Frank D’Rone/WCS

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Press Release

Publicity: O’s Place Jazz Magazine, The Borderland (UK), Jersey Jazz (June issue), SloaneView, nestor, jazzwax.com, Jazz Society of Oregon, Midwest Record,

Radio: Raposa Media’s Adult Standards Weekly Tracking Report 033012

Promo Photo:
CDs: Whaling City Sound
Mixed Media Client since: 1999
Listen: Song Clip

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Frank D’Rone    -   Double Exposure   3/3
O’s Notes: Frank is a cabaret-style balladeer equally at home in front of a large ensemble or solo, singing and playing guitar. In both cases D’Rone is in command and projecting strong vocals. The program alternates between the big band and vocal/guitar tracks all centered around Frank. Phil Kelly produced and arranged music. He also conducts the band. Our favorite is “Pick Yourself Up.”    D. Oscar Groomes/O’s Place Jazz Magazine

“…the new CD — “Double Exposure” — was recently recorded in a studio session and attests to his incredibly well-preserved voice. He sounds no different now than he did when he recorded for Mercury in the late 1950′s. The album is amazing, and beautifully arranged and conducted by our own Phil Kelly. Half of the tracks are with an orchestra, and the other half are just Frank singing and accompanying himself on guitar.

http://www.amazon.com/Double-Exposure-Frank-DRone/dp/B005LY46CI

I can’t imagine anyone not loving… D’Rone…unique, instantly recognizable voices.” ~ Frederick Stack

“The kind of performance that the Vegas gods are smiling down upon, D’Rone could teach contemporary singers a thing or tow about finding the meat of the lyric in the classic song bag and how to sell that song in even the simplistic settings. If you’re hip enough to dig real jazz vocal, this old dog still knows how to bury a bone! Check it out.” ~ Midwest Record

“We who remember D’Rone from years back are reminded that if had never sung a note, he’s a superb jazz guitarist. But, lucky for us, he sang then, and he’s still singing now. And how!” ~ George Fendel ~ Jazz Society of Oregon

Dick LaPalm’s Radio:

TRACKING REPORT “DOUBLE EXPOSURE” FRANK D’RONE

EAST

WAER – Syracuse
WBAI – New York City
WCDB – Albany, NY
WCNY – Syracuse
WDIY – Bethlehem, PA
WEOS – Geneva, NY
WERU – Bangor, ME
WESM – Salisbury, MD
WFCR – Amherst, MA
WFDU – Teaneck, NJ
WHFC – Baltimore
WHRB – Boston
WICB – Ithaca, NY
WICN – Boston
WKCR – New York City
WLFP – Pittsburgh
WMNR – Monroe, CT
WMUA – Amherst, MA
WPFW – Washington DC
WPKN – Bridgeport
WPLM – Boston
WQLN – Erie, PA
WRHU – Long Island, NY
WRTC – Hartford
WRTI – Philadelphia
WSCA – Portsmouth, NH
WVIA – Scranton, PA
WVPR – State of VT
WWUH – Hartford
WYPR – Baltimore

MIDWEST

KBEM – Minneapolis
KFAI – Minneapolis
KIOS – Omaha
KKFI – Kansas City
KMSU – Mankato, MN
KRAQ – Jackson, IA
KWIT – Sioux City, IA
KWMU – St. Louis
KWWC – Columbia, Mo
WBAA – Lafayette, IN
WBLV – Grand Rapids, MI
WCBE – Columbus, OH
WCPN – Cleveland
WDCB – Chicago
WEMU – Detroit
WGCS – So. Bend, IN
WGLT – Normal, IL
WGTE – Toledo
WGVU – Grand Rapids, MI
WHPK – Chicago
WICR – Indianapolis
WKAR – Lansing/Detroit
WORT – Madison, WI
WRCJ – Detroit
WRUW – Cleveland
WSIU – Carbondale, IL
WWSP – Stevens Pt, WI
WYSO – Dayton
WYSU – Toungstown, OH

SYNDICATORS

Jazz Aftr Hours (Jim Wilke)
82 Stations

WFMT Jazz Network (Bob Parlocha)
170 Stations

CABLE and INTERNET

Pure Jazz Radio
Radioio Jazz
Accujazz
The Jazz Groove

MOST PLAYED TRACKS (In no special order)

“Pick Yourself Up”
“Speak Low”
“Make Someone Happy”
“When The Sun Comes Out”
“Lover Come Back To Me”

Double the Pleasure

Legendary Chicago talent Frank D’Rone still gets it done on Double Exposure

If you haven’t heard the velvety voice and sultry strumming of Chicago treasure Frank D’Rone, well, better late than never. Fortunately, you can hear everything the man has to offer, and maybe a little bit more, on his latest album, Double Exposure.

