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When my neighbor left his jazz
collection with me in 1959, one of the 7-inch EP's ("extended
play" -- for you youngsters, 12-inch LP's had not been invented in 1953)
that I nearly wore out before his return was Stan
Kenton's New
Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm. It was a seminal and ground-breaking
recording for me. 
Not only did it awaken me to the realization that a big band could be a
performance
band instead of merely a dance band, not only did the writing of Bill
Russo, Bill
Holman, and Gerry
Mulligan introduce and develop a lifelong appreciation for the role
of the arranger, but it was my introduction to West Coast jazz and the
phenomenal performers who were building careers right in my home county
as I was growing up in the Fifties. On this single session I received my
first taste of Conte
Candoli, Maynard
Ferguson, Buddy
Childers, Bill Holman, Richie
Kamuca, and Lee
Konitz.
Of
most lasting impact, however, New Concepts served to introduce me
to the playing of Frank
Rosolino. (fn.
*)
Up to that point my childhood experience of listening to big bands had
led me to think that all trombonists sounded pretty much alike. There were
not many chances for Frank to shine here except as a member of Kenton's
always remarkable 'bone section, but what he had he made the most of. He
is featured on Bill Russo's "Frank Speaking" and, in what I have called
elsewhere "one of the greatest short solos" in recorded jazz, his 16-bar
solo on Russo's "23° North - 82° West." 
(Click the CD image for link to sound clips featuring both of these solos.)
He has a rollicking half chorus on Gerry Mulligan's "Swing House" as well.
In the space of a single short album I was spoiled for other trombonists.
Sure, I love and appreciate the work of Curtis
Fuller, J.J.
Johnson, Carl
Fontana, Slide
Hampton and others, but for me Frank was beyond the next level.
I suppose we should get out of the way forthwith the major posthumous stumbling block a lot of jazz fans have in according Rosolino the appreciation he is due. You see, for those of you who don't know already, on November 26, 1978, he shot himself to death after shooting his two sons, killing one and leaving the other a vegetable. It was such a shocking end to a gifted career and a seemingly joyful life that many of his closest friends and associates have never been able to explain it. I cannot vouch for its accuracy, but drummer Danny D'Imperio has proffered an explanation that he killed himself because his wife killed herself over an affair he was having. (fn. **)The tragedy was the greater for those who knew him, not just because of the loss of the consummate artist he was, but because all his life he had been such an outwardly warm, engaging, and happy person. He was the jokester of the bandstand whose personal charm never failed to draw everyone in. Predictably fan reaction falls into two camps, the first holding that the enormity of his end acts cancels out his career. Those with this view will not abide a discussion of Rosolino's jazz artistry, and if you are one of them, you should quit reading at this point and click over to something else in this site. Needless to say, this web page series would not exist unless I were in the second camp which is shocked, dismayed, and saddened by what he did, but whose love for his music and the artist and person he was overcomes all else.
For me, Frank has always been the standard by which trombone playing is measured, although it's an unfair and almost unattainable standard. As good as he was in his relatively young years when New Concepts was recorded, he was light years better just before he took his life. I have listened to recordings done in the year of his death and they were genius upon genius. Frank set the bar high when he was young and then put it out of reach with his mature performances before his death. To quote no less an authority than J.J. Johnson: "Frank Rosolino was a towering genius and a trombone virtuoso in the jazz genre. His style was unique and instantaneously recognizable. He was a warm, fun loving, charming human being and I miss his infectious giggle."
** His wife found out about an extra marital affair that he was pursuing and she herself committed suicide over it. It bothered him greatly but he continued the relationship with the "other woman" after the demise of his wife. Eventually it came out that the "other woman" was gay and it ate away at him that his wife had killed herself over this "other woman". He had two children and he couldn't see them going on without him so when he decided to take his life by his own hand he also decided to take the lives of his children. He went into the bedroom where they were sleeping and shot them both and then turned the gun on himself. Unfortunately, one child survived the shooting and to my understanding is a vegetable to this day.Sad ending to a great and happy career. (Posted as "FRANK ROSOLINO'S DEATH" at JazzOnline October 15, 1998, it drew the inevitable round of responses.) [return to text]
This set of pages will be an ongoing project. Any help gathering resources will be gladly appreciated. Earlier in 1998 I encountered a set of pages of considerable value, but their server appears to be no longer reachable. I will list the Rosolino links we all turn up below. I believe the two listed below contain relatively complete discographies, so I am not entering upon the project of trying to list my own discography. Professor Grissom's pages are definitely THE Rosolino location on the Web and well worth a visit (explore the whole site). Much of Frank's recorded output as a sideman has not been reissued on CD. I have reviewed his most recently issued and still available CD's on the pages which follow. These too will change as I acquire more and as more are released.
Coming Soon!! to these webpages -- The Complete Illustrated Critical Rosolino Discography (critiques by yours truly)
