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| Frank Comstock Puts Retirement on Hold for Brian Setzer Brian Setzer, the remarkable singer, songwriter, guitarist and bandleader, is at the top of his game on 'Wolfgang's Big Night Out, ' set for release September 25th on Surfdog Records. When Setzer decided to tackle the daunting task of reinventing and reviving several of history's greatest melodies on his new album, he tracked down Frank Comstock, the mastermind behind the arrangement of his Grammy-nominated version of the "The Nutcracker Suite." Comstock was one of the most important and inventive arrangers of instrumental music of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He wrote music for many of the era's top artists, including Doris Day, Sonny Dunham, Benny Carter and Judy Garland. Although the 84-year-old was both surprised and flattered by Setzer's proposition, he admitted that he "hadn't written a note in over 20 years and didn't think he could do it anymore." Unfazed, Setzer was determined to recruit Comstock for help on the arrangements and after an hour-long conversation, Setzer had convinced Comstock to attempt a couple of Brian's ideas. It turned out that he was a hit-writing machine who had not lost a step in all those years. Two ideas quickly evolved into seven songs. "What I love about Frank is that he was around doing this swing and big band stuff when it was edgy and dangerous", Setzer explains. "We look back at the swing era and think that it was all Glenn Miller and Guy Lombardo, but there was a real experimental and adventurous side too. That's the world that Frank came from and it comes out in his charts, including the ones he did for this new album." The creative process worked fantastically. Comstock was back in top form doing what he does best. He adapted the melodies to the big band sound of the 1940s and 50s. Then Setzer took Frank's work, added a rock and roll edge to it and voila! - thoroughly modern takes on 200 to 300-year-old songs played by an 18-piece big band! write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |