Mike Frost Project

THE MIKE FROST PROJECT BIOThe Mike Frost Project has been one of the most exciting jazz groups to be based in Chicago during the past few years. Their recent Blujazz CD, Comin’ Straight At Ya, contains both stirring originals and inventive versions of jazz standards.Led by tenor and soprano saxophonist Mike Frost, the band also features trumpeter Steve Frost, Tom Vaitsas on organ and piano, guitarist Bill Boris, drummer Dave Bernat and percussionist Tim Mulvenna with guest appearances from bassist Mark Berls. “We play straightahead jazz,” says Mike Frost, “using great songs from the past plus contributing new originals in a complementary style. Essentially we perform a modern day version of an earlier style but in our own way.” The heated and colorful solos of the Frost brothers, Vaitsas and Boris, along with the steady and stimulating support provided by Mulvenna and Bernat, gives the group its own joyful and highly accessible personality.“I was 16 or 17 when I started playing tenor,” remembers Frost. “Up till then I had played flute and clarinet. My brother Steve, who is five years older, was just getting out of college and told me that I had to play sax if I wanted to get work. So I dedicated myself to the tenor and practiced my whole senior year. I later added the soprano after seeing Branford Marsalis play with Sting in the movie Bring On The Night.” After graduating from DePaul University, he worked around Chicago and then found a new career during one summer when he worked on a cruise ship. He became the Entertainment Director for Premier Yachts, booking all of the music and entertainment for a popular luxury cruise ship that sails around the Chicago coast line on Lake Michigan. Almost a decade ago, he put together a straightahead jazz group to play for the cruise’s brunches and the result was the Mike Frost Project.The first musician that Mike Frost asked to become a member of his band was his brother Steve who remembers, “My uncle played trumpet although not professionally. I pestered my parents to let me borrow my uncle’s trumpet and that’s how I got started. I played at weddings while in high school, hooking up with older guys in their twenties who gave me a chance. After college I played in a lot of different styles from church music to pop and blues before joining my brothers’ group.”Mike soon added Tom Vaitsas. “I met Tom quite a few years ago at a gig shortly after I got out of college. We have the same ideas about music and he is the perfect accompanist for both instrumentalists and singers.” The keyboardist says, “I originally played organ and clarinet, not switching to piano until I was in high school. I played in some blues bands and with trios and quartets. I started studying with a pianist in Chicago who knew of Mike Frost and his band. They needed an organist in the group and I was recommended.” Guitarist Bill Boris, who was introduced to Mike by Tom, joined eight years ago. Boris started on guitar when he was 11 and almost immediately was leading his own group. In addition to touring with Arthur Prysock, and performing and recording with Charles Earland and Irene Reid, he had his own band for several years. “We played a crossover between funk and jazz, similar to later Miles Davis.” “Bill was the first guitar player I ever played with who thought like a horn player in the way he interpreted melodies,” says Mike Frost. “I’ve known Dave Bernat and Tim Mulvenna (who has often worked with saxophonist Ken Vandermark) for quite some time. Dave became our drummer with Tim substituting now and then. However I always wanted to have a percussionist in the band and I love the stuff that Tim does, so he became part of the band too.”After playing together extensively, the Mike Frost Project made their recording debut with Nothing Smooth About It. The more recent Comin’ Straight At Ya, in addition to including spirited versions of such pieces as Freddie Hubbard’s “Little Sunflower,” “Dizzy Atmosphere,” “Star Eyes” and an extended “Freedom Jazz Dance,” has six originals co-written by Mike Frost and Tom Vaitsas that are advanced while being connected to the straightahead tradition. “Tom is a very versatile writer,” says Frost. “I often come up with melodies and then he instantly puts chords to them; musically he is like an extension of me.” Tom adds, “I love the bebop language and the rhythmic aspect of straightahead jazz, which gives one a lot of freedom and room to express oneself. Mike is really open to suggestions and new ideas, making it a pleasure to write songs with him.”Comin’ Straight At Ya was recorded in two days and most of the performances are first takes. “I always try to record in the same manner that I’ve read about and admired” says Mike Frost. “We just play the tunes straight through and let the CD sound like we do in concert.” Bill Boris says, “It’s live and spontaneous and in a few cases the first performance was in the studio. The CD has a good consideration of the tradition while looking forward, along with a lot of energy. I really like all of the tunes, particularly ‘Wylie’s Windup,’ ‘Vicious Dex-O-Licious’ and ‘Nica’s Winter Waltz.’” Steve Frost comments, “This is a very honest recording, done live in the studio. I particularly like ‘Wylie’s Windup’ and ‘Aw Geez.’ Our group is inspired by Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Gene Ammons, Dexter Gordon, Lee Morgan, Jimmy Smith, Charles Earland and so many others.” But most importantly, the Mike Frost Project might play in the tradition but they come up with fresh ideas and do not closely copy any of the past masters.Mike Frost continues, “Our recordings are a very good indication of how we sound. We are all in the same room when we record. People that hear our CD and then see the band say that we sound just like the recording, but I tell them that the recordings sound like us live. These are honest recordings because this is how we really sound.” In addition to the selections already mentioned, other highlights include McCoy Tyner’s “Search For Peace,” “I’ll Remember April” and “the complex “Midway’s Lament” which Frost calls “our work of art.”In 2006, the Mike Frost Project played every Thursday night at Andy’s, one of Chicago’s top jazz clubs. Concerts at the Skokie Theatre and Columbia College were also very successful and each of the musicians expresses the desire to bring their music to other cities in the future. “Every time we play, we connect with the audience,” says Bill Boris. “It is a thrill for me to a part of this group,” adds Steve Frost. “In the future I hope we continue creating more originals and play many more concerts in different cities,” says Tom Vaitsas. Mike Frost concludes “We want to take what we have been doing in Chicago and perform in front of other audiences. We have a lot of high energy and audiences seem to really enjoy what we are doing.”The music on Comin’ Straight At Ya is a strong sampling of the infectious and swinging music of the Mike Frost Project, a highly enjoyable group which keeps the traditions of jazz alive while giving it a fresh perspective and looking forward to a bright future.WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT the MIKEFROSTPROJECT....“..a superb cohesiveness...Mike Frost has captivating tone quality that combines with spot on intonation for a beautiful presentation.,,that puts him in the elite group of saxophonists…Steve Frost endows his melodic refrains with considerable expression, never sacrificing soul for technique…..guitarist Bill Boris adds lyrical phrases that merge seamlessly….their swinging rhythms are thrilling….” AllAboutJazz.com, NY February 2007“A fun set played by a versatile groups…excellent soloists…they add color, swing and creativity to the music.” AllMusic.com, January 2007“A frontline that delivers in-the-pocket, grooving jazz that will have you moaning with approval for over an hour with their latest effort..” AllAboutJazz,LA/Orange County/SanFran October 2006“A great new release and all jazz fans should add it to their collections….non-stop swing, with a deep pocket and a thriving pulse….Frost’s arranging and composing skills are formidable to say the least…..breathes new life into standards….highest recommendation.” JazzImprovMagazine, January 2007“…the bands early success wasn’t a fluke….recalls the powerhouse bands Charles Earland led..” Neil Tesser, Chicago Reader, December 2006"Collectively, MFP has given Chicago a prized organ combo that has the potential to rival the critical and commercial acclaim Soulive, Organissimo and the Philly Soul/Jazz Organ Combo has received in from their respective B-3 capitals of Buffalo, Detroit and Philadelphia. The main difference is that while those other groups are adding modern techniques to arguably dilute the art form, the Mike Frost Project have gone back to the future to create 21st century music with that classic 20th century groove. They’re Comin’ Straight At Ya’ and it’s not science fiction." ~taken from the liner notes on Comin' Straight At Ya~ Mark Ruffin Co-host “Listen Here!” The Public Radio Jazz Review Jazz Editor, Chicago MagazineOVER 4 MONTHS CONSISTENT AIRPLAY US, CANADA & INTERNET CMJ DEBUT at #13 and ‘Top 100’ JazzWeek….. Now Come and Hear Them LIVE!!!