FROM CADENCE MAGAZINE - New York  - March 2005

Larry Franco is a Jazz Singer ! who need no introduction ... at least not to his audiences in Italy, India, Abu Dhabi, Turkey, Morocco, Belgium, Ethiopia, Greece and Vermont, where he has performed. But for the general Jazz listening public he does. And so, Franco, who spent much of the years 1994 and 1995 in Los Angeles to perform in the style of Nat Cole, flew to New York in late 2003 to record 13 tracks that spotlight his talent as a crooner in the spirit of Tony Bennett. Indeed Franco's range, timbre, rhythmic pacing and phrasing are eerily reminiscent of Bennett's - eerily because Franco's voice is natural, not imitative, and it coincidentally alings with Bennett's style. Also, like Bennett, Franco has assembled a top-notch rhythm section that illuminates his singing. Fellow Italian Dado Moroni, in particular, absorbs the role of accompanist, Franco's "Ralph Sharon", as he understands the singer's range, keys, style and musical intents. Throughout the CD, Moroni sets up the occasions for Franco to sound good, whether it's Moroni sparkling introductions, as on "Our Love Is Here To Stay", or the sweep of his chords as he moves along the harmony filling out Franco's melodies, like his 3/4 sway on "Clouds." Of course, Ira Coleman and Jimmy Cobb know a thing or two about rhythm section dynamics as well. The results is a thoroughly satisfying, cohesively performed CD that adds Franco's name to the relatively short list of male Jazz singers, though Franco's Italian base makes him less accessible to the large U.S. Jazz market, even though at the same time his work from Italy serves as an effective locus for his worldwide recording and touring activities.
Franco instinctively knows how to build a song to its dramatic point, as for examples he sings "Laura" first as the description of a tangible entity with dynamic buildup, only to reveal her as a dream at the appropriate conclusion with all of the flair that he can muster. And then there's the controlled swing of the trio after Franco's first chorus, concisely stated and effective, before Franco sings the delayed second chorus in Italian. Indeed, the only hints of the fact that Italian is Franco's native language are some syntactical trip-ups, like "we started painted the town" or oddly omitting the "s" in was. Still, his voice hints at a sense of fun as he sings, as if he would enjoy himself wheter he were recording with the likes of Jimmy Cobb or alone on stage at a Jazz festival. And like the Jazz singers who immerse themselves in the music for the sake of the music itself, Franco frequently steps back just to enjoy the performance he has set up, allowing the rhythm section to shine, as he does on "Cherokee", which Moroni introduces by playing the bridge before Cobb follows with medium tempo swing. Once Franco completes the first chorus, the song turns into an instrumental tossing back and forth as Moroni, Coleman and Cobb trade fours, the instrumentalists actually consuming more time on the track than Franco. Introducing Larry Franco is a spirited debut CD for those who previously were unaware of Franco's voice and his contribution to the need for more male Jazz singers
BILL DONALDSON

Kurt Elling, Giacomo Gates, among the new whites (Bob Dorough, Dave Frishberg, Tony Bennett and Mark Murphy, obviously, among the "old " ones), Kevin Mahogany, Joe Lee Wilson, Andy Bey, Jimmy Scott among the blacks... the international panorama of the crooners is all here. For those who love male jazz singers, it's certainly not comforting!  Why then should we not be glad of the imperious entry of Larry Franco in the crooner's family? L.F. is a magnificent Italian jazz singer ( "Italiano" is beautiful, also in jazz singing!) that boasts a decade and more of activity having produced seven Cds before this masterpiece - it is really a masterpiece, you will agree - just recorded in New York with three masterful partners: Dado Moroni, piano, Ira Coleman, double bass, Jimmy Cobb, drums.  
The moment I was asked to listen to the disk, I continued to listen to it at least for a week but not to decide on what I already decided (to publish it in my prestigious label - so say many people and I have come to believe it really !) but for the pure pleasure of listening to what each song communicated to me. 
This happened to me few other times, and not always for the disks of the most famous jazzmen present in my label: 
        Here there are some (if they mean nothing to you, try to get them in the shops or directly from Philology, in your interest of listeners): Riccardo Arrighini Trio " These Unfoolish Things " W 234,  Zeduardo Martins " Ogun - Samba Blues " W 87, Jean Yves Mestre " Retrato " W 191, Francis Maccianti 7et " Mosaic " W 215, Emanuele Basentini 4et " Just in Time " W 135. 
        In closing this parenthesis opened just to to reinforce the strong emotions communicated to me by this first disk of Larry Franco in Philology, in confirming the admiration for the splendid rhythm section that that gives to the disk the necessry, relaxed and overwhelming swing, let me tell you the reasons why  Mr. L.F.  entered immediatly my heart:
         He is clear in the exposition with spelling of the words - spoken in perfect English - which  "they arrive", as always should be but it rarely happens to the brain and to the heart; he owns a magnificent timbre where warmth marries sweetness - a virile sweetness never grazed by melassa -, a notable blue feeling that enters in every song with a great effect; he has power, depth, dexterity, skill; he doesn't fall, as many do, into the traps of the scat and the free vocalese, his sense of timing (swing) is extraordinary as well as enviable is his relax - " never in a hurry " - also in the fast tempos and, lastly, he composes beautiful melodies to which he gives appropriate and convincing words... perhaps there's enough to make him a marvelous Philology's "discovery" !?!  
          You will love this disk and you will ask for others  (they will come, you can be certain of it) from Larry Franco, Mr.L.F.