This album is dedicated to Bill Sensenbrenner (1954-2021) with whom I shared 33 years and who brought his own special music into my life. “Truly, I had a love.”
Album Credits
- Arrangements and Musical Direction by Kathleen Landis
- Produced by Kurt Peterson and Kathleen Landis
- Associate Producer Claire-Frances Sullivan
- Recorded, mixed, and mastered by David Kowalski at Teaneck Studios, Teaneck, New Jersey
- Photography by Bill Westmoreland
Track List
- But Beautiful
- I’ll Be Easy to Find
- Let’s Fall in Love
- It’s a New World
- I Didn’t Know What Time It Was
- Embraceable You
- Lazy Afternoon
- Corcovado
- Sleepy Man
- The Twelfth of Never
- Whistling Away the Dark
- No One Ever Tells You
- Unusual Way (In a Very Unusual Way)
- A Certain Smile
- Hello, Young Lovers
- Some Other Time
Musicians
- Lloyd Altman – Cello
- Jack Bashkow – Clarinet, Alto Flute, Flute, Saxophone
- Peter Calo – Guitar
- Aaron Heick – Oboe
- Jim Hynes – Flugelhorn, Trumpet
- Tom Kirchmer – Bass
- Kathleen Landis – Piano
- Boots Maleson – Bass
- Gary Schreiner – Accordion, Harmonica
- Andrea Valentini – Drums
Reviews
“As evident on this album, Frank Dain knows how to get his audience’s attention and hold it. First, it’s that voice with his warm and tender baritone. It welcomes you and brings you in. Then there’s his phrasing and his storytelling that holds you as you take this journey with him. Yes, it is all here and it’s all about love… the story, the glory, the passion, the pain, and the endless dedication. Yes, it’s all about love!” — David Kenney, Host, Everything Old Is New Again
“Frank Dain lets his deepest emotions flow freely through 16 love songs on I’ve Had a Love, his second album, which is dedicated to his late husband Bill Sensenbrenner. Dain, editor of Cabaret Scenes Magazine, expresses exquisite passion in the songs he sings—and for the partner he loved, who died in 2021—in a fully realized tribute, using his deeply resonant baritone to get to the essence of each selection.
The themes of love and loss are clearly evident throughout the 53-minute CD, particularly on its simplest cut, “A Certain Smile” (Paul Francis Webster/Sammy Fain), in which a listener hears Dain’s deepest feelings coming to the surface. While most of the CD’s songs include backing from four or five instruments, “A Certain Smile” uses only piano accompaniment. Here it’s a Fender Rhodes piano, which produces a variety of sounds and features Dain’s longtime musical collaborator Kathleen Landis on keys.
Dain’s emotions are particularly on display during “(In a Very) Unusual Way” (Maury Yeston), where one can almost hear a tear in his voice, and in “Sleepy Man” (Alfred Uhry/Robert Waldman, from The Robber Bridegroom). Here, Gary Schreiner’s harmonica adding poignance to the tender vocal.
The CD makes effective use of several musicians, who set up a variety of moods in their individual introductions for each song, including Schreiner on accordion during Dain’s haunting reading of “Whistling Away the Dark” (Johnny Mercer/Henry Mancini), Jack Bashkow on saxophone on the bluesy “No One Ever Tells You” (Carroll Coates/Hub Atwood), and Peter Calo on guitar during Dain’s tender take on “It’s a New World” (Ira Gershwin/Harold Arlen).
Other selections include Dain’s warm, passionate “Embraceable You” (George and Ira Gershwin), a mellifluous “But Beautiful” (Johnny Burke/Jimmy Van Heusen), a bright “Let’s Fall in Love” (Ted Koehler/Arlen), and a joyous “Hello, Young Lovers” (Rodgers & Hammerstein).
The CD ends on a note of hope with the sublime “Some Other Time” (Leonard Bernstein/Betty Comden & Adolph Green).” — Elliot Zwiebach, Cabaret Scenes
Veteran musician Frank Dain is of a romantic generation. His style (jazzy piano, wire brushes on snares, and subtle sax and trumpet behind his seasoned, delicate vocals) boasts confidence and distinction. His music soothes—if Dain tucked me into bed and sang “I’ll Be Easy to Find,” I have no doubt that my dream would be happily reminiscent of You’ve Got Mail. His tracks “No One Ever Tells You” and “Some Other Time” evoke the same wistful longing. Though timelessly beautiful, the songs are not an everyday listen, in fact, they’re more suited for when the credits roll in a ‘90s rom-com—and that’s not a bad thing! — Ruby Risch, Music Connection