Buffalo’s Donny Frauenhofer Trio will celebrate the culmination of a decade of work as they take the next step as a live band, releasing their debut album on Friday, October 22. The night before, the trio will perform at Sportsmen’s Tavern.
Donny Frauenhofer Trio, also known as DF3, consists of Isaiah Griffin on drums, Colin Brydalski on bass, and Frauenhofer on keys. Coined as “The Weirdest Music You’ve Never Heard,” Donny’s trio is creatively driven by spontaneity. The group travels through time signatures, styles, and key signatures with ease, making Frauenhofer’s complicated compositions sound like a walk in the park. The group plays a daring brand of original music with unique arrangements of popular tunes tastefully sprinkled in.
With an album full of originals, two notable covers get a jazz treatment, with DF3 approaching Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” and Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar We’re Goin Down” as though they are entirely new compositions,
The album has taken 10 years to get here, although the trio didn’t start until about 2016, playing consistently starting in 2018. There is also the factor of capturing the music, learning the language of music and studying all the aspects of playing and performing it. 10 years ago, Frauenhofer did not see the dream of being signed on a label and just making music as possible or as probable as many of his peers. He saw where things were heading with the music business and how to monetize it, so he set out to learn as much as possible about recording, engineering, mixing, mastering, and producing as much as I could.
Frauenhofer didn’t want to release an album until he felt he was somewhat capable of doing the quality he wanted for himself. 10 years of digging into jazz and trying to find his own sound, that is when many compositions took root. He would often tell friends “I had this sound in my head I couldn’t describe,” and a lot of artists he was a fan of were in that realm, but Frauenhofer had a particular vibe, an air or atmosphere that he wanted to capture.
Regarding the jazz scene in Buffalo, Frauenhofer notes the great deal of talent in the scene, with a small but passionate audience that is continuing to grow.
My goal is to get more of my generation involved. A lot of this album reflects that – using contemporary styles from my generation and putting that in a jazz setting, or vice-versa. Electronic music styles and hip-hop in particular can really get young crowds excited and be a great window into more traditional styles of jazz
Donny Frauenhofer, on the Buffalo Jazz scene
The album release show will take place on Thursday, October 21st at Sportsmens Tavern in Buffalo. The show kicks off at 7pm with the band playing two sets of music, with physical copies of Uppin’ the Ante available at the show. Guest musicians will also be performing with the trio.
The release of this upcoming album marks the distinctive transformation of #DF3 from a local live act to a burgeoning national touring force. Uppin’ the Ante will be available on all streaming platforms on Friday, October 22nd. Along with this exciting release, the band will soon be announcing tour dates for the remainder of 2021.
Donny Frauenhofer Trio perform on Thursday, October 21 at 7:00 PM Sportsmens Tavern. Tickets are $12 and available here, with additional info available via the Facebook event.
