Seattle Subsonic

Once upon a time…when I was drunk in Chicago

May 9th, 2008

Why hello there. Isn’t this a fancy new site?

Strangely enough my first post on this brand spankin’ new Seattle Subsonic site is not going to have anything to do with local music. But hey, this is a music blog right? I can write about any type of music I want. So there.

Ok I’ll explain … I was in Chicago last month for a trade show and the number one thing on my list was to get liquored up at the Green Mill, a newly remodeled speakeasy/jazz club from the early 20th century that has seen countless legends perform and was once frequented by Al Capone himself (pretty cool huh?), and listen to some damn good music.

Well, priority number one was to get boozed, so we grabbed a booth and I proceeded to order numerous Jameson’s and enjoy the fantastic jazz from a distance. After a few hours of libations and solving the worlds problems a new group took the stage that rocked my proverbial socks off. I grabbed my drink and moved straight to the front, because by this time it was 2am and people were starting to leave (most of Chicago’s bars stay open til 5am…awesome).

So, who was this awe inspiring group I speak of?

The group was lead by Chicago’s own Frank Catalano, and backing him up was a sextet of some truly gifted musicians. Frank is a 27 year old saxophone player that toured with the likes of Tito Puente and Tony Bennett as a teenager, and has since collaborated with Herbie Hancock, John Legend, Kanye West and J-LO. Dude is crazy good and his band was equally impressive. After listening to them rock the spot til around 4am I stumbled up drunkenly and showered them with praise.

Not sure they really cared what I had to say since I was pretty shit canned by this point (hey, it was 4am!), but I handed out my card like the professional I am and he was kind enough to give me a free copy of his CD “Mighty Burner.”

It did not disappoint. The album was recorded live at the Green Mill and is pure Jazz/Soul/Funk to its core. I highly recommend it to all who enjoy these genres even the slightest bit. It captures the vibe I got while watching them live quite nicely and there isn’t a bad track in the bunch.

So to end this post that has absolutely nothing to do with Seattle or its music scene I leave you with a youtube vid of Frank Catalano and the Sextet performing the title track “Mighty Burner” at the Green Mill.
Frank Catalano and the Sextet – Mighty Burner