Frank Caruso & Jim Massoth are a part of the Chicago jazz scene like the sky is blue. They are the very definition of Chicago jazzmen.
Individually, they have played every musical role there is to play- student, teacher, mentor, artist, sideman, leader- and every kind of gig, too, from the old-time sawdust joint to the White House and other hallowed halls. They’ve each spent a lifetime mastering the language of jazz. They’ve learned both the vocabulary and the syntax, and over the course of the many thousands of hours spent with axe in hand they’ve become emotionally articulate in a way that sets them apart from the journeymen and places them firmly in the world of musical artistry.
Together, they create something truly unique and powerful, something that goes beyond the bounds of normal musical experience. Listening to Massoth & Caruso play together is like sitting in on a conversation that’s witty, warm, and exuberant. The sparkle in their collaboration reminds us that music speaks to us in a way that conveys meaning beyond words, with deeper feeling and with greater honesty.
So listen as Frank & Jimmy urge each other to greater expressiveness, and you’ll hear great musicianship in service of nothing more than pure artistry and joy. You’ll hear musicians for whom virtuosity is not a destination but a means to communicate at the highest level of creativity. Through this recording they’ve graciously allowed us to be a part of the marvelous conversation we call jazz. It’s an honor- and a pleasure.
-Stuart Rosenberg
