Frank Capp

Artist Profile:

Frank Capp

A graduate of Boston University’s School of Music, legendary drummer Frank Capp started at the top: his first professional job was with the Stan Kenton Orchestra.

He went on to play drums for Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, Harry James, Stan Getz, Benny Carter, Billy May, Charlie Barnet, and many others.

He was also a member of the Warner Bros, contract orchestra for two years, and played and toured with the great Andre Previn for eight, making over 20 albums with the master jazz pianist/conductor, He has played on thousands of recording sessions for all types of artists and kinds of music.

As a freelance studio musician, Capp performed on more than 200 motion picture soundtracks with many of Hollywood’s most notable composers. He also had the good fortune to work on the Red Skelton Show (10 yrs) and The Steve Allen Show (6 yrs). He has also served on the Board of Governors of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS).

Today, Frank Capp leads the renowned jazz orchestra, Juggernaut. The orchestra is kept busy doing concerts, jazz festivals, parties, and dances, as well as recording for the Concord Jazz label.

Frank Capp, a flexible and consistently swinging drummer, loves to drive a big band. As leader of the Juggernaut (a group he co-led with Nat Pierce starting in 1975, until the pianist’s death in 1992), he got to push and inspire some of Los Angeles’ best. Capp found his initial fame playing with Stan Kenton’s Orchestra (1951). Two years later, he settled in Los Angeles; became a busy studio musician; and played with everyone from Ella Fitzgerald, Harry James, and Charlie Barnet to Stan Getz, Art Pepper, and Dave Pell.

He recorded often with Andre Previn’s Trio (1957-1964), and also made records with Benny Goodman (1958), Terry Gibbs, and Turk Murphy. Capp worked steadily on television shows and in the film studios in the 1960s, and (starting in the 1970s) recorded extensively in a variety of settings for Concord.

The Capp-Pierce Juggernaut (later known simply as the Juggernaut) sometimes sounded identical to the ’70s Count Basie Orchestra, and served as a perfect format for the drummer’s colorful playing.