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Thread: Frank Wakefield

  1. #26
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    Fairly recent interview with Wakefield about the early DC days with Red Allen et. al.:


    There are many Wakefield YouTube videos available, also including live WDON broadcasts back to the 1960's; check out this link.

    Legendary banjo pioneer Bill Keith played banjo on the Allen/Wakefield version of New Camptown Races on the '60's Folkways album. Pete Kuykendall, co-founder of Bluegrass Unlimited and under the performing name of "Pete Roberts," was the Kentuckians' usual banjo player at the time.
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    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    I saw Frank play in the early ‘70’s at a coffee house in Saratoga n.y. called Cafe Lenas..I thought he was great until he made his little daughter sing..his flagstaff tune is probably “catnip”,a tune I’m always playing is a lot of fun…

  3. #28
    Registered User Glassweb's Avatar
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    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    Quote Originally Posted by Don Grieser View Post
    Listen to Frank's breaks on Little Maggie, the first song on the album Glassweb mentioned. Pure Frank genius.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D38mQV2-Y04

    Right on Don! When I first heard the opening notes of this cut as 19 year old in NYC it was like I had just dropped musical acid. I mean who else would ever choose the notes that Frank played. And to anyone reading here that thinks "aw shoot, that ain't no part of nothing" I beg you to go on YouTube... slow down the cut and learn Frank's breaks note for note. I guarantee it will forever change you both as a musician and, especially, a mandolinist.

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  5. #29
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    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    Quote Originally Posted by Mitch Stein View Post
    If you like that stuff,
    um, as much as I love Eva Scow's playing (another genius) this is a thread about Frank Wakefield thank-you...

  6. #30
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    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    Quote Originally Posted by Glassweb View Post
    um, as much as I love Eva Scow's playing (another genius) this is a thread about Frank Wakefield thank-you...
    Um, no it's not. When the OP asks "Also, as a relative newcomer, who else should I be listening to?", it moves beyond the simple title of the thread. Did you actually read the OP?

    I notice you also snipped the part of my reply that references OP learning other bossa nova tunes, like "Corcovado" and "Desafinado".
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  7. #31
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    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    Frank would get his mix all talked up, that's for sure!

    I like listening to the classical mandolin player Ekaterina Skliar. Just watching her technique is amazing to me.

    I really like the Skaggs & Rice album.

    I was always a big fan of early Seldom Scene and John Duffy.

    I mostly play; however. . .

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  8. #32
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    We all know that Frank baked his Lloyd Loar F-5 in an oven, right?

    Attempting to enhance its tonal response, I understand...
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  9. #33
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    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    Quote Originally Posted by allenhopkins View Post
    We all know that Frank baked his Lloyd Loar F-5 in an oven, right?

    Attempting to enhance its tonal response, I understand...
    I stood totally amazed as he told that story at Windgap several years ago. He also made the bridge top out of plastic.
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    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    Quote Originally Posted by Old Dog Dave View Post
    ... Also, as a relative newcomer, who else should I be listening to? ... considering that Brazilian bossa nova is one of my "guilty pleasures", I have learned to play along with various recordings of Manha de Carnaval and look forward to learning other bossa nova tunes, like "Corcovado" and "Desafinado". Anyway, the thoughts of experienced mandolinists would be most helpful and instructive. Thanks, y'all!! ....Old Dog Dave
    As to who else you should be listening to, and addressing your Brazilian urges with a side helping of diversification:

    As Mitch Stein pointed out, Eva Scow does some very nice Brazilian flavored music, and you should definitely have:
    Eva Scow + Dusty Brough -- Sharon by the Sea

    The best version of Manha de Carnaval that I recall hearing is by Don Julin (he calls it Black Orpheus), who also does a great version of Triste on:
    Don Julin & Ron Getz -- Mr. Natural This album also has some great guitar playing and other very tasty tunes.

    Don Julin's Vibe album also has the best stringed instrument version of Birk's Works if you are feeling like jazz. Other great tunes as well.

    And of course, Don Stiernberg also likes to mix in some Brazilian style music, and works with great players. For example, check out
    Straight Ahead (Estamos Ai, Vibracoes)
    Mandoboppin! (Bix in Rio, Magnanimous)

    Additionally, your interest in Brazilian music might lead you to diversify into Choro, in which case you should of course be listening to Choro Das Tres.
    Last edited by Alfons; Sep-12-2021 at 4:33pm.

