with The Drifters, The Coasters, and The Shirelles and even backed comedienne, Aunt Esther! He proudly wears the moniker, Ambassador of the Blues, and we are lucky to have him residing just up the road in Vallejo, and even more lucky to have him come over with his Les Paul and tear this track up. Enjoy!
 

The backing band on this track is Rich Kirch (John Lee Hooker 1984-2001) on rhythm guitar, Alvino Bennett (Dave Mason, Stevie Wonder) on drums, and myself on bass. The basics were recorded at Skunkworks in Capitola CA. Mellifluously mixed and mastered by the infamous F-Bomb.

Blues A Go Go (feat. Josh Smith)

#151 in the Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumental Series, Blues A Go Go, features the virtuosic guitarisms of Josh Smith. I believe "mad skills" and "sick" are two terms that are often correctly associated with Josh. Not only is he a badass guitarist, Josh is also a talented singer, songwriter, and producer. He owns Flat V Studios in Los Angeles and has produced artists such as Reese Wynans, Eric Gales, Joanna Conner, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Artur Menezes, and more. The cat backed Mick Jagger and Raphael Saadiq at the Grammy Awards and has traveled the world, recording and performing with renowned artists such as Joe Bonamassa, Eric Johnson, Andy Timmons, and Kirk Fletcher. Somewhere in between all that, Josh was generous enough to blow on this track. Enjoy!
 

The backing band on this track is Rich Kirch (John Lee Hooker 1984-2001) on rhythm guitar, Andrew "the kid" Guterman (Rick Estrin) on drums, and myself on bass. The track was recorded at Skunkworks in Capitola CA. The Grammy-winning and very bearded, Rob Schnapf (Beck, Booker T., Mavis Staples) brings the mixing magic. And as almost always, masterful mastering by Alex McCollough at True East Mastering.

Soul Etouffee (feat. Will Bernard, Derrek Phillips & Frank Swart)

We resume the Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumental Series with release #150!, Soul Étouffée, featuring Berkeley, CA native and Brooklyn, NYC transplant, guitarist/composer/bandleader, WILL BERNARD.
Will seems to be everywhere at all once when it comes to music making. He was in Peter Apfelbaum’s Hieroglyphics in the '80's including the record “Multikulti” with Don Cherry. In the '90's, Will was a founder of the pioneering Acid Jazz group, T.J. Kirk (with Charlie Hunter), a member of Jai Uttal, and a member of the Stanton Moore Trio. Then in the 00's he ventured into bandleading with several critically acclaimed releases including Party Hats which earned him a 2008 Grammy nomination for best contemporary jazz album. Since then, wherever there's funk/jazz jamming going on...whether it's in a hip NYC Jazz club, JazzFest, Monterey Jazz, Bumbershoot, North Sea, High Sierra with cats like Medeski, George Porter, Scofield, and so on...Will is there. His most recent endeavor is an album and tour with another San Francisco heavy, clarinetist Beth Custer entitled Sky. Please enjoy Will here on this funky little number. Bon appétit!
 

The backing band on this track is Oakland Born/Nashville residing, funky AF, Derrek Phillips, (Gloria Gaynor, Robben Ford, Charlie Hunter) on drums, and myself on rhythm guitar and bass. The track was recorded at NTA, South San Francisco, The Phamily Room, Nashville TN, and Will's studio in Brooklyn, NY. Mellifluously mixed and mastered by the infamous F-Bomb.

The Reward (feat. John Deaderick, Mai Bloomfield, David D.R. Robbins, Th...

The fourth single from Soundtrack For A Film Without Pictures, The Reward, is an excellent example of what can happen when you put the right players in "the room" and just let them do their thing. This track is really the Funkwrench Blues All-Stars, my dear friend and emotionally astute musician, John Deaderick, on all kinds of keys, another incredibly tuned-in and brilliant musician, cellist, Mai Bloomfield elevating my simple sketch of a melody to something otherworldly, my partner in crime and Junk/post junk Brother, David DR Robbins on bari sax and flute in an incredibly supportive and sympathetic role and last but not least the inimitable force known as Thomas Pridgen pumping the bellows on the drum kit. This is the point in the film where the hero gets the knowing and is about to embark on their return to share what they have learned. I hope it touches you. This song was also inspired by Andrew Hill's Illusion (Alternate Take), if you aren't familiar with it, check it out and let me know what you think. We will be resuming the Badass Blues Instrumental Series in two weeks with a wonderfully funky track featuring Will Bernard so, stand by for that. And in the meanwhile....

