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 blast. And when we were done with the bar, they didn't want to just go cack... they wanted to go play.
They were off of a 5 hour flight, filled with drinks and they wanted to go jam with us. You'll have to trust me when I say that this isn't common behavior; but we welcomed it and it was an amazing evening. Going into the jam session I had no idea what to expect, after all, I had never heard of Frank Mantooth before. He was.... phenomenal. Not for his dexterity or pure, raw skill, but for the way his brain worked. The concepts he'd lay down on the keys were... fascinating.
Even more amazing was the way he worked with everyone else; even us, people he had never met before. Now, it's to be expected for a professional jazz player to be able to match, follow along with what you're doing, etc, etc. but.... well, if I were to try and go into more detail, I wouldn't do the man justice. He was a genius.
I've said "was" enough times that I should mention that the man passed away in January 2004, of a heart attack at the age of 57. I've always been rather accustomed to death and dying, but when I found out Frank was dead, I still cried.
I have a lot of memories about the time he was in Houghton playing with us (including at least 1 other I'll have to post concerning the comedy of a drunken saxophone player by the name of Kim Park on stage) that I almost feel defeated as I try to write it down in 1 page. To finish, I'll share a song that he and Byron sang together the night of the concert that I still hum/sing today... Centerpiece, arranged perfectly by Frank Mantooth. (Suppose it doesn't mean much to anybody reading this, since the words themselves aren't by Frank and they can't hear the way it's sung... but it still means a lot to me) I sang this to my wife when I proposed to her.
The more I'm with you pretty baby,
The more I feel my love increase
I'm building all my dreams around you
Our happiness will never cease
'Cause nothing's any good without you
Since baby you're my centerpiece
We'll find a house and garden somewhere
Along a country road a piece
A little cottage on the outskirts
Where we can really find release
'Cause nothing's any good without you
'Cause baby you're my centerpiece
