Music Review from the Los Angeles Times, 1991 by Zan Stewart
Guitarist Frank
Potenza gives his music a name you don't hear everyday. He calls it R
& Be-bop.
"My recent
career and my four albums for TBA Records have been based on taking
original tunes that are R&B-based, or classics of that genre like [Marvin
Gaye's] 'What's Goin' On?' basically using that rhythmic feel over which
I solo in my style, which comes out of be-bop," the native of Providence,
R.I., said in a recent interview.
So my stuff
kind of winds up sounding like R & B and rock meets be-bop, with a lot
of other influences that I find interesting," said Potenza.
Potenza...
says that the strongest of those influences is Latin music, which extends
to Brazilian sounds. "My interest goes way back, to my hometown,...but
when I arrived here [Los Angeles area], I really became involved. There's
so much Latin music, both live and on the radio, in the Los Angeles
area that you don't have to try hard to find it." Potenza said that
while the Latin vein hasn't always been apparent in his music, particularly
on his latest album, it is always revealed in his live dates.
Since he
comes from a be-bop orientation, which is represented by such guitar
influences as Wes Montgomery and Pat Martino, it's natural that another
major aspect of Potenza's artistry is his fondness for straight-ahead
playing, which is another way of saying "acoustic-based mainstream jazz"
or "be-bop."
Again, many
of his listeners may not recognize this side of him, he said. "I was
playing straight-ahead before I came to California, and then the opportunity
came up for me in the mid-'80s to make R & B-based records. . . Those
are what most people know me for, and perhaps [they] think I play that
style to the exclusion of any other."
Not true,
he insisted. "My book has a lot of straight-ahead tunes in it," he said.
"As far as stretching out and really getting into a tune, that's where
I feel the most comfortable."
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