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    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    Them weary notes...

  13. #36
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    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    Frank sure dug deep and pulled tone out of that mandolin on Little Maggie.
    Last edited by Jim Roberts; Sep-12-2021 at 10:39pm.

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    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    Oh, yeah!! She did a great job on Triste (I believe that's the song she's doing). Bossa nova just has a compelling, sashay-like beat to it. Kind of makes me want to just lightly bop down the street feeling good. Pretty good stuff for an old Kentucky hillbilly such as myself. Thanks for sharing, Mitch!!
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    Smile Re: Frank Wakefield

    Quote Originally Posted by Glassweb View Post
    um, as much as I love Eva Scow's playing (another genius) this is a thread about Frank Wakefield thank-you...
    I understand the point Glassweb is making because I too was guilty of hijacking this thread (above), unintentionally. However, I thank you so much for sharing this video. I was unaware of this amazing Jazz Mandolinist, Eva Scow, but I am so glad to be introduced to her! Thank you!
    Last edited by lflngpicker; Sep-13-2021 at 11:34am.
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    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeEdgerton View Post
    I stood totally amazed as he told that story at Windgap several years ago. He also made the bridge top out of plastic.
    Back when Frank worked for a certain manufacturing company he designed, built, and sold (gave away?) novel bridges fashioned from the wide variety of synthetic materials he had access to at the time. He's always experimenting with his setup. From baking his Loar (pioneering DIY torrefaction lol) and making bridges, down to the Fast Fret string lube and the 1mm textured Dunlop picks he uses, I'd say Frank has a healthy obsession with getting the best tone possible out of his Loar. And no Regrets! He swears to this day that baking the mandolin did, in fact, make it sound better. (To be clear, we're talking about a 200 degree oven with the door cracked for 20-30min tops, beef jerky style, nothing crazy :-) I suppose the maple seam on the back did start separating significantly sometime after the said kitchen bake, but who knows: Frank has played the absolute s**t out of that Loar. Compared to Franks's playing style, baking is gentle.

    Back to his bridges, there's a particularly priceless moment on one of his lesson DVDs in which Frank is caught admiring his new bridge with an unscripted aside. I'll try to post it here.



    I love this! He's so happy with his new all-maple bridge he forgets to talk backwards!
    By the looks of the the notches on the saddle I'd say he made it himself!

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    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    Quote Originally Posted by Old Dog Dave View Post
    ... I was a big fan of Frank's work. But, as a relative newcomer to studying and learning to play the mandolin, I am curious how his work stands alongside artists like David Grisman, Sam Bush, Chris Thile, and one of my latest favorites, John Reischman. ....Old Dog Dave
    You can hear Frank, literally "alongside" several of those artists, on a great version of Dusty Miller, and he also does a couple of his own tunes on this album, which is great fun:

    Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza
    https://acousticdisc.com/product/blu...anza-download/

    Full CD Booklet:
    https://acousticdisc.s3-us-west-1.am...TRAVAGANZA.pdf

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  21. #41
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    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    If you haven't tried listening to Danilo Brito, you should. His bandolim playing is incredible. Sorry, not savvy enough to include a sample.

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    Default Re: Frank Wakefield YouTube Videos

    I just uploaded to YouTube 10 new videos, mostly from the 2001 timeframe. Take a look and let me know what you think.
    You will find them here on my channel where there are 23 YouTube videos so far. I just got Starlink and the speed is crazy.
    Thanks.
    https://www.youtube.com/user/jmoss99/videos
    Last edited by Jmoss; May-20-2022 at 8:18pm.

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  24. #43
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    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    Yes. Frank told me about 2 things he did to make his mandolin sound like it does. The bridge was one. The other I cannot comment on. I am sworn to secrecy on that. He didn't want people ruining their mandolins by accident. He uses that bridge in a most of the videos on my YouTube channel. He mentions the bridge on fiddle lesson project video I started and never completed, but it is now on my channel too. I shot that on a break when I was filming the Ultra Clear Series Mandolin Lessons which are still available.
    https://www.youtube.com/user/jmoss99/videos

