Frank Lamphere

It’s true that we may never again see the likes of Rat Packers Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and company as they were in their heydays, but on a recent Friday night while checking out the new Jilly’s in downtown Naperville I wasn’t so sure. A roomful of both serious and casual listeners and myself, if not for the late model cars parked outside, may have thought that this was 1962 pre-Beatles America and that we were in a posh Las Vegas lounge.

A young looking and sharply dressed jazz trio visible despite the plumes of smoke, ripped through three medium to uptempo songs that included Night Train setting the stage for the entry of the main attraction, singer Frank Lamphere. Lamphere, with his self assured stage presence and impressive set of pipes has made a name for himself with extended engagements at the Peninsula Hotel and Countryside Flame performed a varied set. Laden with swingers like Tony Bennett’s Rags To Riches, On the Street Where You Live, and the jazz standard Cherokee, which was performed at a lightning pace. Frank and trio gave a delicate bossa treatment to Cole Porter’s I’ve Got You Under My Skin and he sang the Bacharach-David Wives And Lovers convincingly, with an organ accompaniment. Lamphere, who can really swing especially the mid tempo range, had a steady stream of dancers to prove it. Brightly singing the late 50's Bobby Darin hit Dream Lover, belting Tom Jones’ Delilah, and a delightful yet seldom heard Henry Mancini samba It Had Better Be Tonight was sung both in English and Italian, putting this writer in the mood to order the antipasto plate with extra olives and provolone cheese. Later, after mentioning his fondness for Dean Martin, Lamphere crooned Memories Are Made of This and I Will sounding eerily like Dino.

In all I found the wait staff friendly and efficient and the drinks "well-poured". Never dull, like it’s sister bar on Rush Street, Jilly’s is a smoker’s paradise, is full of people and can be loud. But it also appears to be the new place in the Western Suburbs for the professionals and the sophisticates to congregate, imbibe and see a quality show for the price of a drink or two.

Jilly’s features live music nightly. Frank Lamphere and his Rat Pack Jazz Trio appear Thurs-Sat starting at 8PM.

James Halliday - Chicago Times

One of the most prolific and successful lyric writers in the history of American popular song was Sammy Cahn. His career, like Gaul, can be divided into two parts. The first was that eminently thriving collaboration with Jule Styne which produced one hit after another including "Time After Time", "The Things We Did Last Summer" and "I've Heard That Song Before". The second major partnership by the New York lyricist was with the inestimable Jimmy Van Heusen. This merger was forged by Frank Sinatra to provide a menu of tunes for his "maturing" voice which it did with such winners as "The Tender Trap", "Come Fly with Me" and "Only the Lonely". Lamphere on this album has chosen to focus on, but not completely so, on Cahn's second artistic period and that probably is because his vocal style was influenced by Ole Blue Eyes. This is apparent on "My Kind of Town", one of Sinatra's most recognizable hits and a song that was entirely his. The arrangement for this tune also highlights that this album is not just another ordinary, run of the mill tribute to a top American song writer. Johnny Gabor's Hammond B3 and Frank Portolese's tightly strung, highly amped guitar make this the funkiest/grooviest arrangement of this tune I've ever heard. It's a blast. Perhaps Sinatra might have done a double take, but he would sure have enjoyed it. But Lamphere doesn't ignore the romantic Cahn with a touching version of "The Things We Did Last Summer" where Gabor switches to the piano and Mike Jeffers' brushed cymbals provide a special rhythmic setting. Not every track is devoted to a Cahn biggie. Lamphere does a cute but sassy "Everybody Has the Right to be Wrong" which was a Peggy Lee vehicle.
Lamphere's collaborators on this endeavor use arrangement that make the group sound much larger than it is. Gabor's piano sometimes takes on the accouterments of a highly skilled society pianist al la Carmen Cavallaro on "All My Tomorrows". But for the most part, he stays the course. This CD is a fine production and is recommended.
~ Dave Nathan
- All About Jazz

Frank Lamphere is the latest in a long line of neo-Sinatras and really, he's one of the best. He's not self-conscious nor does he suffer a case of "the cutes". He's just a guy singing songs, influenced more by Sinatra and Darin than Jagger or Dylan, and that's just fine. Ain't Love a Kick (Late Nite Records) is an album in tribute to Sammy Cahn, the songwriter perhaps most closely tied to Frank Sinatra. Despite the dangers lurking here, Lamphere not only survives, he thrives. The real test will come when he records an album of material not so closely identified with Sinatra. We think he'll do fine.
- Mr. Lucky Magazine

"His baritone is solid, he has lovely pitch, and he knows how to accent the end of a line" - All Music Guide

Frank Lamphere finds himself behind enemy lines in Sinatra territory, as would any singer who dares delve into (as the sub-title of his cd announces) “The Unforgettable Songs of Sammy Cahn.” Not that the late chairman is the enemy. Nothing of the sort. The real foe is our cultural database which finds so many of these songs in the Sinatra file on our memory’s hard drive, and raises certain expectations when some other Frankie-come-lately tries to appropriate some of them. So, here we have Frank Lamphere singing very well indeed, in a relaxed, straight ahead, unaffectedly hip Buddy Greco sorta style- and I can well imagine the dear departed Francis Albert enjoying this CD in some celestial Hoboken listening room, because if he could tolerate Dean Martin’s blowzy saloon locutions, he’s gotta dig this new Frank, who swings niftily, in tune, and who makes the lyrics ring true while being thoroughly ingratiating...this is more than a moderatly worthy disc, very amiable, and even reassuring in the way one thinks of comfort food. Seen in broader perspective, it may be heard as the striving of a good and gutsy singer pushing a boulder up Sinatra Mountain with his sturdy larynx, with little hope of getting to the summit...alive. - Cadence