Meet Ric Frank | Multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, visual artist, educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ric Frank and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ric, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
After having been a sideman for many years I started to compose my own music. At this point I decided to start my own band as a vehicle for my compositions. This allowed me to persue my creative vision which has been like Pablo Casals’ book “The Agony and the Ecstacy” as well as very rewarding.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My artistic/creative journey has been through independent studies and not the tradtional higher education path such as univerisity degree. I’ve had the great opportunies to study with some of the greatest teachers who were also great performers. Due to seranditous meetings I’ve been fortunate to connect with great musicians and artists that were also wonderful people. Many of these people helped me along the way providing connections that have helped my career and given me knowlege of the music industry unlike what many have obtained from attending universities and conservatories. There’s an African saying, ” You need to know where you’re coming from to know where you’re going to”. I took that and applied it to Jazz, blues, rock, and Latin music. Through the Van Horne Grants for Excellence in Teaching, a program of the Collegiate School for Boys in NYC I was able to persue research in the Georgia Sea Islands. New Orleans, and Cuba to find the origins and inner workings of Jazz, Blues, Rock, Latin, and AfroCuban music. This has given me a unique knowlege that I have utilized to produce my own personal sound. The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and The Collegiate School for Boys provided an outlet for writing songs for young children.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take them to New York City for the art museums for 4 days spending a day each at the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum, the Whitney Museum, and the Guggenheim Museum. The we would go to New Orleans during Carnival/Mardi Gras and go to the parades. We’d eat at The Pelican Club, Superior Seafood, Riccabono’s Panola Street Cafe, Commander’s Palace, Casamentos, Domelise’s Po’boy, For entertainment we would go to Tipitinas, Preservation Hall, D.B.A, Snug Harbor and other clubs on Frenchmen Street. That’s just the tip of the iceberg as far as what to do in New Orleans, I don’t think that 3 days in New Orleans would be any where enough to eat at all the great restaurants and hear all the great music but you said only a week long trip.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
First of all I want to shoutout to my parents that were always supportive of my creative pursuits. There a a few teachers and colleagues that deserve special recognition: Bert Wilson, Diane Gilley, Frank Foster, Steve Grossman, Judith Lampariello, Michael Packer, Shana Sear-Gaskill, James Kirk, Luis Disla, Steve Tintweiss, Larry Baeder, Paul Bley, Carol Goss,Judith Thomas, The Collegiate School for Boys.

Website: www.ricfrankmusic.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jambalayabrass/?hl=en-gb, https://www.facebook.com/timestrio

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ric-frank-a47a3b21/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jambalayabrassband

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz-qKB-dDCtdwfJHf3Kc5AQ

Image Credits
Photo of me playing saxophone – Solwazi Afi Olusola Photo of Jambalaya Brass Band – Dave Silbert Times Trio – Catherine Coppola Early Childhood class – Alexandra Vasallo