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The Kathy Dodge Trio was formed sometime around 1973 and originated from Rochester, NY. The trio consisted of Robert "Bobby" Cravotta on Drums, Frank Pullara on Bass and Kathy Dodge - piano & vocals.
The main focal point and attraction of the band was in fact, pianist & vocalist - Kathy Dodge who started taking piano lessons at the age of five. With 12 years of classical music training as well as an impressive four year degree from The Eastman School Of Music, she quickly became a force in the Jazz music scene. Starting in Rochester, NY at places like The Pittsford Tavern and venturing out to tour the East Coast and Mid-West. It didn't take long before they had places such as the St. Regis Hotel & Jimmy Weston's in New York City, The Ma-KiKi Club in West Virginia & Harrah's Casino in Atlantic City calling upon them to perform at their establishments.
The trio continued to tour extensively throughout the 1970's stopping briefly to record their only album in 1980 simply titled: "Kathy With a K." The album contained classics such as: Lullaby Of Birdland" - "Green Dolphin Street" & "A Foggy Day." It also included an original selection written by Kathy called "Blues For K.D." After the album was recorded and released they went back on the road to tour and promote it for another 2 years.
Sometime around 1983 the trio decided to come off the road and settle in Rochester for good. They continued to perform however, landing regular gigs at Hedges, The Daisy Flower Mill and The Lodge at Woodcliff where they would perform together well into the mid 1990's. Kathy also performed as a solo artist quite often as well.
The music would continue until tragically, in the early hours September 19th, 1996 Kathy was killed in a car accident just a couple of miles from her house in Farmington, NY. The cause of the accident remains unknown to this day. She was only 4 days shy of her 45th birthday.
Drummer Bobby Cravotta died from complications following heart sugery on April 9th 2002, he was living in Las Vegas at the time of his death and was a member of the Las Vegas Jazz Society.
About Me
My name is Jake Cravotta; Kathy "Dodge" Cravotta & Bobby Cravotta were my parents. They married in 1972 and hit the road to make music together (literally) in '73. After I came along in 1975, they waited just long enough to make sure I could breathe on my own, then took me out on the road with them. To this day I feel more comfortable in a hotel room than in my own house. I loved growing up on the road with them, listening to them play, not to mention all of the famous people/musicians I was fortunate enough to meet because of my parents. The people that I most enjoyed meeting are; Chuck Berry, Scatman Crothers, Steve Gadd, Chuck Mangione, Robert Goulet, The Harlem Globe Trotters and so on. But needless to say, those were some of the the greatest years of my life.
As small tribute to my folks, I decided to put this little page together for them. And one day I hope to have their album put to CD.
Just before my dad passed away, he was going to help me locate the master tapes from their album so I could have it put to CD. But with his passing, so did the knowledge of the location of those tapes as the studio they recorded at went out of business many years ago. But I did find a collection of rare cassette tapes with some amazing music on them. Many of them are too old and brittle to play, but a few of them survived and are still in decent shape. I also found the only remaining cassette tape featuring their album. That too is in great shape and the sound quality is actually quite good. If I cannot find the master tapes, I will then have the cassette converted to digital format, re-mastered and pressed to CD.
The songs on this page were taken from the record and recorded to CD. So you can and will hear the trademark "pops & clicks" of an actual 12 inch vinyl record. But it's the best I could do for the moment.
With that said, I hope you enjoy the songs. And if any of you out there remember seeing them or have any stories to share, please feel free to contact me. I always enjoy hearing from people who knew them.
I will get some pictures up here as soon as I get them put to digital format too!!