D’Rone, who has been around long enough to be endorsed by none other than Nat King Cole, has a natural born affinity for providing great entertainment. Whether he’s belting out in front of a sizzling big band, singing some swinging pop-jazz, or crooning some acoustic ballads, D’Rone can do it all and make it seem effortless. Double Exposure, and his frequent gigs in and around Chicago, and throughout his career in major nightclubs throughout the country, attests to this.

So, yes, D’Rone has indeed been there and done that. He has connected with audiences for decades; his mellow demeanor and outsize talent is shown in abundance on Double Exposure. The recording pops on impeccably arranged big-band style tunes like the opening “When the Sun Comes Out” and “Pick Yourself Up.” D’Rone makes solid contact on his many guitar-based ballads, including “Make Someone Happy” and “The Very Thought of You.” Throughout the record, D’Rone proves he can dazzle regardless of the genre.

Born in Providence, Frank started singing and playing the guitar on stage at the age of five. At 11, he had his own local radio show and at 13 he’d won an artist’s degree in classical guitar. He formed his own band and played local dates while finishing school then took his show on the road, playing in New York City and Chicago. Frank eventually ending up in a successful residency at a Chicago club called Dante’s Inferno.

During this time, Chicago proved to be a friendly place and D’Rone made a name for himself among the elite artists of the era. Celebrities such as Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, Ella Fitzgerald, Shecky Greene, Oscar Peterson, Alan King, Ray Brown, Stan Kenton, June Christy and many more turned up to see D’Rone do his thing. He gained a reputation as a true artist, a singer’s singer. One of his most enthusiastic admirers, the late Nat “King” Cole, penned the liner notes for Frank’s first album. Sinatra requested that D’Rone be hired to play the lounge when he played Las Vegas and Atlantic City venues.

D’Rone’s rare talent has served him well everywhere he goes. Frank was headlining the world famous “Copacabana” when Tony Bennett took over the microphone on opening night and told the audience, “A few years back, Nat “King” Cole said that Frank D’Rone was the finest singer around. Tonight he has proved that Nat was right!”

If it’s “right” with Cole and Bennett, it’ll be “right” with you, too. Check out Double Exposure.

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From radio promoter Dick LaPalm: “Check out the Marc Myers current, and highly regarded Jazz blog.  He writes about “Double Exposure,” features his 3-part interview with Frank from March of 2010, and plays “When The Sun Comes Out” from the cd.  Go to www.jazzwax.com and scroll down beyond Trammps, Bix, McKusick, etc.  You can’t miss it.  Nor should you.  Really a good one, guys!  Onward!”

Frank D’Rone’s great voice, musicianship and commanding stage presence, along with his ability to master the interpretation of a song lyric, lend themselves to any entertainment atmosphere and make it easy to understand why he became a recurring guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and was requested by Frank Sinatra to appear in the lounge whenever “The Chairman” was performing in the show rooms of the Las Vegas and Atlantic City venues.

“A singer with an individual sound that invites no comparisons; a singer who can seemingly sustain a note forever; one of the few singers who can change a mood of a room from song to song by moving from one emotion to another naturally. He holds an audience.”

–Nat “King” Cole

“It is simply impossible to find fault with anything Frank D’Rone sings or plays.”

–Leonard Feather – Downbeat

“All singing from the heart and no put-ons”

–Will Friedwald – “Jazz Singing”

“A seasoned singer for all seasons. Few equal D’Rone’s mix of voice, guitar. The superb jazz improviser somehow manages to combine the best of two worlds: a warm baritone that adeptly expresses melodic nuances and a fluid guitar technique that operates exclusively at the virtuoso level.”

–Howard Reich – The Chicago Tribune

“All his songs are rendered with a keen jazz sensibility understandable enough for someone who’s worked with Woody Herman and Carl Fontana.”

–Boston Globe

“Whether in a studio or in a live ‘in person’ setting, Frank excels. He can musically do no wrong.”

–In Tune International

“D’Rone is a cabaret singer of the highest order”

–Sherman Kaplan – WBBM AM Radio, Chicago

“D’Rone has been a ‘singer’s singer’ who has drawn praise and support from such royalty as Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett.”

–Chicago Sun Times

“What a joy to find that not only has D’Rone’s voice lost none of its richness and accuracy of pitch, but that he still swings like the complete musician he is.”

–Journal into Melody

“Real talent will always be respected and that is something Frank D’Rone possesses in large quantities.”

–Las Vegas Review-Journal

“…when you listen to D’Rone you are listening to the real thing.”

–Tony Bennett