Ed Frank

Ed Frank (June 14, 1932 – February 13, 1997) was an American jazz and rhythm and blues pianist who performed and recorded for more than forty years. The Frank family had a long history of traditional jazz musicians, including pioneer Creole musicians Alcide and Bab Frank, the latter known for Bab Frank's Peerless Orchestra. Ed's family moved from central city to the Magnolia Project when he was nine years old. He played violin before switching to piano in his teens. Frank influenced his friend Ellis Marsalis, then at Xavier University's Junior School of Music, to play jazz. Frank was a scholarship student at Grambling College before dropping out to get married. Frank recorded with Pee Wee Crayton, Lloyd Price, Fats Domino, Elmore James, Big Joe Turner, Little Richard, Smiley Lewis, Bobby Charles, Shirley and Lee, Dave Bartholomew, Tommy Ridgely, Leroy Jones, Lillian Boutté, Chuck Carbo, Bobby Mitchell, The Spiders, Art Neville, Lee Allen, Clarence Ford, Wendell Brunious, Wallace Davenport and Smokey Johnson, among others.

When he was 23, Frank suffered a ruptured blood vessel in his head that partially paralyzed his left arm and hand. He resumed recording studio work after four months.

In 1960, Frank went to Houston to work for Don Robey at Duke/ Peacock records and play with Arnett Cobb's big band. When New Orleans pianist James Booker got stranded in Houston, Frank got him work on recording sessions.

Frank returned to New Orleans in 1964. In the mid-1960s Ed Frank’s jazz band featuring Red Tyler on sax, Chuck Badie on bass, and June Gardner on drums played at the Forest Inn and the Haven Night Club. They opened Mason’s V.I.P. Club on S. Claiborne Avenue in 1967. Frank was also involved in the traditional jazz scene, with regular gigs at the Palm Court Jazz Cafe and Preservation Hall. He worked with horn men Thomas Jefferson, Wallace Davenport, and others. He toured and recorded in France with Davenport. He played and toured with Lillian Boutté for the last nine years of his life. Frank was a regular in the Jazz Tent at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, often performing with his friend Smokey Johnson.

Frank was also known for his horn arrangements. Music writer Kalamu Ya Salaam said: "His arrangements are models of clear lyrical voicings." the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and other artists. His survivors included his wife, Dolores S. Frank, and five daughters.