Bass Player Derek Frank to Re-join Mindi Abair & the Boneshakers for 2016 Tour Dates

Photo: Mark Kolash

Bass Player Derek Frank to Re-join Mindi Abair & the Boneshakers for 2016 Tour Dates…

Los Angeles bassist Derek Frank will be re-claiming his spot with Grammy-nominated saxophonist Mindi Abair and blues-rock veterans The Boneshakers for their 2016 tour dates. Derek is coming back into the band after taking a 5-month hiatus, in which he was busy playing bass with country-pop superstar Shania Twain on her hugely successful 2015 “Rock This Country” tour. Mindi Abair & the Boneshakers will be making several stops around the US in support of their recently released album “Live in Seattle”.

Mindi Abair’s seven solo CDs have garnered ten #1 radio hits, six top 5 spots and two #1 spots on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz album chart. Abair received a 2014 GRAMMY® nomination in the Best Pop Instrumental Album category for Summer Horns, a #1 recording with her friends Dave Koz, Gerald Albright and Richard Elliot, and more recently received a 2015 GRAMMY® nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for her solo CD Wild Heart.

After Wild Heart, Abair wanted to translate its edgier rock/soul sound to the stage. She called upon The Boneshakers, a blues band founded by former members of supergroup “Was (Not Was)”. “There was so much electricity on stage. We all felt it. The blues and rock just pulsed through me. Everyone played with complete abandon,” Abair said. “It felt like home. So we made it official and hit the road as Mindi Abair and The Boneshakers.” Which brings us to Mindi Abair & the Boneshakers Live in Seattle, released on September 25, 2015 on Heads Up, a division of Concord Music Group.

Tracked at Seattle’s Jazz Alley over Valentine’s Day weekend (Abair’s standing gig for a dozen years), this album captures the intent of a rock band, the grit of a blues band and enough energy to light a stadium. Fourteen sizzling tracks include eleven originals and two dramatic covers, which feature the exceptional combined skills of Mindi Abair (alto saxophone, vocals, producer), Randy Jacobs (guitar, vocals), Sweet Pea Atkinson (vocals), Rodney Lee (keyboards), Third Richardson (drums, vocals), and Derek Frank on bass and vocals.

Derek has been active as a touring and studio bassist on the Los Angeles music scene for a number of years, providing solid bass for many well-known artists and bands. In 2009, he released his debut solo album “Let the Games Begin…”, a collection of mostly-instrumental old-school funk, with of course, much focus on his bass playing.

For more info, visit: www.derekfrank.com