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| Jambalaya Brass Band Founder/Leader Ric Frank Honored as 'Dayton Original' Native of Dayton, Ohio and leader and founder of the Jambalaya Brass Band (www.jambalayabrassband.com) based in New York City, Ric Frank has been honored as a "Dayton Original" by the city of Dayton. The city of Dayton's new "Dayton Patented Originals Wanted" branding campaign is to highlight the many city originals that have contributed to shaping Dayton and its future. The campaign was created in order to tell the city's story by highlighting and honoring individuals, companies, organizations, landmarks, inventions or initiatives of note and is based on Dayton's tradition of innovation and originality. Ric Frank's Jambalaya Brass Band has released two very successful CDs, their latest, On the Funky Side and their debut release, It's a Jungle Out There. Both CDs resulted in heavy broadcast radio rotation nationwide, as well as countless national and worldwide Internet radio stations, and charted in the top five of the CMJ Charts and on The Roots Music Report. Also, It's a Jungle Out There charted on the Cashbox Charts, and On the Funky Side charted in the top 100 on the Jazz Week Charts. Jambalaya Brass Band is the ultimate New Orleans party band that plays with style and gusto, and in live performances they're a flat-out celebration. " Jambalaya could stand side-by-side with . . . any New Orleans brass band in terms of sheer exuberance and energy . . . a party from start to finish."-Henry Smith for All About Jazz Ric Frank was born on October 9, 1951, and grew up in Dayton View surrounded by music and art. His father was one of the founding owners of the Arrow Wine Stores and his mother taught in the Dayton public school system.Both his mother and Aunt Phyllis Katz played the piano, and his Uncle was Dr. Paul Katz, the founder and conductor of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. His Aunt and Uncle, Ruth and Herb Tepping, both artists, owned the Tepping Studio Supply Company. Ric started to play the flute in the third grade and quickly became the first chair flutist in the Jefferson Elementary School orchestra. He went on to play in the Colonel White High School marching and concert bands. At college Ric became a featured soloist in the Ohio University jazz band. He has since expanded his arsenal of instruments to include clarinet, recorders, saxophones, percussion, piano and guitar. Ric continued his studies with such greats as Julius Baker, Samuel Baron, Frank Foster, Jamey Aebersold, Jeremy Steig, and Lenny Pickett to name but a few. He has performed and/or recorded with an eclectic roster of musicians including the American Renaissance Theatre Chamber Ensemble and the Duke Ellington Orchestra, as well as countless others, including his own band, the Jambalaya Brass Band. Ric is also a renowned early childhood music educator. He designed, developed and directed an innovative early childhood music and movement program at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. He has written over 200 songs for young children and was the recipient of the Champions for Children, Education Leader award from the New York State Association for the Education of Young Children. He currently teaches at the Collegiate School for Boys, founded in 1628, in New York City. In addition to his musical talents, Ric is an accomplished artist. He has been in group shows at the Keane-Mason Gallery in New York City, had a solo show at the Figaro Café in Greenwich Village, and was commissioned by the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and the Church of St. John the Evangelist in New York. And as if all this were not enough, this Dayton Original designed and illustrated two CD covers for his group, Jambalaya Brass Band. write your comments about the article :: © 2014 Jazz News :: home page |