Frank Mantooth was a genius of the 20th century that most people never even knew of. People remember a Miles Davis, or a John Coltrane, or a Charlie Parker... but "people" don't remember a Frank Mantooth; and that, I assure you, is a very sad thing.

I was very fortunate, my time spent in the MTU Jazz band (despite it being a tech university) allowed me to meet/play with some amazing heroes of mine in Jazz. Bela Fleck, Victor Wooten, Wynton and Branford Marsalis. However, in february of 2003 I played with a name I had never heard before.

The Frank Mantooth quartet with guest Byron Stripling (one of the jazz masters of michigan) rolled in to town; and unlike some of the other performers we'd host, they immediately wanted to go out and hit the bar and hang with the band. We raided The Library (one of our favorite local pubs) and took it over for a good 4 hours. I feel bad for not remembering the drummers name, but Frank and Kim Park (the saxophone player) were a . . . Read More..

I remember the age of 5. That was my first day. That is to say, the day that I turned 5 was when I woke up and realized the world. I didn't know who, where, what or when I was, but I did know that I liked chocolate cake. Chocolate cake and funny hats was where it all began.