Frank Strazzeri

Frank Strazzeri Biography

Frank Strazzeri (b. April 24, 1930, Rochester, New York) is an American jazz pianist. A solid pianist long based in the Los Angeles area, Strazzeri has been in demand for straight-ahead sessions for decades. Although he originally started playing tenor and clarinet when he was 12, Strazzeri soon switched to piano. He attended the Eastman School of Music, then took a job as a house pianist in a nightclub in Rochester in 1952. While there he accompanied visiting musicians such as Roy Eldridge and Billie Holiday. He relocated to New Orleans in 1954, playing with Sharkey Bonano and Al Hirt in a Dixieland jazz setting, but his main focus since has been bebop. He played with Charlie Ventura in 1957-58 and Woody Herman in 1959. In 1960 he moved to Los Angeles. There he worked extensively as a studio musician on the West Coast jazz scene, and toured with Joe Williams, Maynard Ferguson, and Les Brown (1971-74). He has also played with Terry Gibbs, Herb Ellis, the Lighthouse All-Stars, Art Pepper, Bud Shank, Cal Tjader, Louie Bellson, and Chet Baker, in addition to working with his own trios. --Discography as Bandleader-- * That's Him and This Is New (Revelation Records, 1969) * Taurus (Revelation, 1973) * View from Within with Don Menza (Creative World, 1973) * Frames with Don Menza (Glendale Records, 1975) * After The Rain (Catalyst Records, 1976) * Straz (Catalyst Records, 1977) * Relaxin (Sea Breeze Records, 1980) * Kat Dancin (Discovery Records, 1985) * Make Me Rainbows (Fresh Sound, 1987) * I Remember You (Fresh Sound, 1989) * Little Giant (Fresh Sound, 1989) * The Very Thought of You (Discovery, 1990) * Wood Winds West (Jazz Mark, 1992) * Frank's Blues (Night Life Records, 1992) * Moon and Sand (Discovery, 1993) * Somebody Loves Me (Fresh Sound, 1994) * Nobody Else But Me (Fresh Sound, 1997) * Live in Sorgues France (Jazz Mark, 2002) * Funk and Esoteric (Fresh Sound, 2004)