The Frankie's After Dark opening weekend
Two nights of Bud Powell and attentive audiences
Todd Stewart at Frankie's, 11pm to 1am
Frankie's After Dark launched this Friday and Saturday, May 6th and 7th, 2022 with Todd Stewart on drums, Noah Franche-Nolan on piano, Jodi Proznick on bass, and Feven Kidane as a featured guest on trumpet.
Previously, I shared this new series of late shows at Frankie's – which is booked and announced from now into July – in this free weekly article.
Here's what Todd told me back then about leading his first date at the venue and what he would play:
"Since Frankie's has such a nice sounding piano, I'm taking the opportunity to celebrate the works of my favorite pianist/composers of the Black American music tradition, particularly Bud Powell, who was the greatest composer of the bebop era, in my opinion. You'll hear some of of my original tunes and arrangements in there as well."
Promise delivered: it was a successful opening weekend that built up night-over-night.
The music
The set lists for the Saturday night were: