Richie Cole Alto Madness

Andy's, Chicago, IL
April 3, 2009

Aaron Minter, Richie Cole, Dave Zielinski

Guy Fracano, Richie Cole, Dave Zielinski, Bryant Scott

Story and Photos by James Walker, Jr.

If you haven't had an opportunity to see a performance of Richie Cole and his Alto Madness, you owe it to yourself to do so whenever he returns to the Chicago area. Richie and his "orchestra" had Andy's red hot in more ways than one, as he and his seven-piece band were on top of their game until an early closing of the club due to an electrical problem on April 3rd. This listener quipped with Richie about his "hot" set causing this malfunction.

Cole's bandmates on this evening included Aaron Minter on bass, Dave Zielinski on tenor, Guy Fracano on cornet, Bryant Scott on trombone, Kurt on drums and Henry Johnson on guitar. This was by far not a one man show as Cole appropriately shared his "madness" with his exceptional colleagues all evening.

In addition to the expected flurry of outstanding solos by guitarist Henry Johnson ("Good Life" and "My One and Only Love"), cornet player Fracano demonstrated his vibrant spirit throughout the set, while blowing fast, bright flourishes with his bold attack on each note. He certainly wasn't taking a back seat to the leader during the segment. Such features occurred on Body and Soul, "Andy's Blues" and "Kit and Billy Show."

It was during their blasting on Andy's Blues that the front of the bar area went dark. This didn't deter the Alto Madness, as they simply continued on their quest to satisfy this packed audience at one of Chicago's premier jazz clubs.

Yes folks, the affable Richie Cole is back and he's having a ball. He'll be back at Andy's in early June and this listener highly recommends catching him with his quartet or the Alto Madness Orchestra.

For detailed information about Andy's seven days of jazz, refer to their Web site at www.andysjazzclub.com.