The Meeting (feat. George Garzone, Simone Pannozzo & Frank Swart)

Continuing the interruption of the Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumental Series to introduce the third single from Soundtrack For A Film Without Pictures, The Meeting, featuring the great George Garzone. Jazz knowers know George (and his band the Fringe) but perhaps because he has dedicated his life to being an educator at Berklee for the better part of 50 years he is less well known than some of his contemporaries. He is absolutely one of the heaviest of cats roaming the planet. I remember taking George's ear training class at Berklee in 1981 and being completely awestruck at how George could correctly and effortlessly identify all the notes in a ten-note cluster on the piano. I never would have dreamt that George would someday play on one of my tracks and yet, here we are. Listen to how George dances on the edges of time and space; it's absolutely stunning! This brings me immense joy and I hope it brings you joy as well.

George Garzone - Saxophone
Simone Pannozzo - Drums
yours truly on Bass and Guitar

The Approach (feat. Bill Evans, Scott Amendola & Frank Swart)

We are pausing the Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumental Series for the next couple of months to release a few more singles from Soundtrack For A Film Without Pictures. The Series will return in mid-September with a super funky little number featuring Will Bernard, so please stay tuned. In the meanwhile, the second single is The Approach featuring the legendary and brilliant Bill Evans on Soprano Saxophone. As most of you probably know, Bill is a Miles Davis alumni. He began playing with Miles at 21 years of age on Man With a Horn and continued for the next six albums. Bill has also played with Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, Willie Nelson, Mick Jagger, Les McCann, Randy Brecker & and The Allman Brothers Band. I was fortunate to see and hear Bill play with Miles at his "comeback" gig at Kixx in Boston in the Summer of 1981. A portion of those gigs were immortalized on the We Want Miles record including the iconic tune Jean Pierre. Seeing that band changed my life and to have both Bill and Mike Stern play on my tracks seemed an impossible dream. However, here we are forty years later and well, I guess dreams do sometimes come true!

We've been getting some very positive press and radio on the record and I have to share this quote from Chris May (All About Jazz) with you: "The album also features cameo performances from an A-list roster of guest artists including saxophonists Gary Bartz, Dave Liebman, Bill Evans, George Garzone and Idris Ackamoor. It is probably no coincidence that three of these gents are alumni of Miles Davis' electric bands, for Soundtrack For A Film Without Pictures sounds like a modern-day recalibration of the sort of music Davis was making in the early 1970s. And Swart does it with more panache than, most of the time, did Davis." Yes, he did say that! Here's the link to the whole review. I'm not sure who's going to get struck by lightning me or Chris but I am flattered.

Okay, I hope you will all spread the word about the record and continue to support it so I can make another one sooner than later (I already have the idea in mind). And if you haven't checked it out well, now's your chance!

Also, a very special shout-out and thank you to drummer man and friend, Scott Amendola (Nels Cline, Charlie Hunter) for absolutely killing it on this track. 

Circles (feat. Seth Lee Jones)

#148 in the Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumental Series, CIRCLES, features the super stylized sliding of multi-instrumentalist, composer and luthier, SETH LEE JONES. You can hear the Tulsa in his playing. It's slinky and sneaky and badass without being egotistical. Seth grew up in the church playing music with his dad and grandpa. Recognizing his gift, at sixteen they shipped him off to LA to study at the Musicians Institute. After acquiring the knowing and realizing that the politics of the music biz was not his cup of tea he headed back to Tulsa establishing SLJ Guitars his guitar-repair/guitar-building workshop and happily gigging locally, fronting the Seth Lee Jones Band. He recently released a record called Flathead and if you like Sonny Landreth, Ry Cooder, Chris Whitley, Billy Gibbons, etc...you gotta check it out. In the meanwhile, please enjoy this bluesy little waltz we've cooked up for ya. Enjoy!
 