    A lot of his sound comes from his hands, meaning how he frets the strings. When we were playing he could get his sound on totally wore down frets. He did that on the Sleeping Lady album of mine. Violins are similar if you are using the Heifetz style of playing. You want the deadness of the finger pad on the string. No ringing, just fat tone. Frank is a Guru on technique. Plus I might add, in the video we were recording with my Honeybee vacuum tube mic preamp. That helps make anything sound huge and fat, as big as a house is what Frank used to say. I use large diaphragm mics too, Neumann U87 and AKG 414B ULS mostly. Live we used KM184 mics on the fiddle and the mandolin in the later years.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Joy Soldier View Post
    Back when Frank worked for a certain manufacturing company he designed, built, and sold (gave away?) novel bridges fashioned from the wide variety of synthetic materials he had access to at the time. He's always experimenting with his setup. From baking his Loar (pioneering DIY torrefaction lol) and making bridges, down to the Fast Fret string lube and the 1mm textured Dunlop picks he uses, I'd say Frank has a healthy obsession with getting the best tone possible out of his Loar. And no Regrets! He swears to this day that baking the mandolin did, in fact, make it sound better. (To be clear, we're talking about a 200 degree oven with the door cracked for 20-30min tops, beef jerky style, nothing crazy :-) I suppose the maple seam on the back did start separating significantly sometime after the said kitchen bake, but who knows: Frank has played the absolute s**t out of that Loar. Compared to Franks's playing style, baking is gentle.

    Back to his bridges, there's a particularly priceless moment on one of his lesson DVDs in which Frank is caught admiring his new bridge with an unscripted aside. I'll try to post it here.



    I love this! He's so happy with his new all-maple bridge he forgets to talk backwards!
    By the looks of the the notches on the saddle I'd say he made it himself!
    Last edited by Jmoss; May-20-2022 at 9:01pm.

  25. #44
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    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    In this interview I did with Frank he talks some about his mandoin improvements.
    Frank Improves His Mandolin
    http://candlewater.com/interviews/story006.html

  26. #45

    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    Saw Wakefield once in early 70s playing with Garcia (banjo), David Nelson (Guitar), Sandy Rothman (fiddle) and John Kahn (bass) in a band called Good Ol' Boys I think. It was a tiny club and I remember Wakefield as being this tall, goofy character who kept wiping his nose (it was the early 70s) and absolutely attacked the mandolin.

  27. #46

    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    Quote Originally Posted by AlanN View Post
    Frank wrote one of bluegrass mandolin's tour de force tunes, New Camptown Races, in 1953(!). The number has been recorded by at least a dozen artists. That alone places him at the top of the heap.

    One of the best recorded versions is by this cat, with twin mandolins by Vic D'Amico and Barry Mitterhoff. So good.

    That is one wild album. Very musically adventurous. Has that late 70s/early 80s New York sound. Great to hear a guitar player who has his own sound. Here's another guy who falls into that category: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK36...3lWIXNK5f3Hk2k
    Last edited by nick delmore; May-21-2022 at 1:23pm. Reason: more info

  28. #47

    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    Quote Originally Posted by nick delmore View Post
    That is one wild album. Very musically adventurous. Has that late 70s/early 80s New York sound. Great to hear a guitar player who has his own sound. Here's another guy who falls into that category: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK36...3lWIXNK5f3Hk2k
    Also reminiscent of this record: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8rCCd6CZSA

  29. #48
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    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    Quote Originally Posted by mikerofone View Post
    ...I remember Wakefield as being this tall, goofy character who kept wiping his nose (it was the early 70s) and absolutely attacked the mandolin.
    Saw him with the Greenbriar Boys at Club 47 in Cambridge in the early '60's. Very nice performance, from what I remember, but I was struck by Frank not having any laces in his lace-up shoes.

    If there is ever a band called the Bluegrass Eccentrics, I know who's the mandolinist.
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  30. #49
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    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    Quote Originally Posted by allenhopkins View Post
    Saw him with the Greenbriar Boys at Club 47 in Cambridge in the early '60's. Very nice performance, from what I remember, but I was struck by Frank not having any laces in his lace-up shoes.

    If there is ever a band called the Bluegrass Eccentrics, I know who's the mandolinist.
    The shoe thing sounds like Wake Frankfield!
    Great beginning on that band lineup, who’s the banjo player?
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  32. #50

    Default Re: Frank Wakefield

    One of my favourite pieces is Butch Baldassari's recording of the Frank Wakefiled tune 'Waltz in the bluegrass'. Beautiful recording.

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