The backing band on this track is Rich Kirch (John Lee Hooker 1984-2001) on rhythm guitar, Alvino Bennett (Dave Mason, Stevie Wonder) on drums, and myself on bass. The track was recorded at Skunkworks in Capitola CA and Jared Tyler's studio in Tulsa. Mixed by the Grammy-winning Godfather of Grunge, Jack Endino (Nirvana, Nando Reis), and masterfully mastered by Alex McCollough at True East Mastering. 

Soundtrack For A Film Without Pictures

We interrupt the Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumental Series to announce the release of Soundtrack For A Film Without Pictures. After a lifetime of sidemanning, co-this'ing and co-that'ing I've decided to stick my neck out there ALL the way. And, as any smart leader will do, surrounded myself with some of the most brilliant musicians I could ever dream of making music with and then spent the last several years building what became the Soundtrack For A Film Without Pictures. Scott Yanow, the esteemed music journalist, and historian wrote the bio/blurb for this project so instead of me uncomfortably tooting my own horn I'm gonna let you all read it here: From there you can also get to Bandcamp to acquire the digital download of the whole record or even purchase a physical CD! (How many of you still have cd players?) We're also hoping to run vinyl if the interest is there. So please, ENJOY, let me know what you think, and accept my gratitude for your support.

Funkwrench Blues - Soundtrack For A Film Without Pictures
Produced By Frank Swart & Brian Brinkerhoff
Mixed by Frank Swart except The Crossing mixed by Kid Andersen
Mastered by Justin Weis at Trakworx
All Songs Written by Frank Swart (Funkwrench Music BMI) except The Life & The Resurrection written by Frank Swart & David Robbins
Titles inspired by Joseph Campbell's Monomyth
All compositions exclusively administered by Chittenden Music BMI

Cast in order of appearance:

Frank Swart - Bass, Guitars (trks1-13) Drums (trk 13)
David DR Robbins - Saxophone & Flute (tks1,6,9,11,12&13)
Thomas Pridgen - Drums (trks1&9)
Gary Bartz - Saxophone (trk2)
Derrek Phillips - Drums (trk2)
Evan Hatfield - Sitar (trk3)
Christopher Hoffman - Cellos (trk3,12,13)
Max Weissenfeldt - Drums (trk3)
George Garzone - Saxophone (trk4)
Simone Pannozzo - Drums (trk4&12)
Warren Wolf - Vibes (trk5)
Scott Amendola - Drums (trk5&7)
Chris West - Bass Clarinet (trk6)
Greg Stephens - Trombone (trk6)
Aaron Priskorn - Trumpet (trk6)
George Hearst - Drums (trk6)
Mike Clark - Drums (trks6&11)
Bill Evans - Saxophone (trk7)
Idris Ackamoor - Saxophone (trk8)
Tony Price - Percussion (trk8)
Mai Bloomfield - Cello (trk9)
John Deaderick - Piano (trk9)
Dave Liebman - Saxophone (trk10)
Andrew Guterman - Drums (trk10)

Organ Grinder (feat. Chief Keegan)

#148 in the Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumental Series, ORGAN GRINDER, features the fabulously funky jazz stylings of LUKE DUNFORD on the Hammond organ. Luke is a founding member of the Irish Funk band Chief Keegan. "Irish Funk band”?, you say. Hey, the Average White Band was from Scotland, right? Luke credits Dr. John, Jon Cleary, Vulfpeck, and The Meters as his biggest influences and I'm hearing some Larry Young in there, too. In their short existence, Chief Keegan has already played Knockanstockan, Bray Jazz Festival, and The Cork Jazz Festival as well as selling out their local Dublin shows. Luke and his Chief Keegan bandmates are amongst the most in-demand touring and studio musicians in Ireland, playing with Sharon Shannon, Mary Coughlan, Frances Black, The RTE Concert Orchestra, and many others. Chief Keegan will be releasing a new album in early 2024 that includes such guests as NOLA trombone legend Big Sam (NTK#138) and sax player Ron Holloway amongst others. I'm really glad Brian "discovered" these cats because this track was a blast. Give a listen, check out the Chief, and enjoy!

The backing band on this track is Oakland Born/Nashville residing, groovin' AF, Derrek Phillips, (Gloria Gaynor, Robben Ford, Charlie Hunter) on drums, and myself on rhythm guitar and bass. The track was recorded at NTA, South San Francisco, The Phamily Room, Nashville TN, and Chief Keegan's studio in Dublin. Mellifluously mixed and mastered by the infamous F-Bomb. 

Fonky Tonk (feat. Daniel Donato)

#147 in the Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumental Series, FONKY TONK, features the hot-shot whipper-snapper DANIEL DONATO on the electric guitar. I first became aware of Daniel in 2012 (maybe?), when he replaced JD Simo on the Don Kelley gig at Robert's Western World. I think he was 16 at the time! As is commonly known, Don is the John Mayall of Nashville, "discovering" and employing an uncanny number of THE Nashville cats, like; Johnny Hiland, Red Volkaert, Brent Mason, Kenny Vaughan, Guthrie Trapp, JD Simo, and of course, Daniel. Well here we are 10+ years later and Daniel has his own career, recording and touring his butt off with his aptly named band Cosmic Country. I love the spirit of generosity in the Nashville music community where even though musicians are competing for gigs, they are also totally willing to help each other whenever possible. Here is a perfect example of that generosity. Enjoy!

The backing band on this track is Rich Kirch (John Lee Hooker 1984-2001) on rhythm guitar, Alvino Bennett (Dave Mason, Stevie Wonder) on drums, myself on bass and a very special guest, the Grammy-winning percussionist, Christian Pepin, on congas. The basics were recorded at Skunkworks in Capitola CA with additional tracking at NTA, South San Francisco, and Daniel's place in Nashville. Mixing and Mastering duties were handled by the infamous F-Bomb.

The L (feat. Toronzo Cannon)

#146 in the Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumental Series, The L, features Chicago's bus drivin' badass, Toronzo Cannon. Okay, I'm just going to start with the pronouncement/confession/statement of the obvious, we LOVE the Band of Gypsys. Now that I've got that out of the way, let's talk Toronzo Cannon. Growing up just outside of the notorious Robert Taylor Homes housing project on the South Side of Chicago in the 1970's and just blocks from Theresa's Lounge, the local blues bar of legend, Toronzo soaked up the sounds of the blues that would eventually come raining out of him. He was too young to enter so he'd stand outside of Theresa's and listen to legends, like Junior Wells & Buddy Guy. A relatively late bloomer, Toronzo got his first guitar at 22 years of age and originally gravitated toward Reggae. But Toronzo's calling to the blues was almost preordained, as was his rise to the top of the Chicago scene, just like the legends that he stood outside of Theresa's and listened to years before. Spending the '80's and '90's as a hired-gun/sideman Toronzo went solo in 2001, he's released five albums to date and has played everywhere from Albania to Japan to South Africa to Winnetka. PBS Television's Chicago Tonight sums it up like this: "Cannon is just your typical CTA bus driver who moonlights as a sought-after Chicago blues musician. As a guitarist, singer, and songwriter, he drives the sound of Chicago blues from the city to blues clubs and festivals around the world."  Please enjoy this chuggin' little number and please go see Toronzo when he comes through your town.

The backing band on this track is Oakland Born/Nashville residing, groovin' AF, Derrek Phillips, (Gloria Gaynor, Robben Ford, Charlie Hunter) on drums, and myself on rhythm guitar and bass. The track was recorded at NTA, South San Francisco, The Phamily Room, Nashville TN, and Blaise Barton's JoyRide studio in Chicago. Mellifluously mixed and mastered by the infamous F-Bomb. A very special thanks to Alligator Records' Bruce Iglauer for blessings and facilitations.