Article Published: Tuesday, June 21, 2005 - 12:00:00 AM PST
Priceless music
By Fred Shuster, Music Writer

In the space of two recent weeks, the Martini Kings played private parties for first lady Laura Bush, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and exotic dancer Kitten DeVille -- and appeared in the season-opener of HBO's "Six Feet Under."

That's how the retro-cool instrumental trio kicked off its summer schedule. Martini Kings gigs in the coming months take in free outdoor shows all over town, where the long-running threesome will play for hipsters of all ages.

You may have seen and heard the Martini Kings -- brothers Anthony and Frank Marsico and drummer Stuart Johnson -- at work during the Malibu cliff-top wedding in "Six Feet Under's" season curtain-raiser. Those versed in the local pop scene might also recognize the Marsicos from tours with Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Marianne Faithfull.

But the restrained, coolly calibrated, vibraphone-drenched sound of the Martini Kings is a space-age bachelor pad away from Faithfull's fraught delivery. The jazz trio's gauzy readings of, for example, Henry Mancini's "Peter Gunn Theme," Thelonious Monk's "Straight No Chaser" or Horace Silver's "Song for My Father" are the perfect soundtrack to the dimming of the day -- which is exactly when the Kings begin weekly sets at the Grove at Farmers Market from 7 to 10 p.m. Fridays through July.

"There are lot of kids and parents getting into the spirit of the music, running around, having fun," said Anthony Marsico, the trio's standup bassist, setting the scene. "We play on a very grassy area and, for some reason, it brings out the child in grown-ups. One night, I brought a bubble machine, turned it on, and it reminded me of throwing fish food in a koi pond.

"About 100 people ran toward the machine and got drenched in the bubbles. I had to turn the thing off -- I was afraid someone was going to choke on the bubbles."
Along with further outdoor gigs at the Third Street Promenade (11 a.m. Monday) and Skirball Center (July 16), the Martini Kings ( www.martinikings.net ) continue to redefine cool at clubs, tiki bars and burlesque shows. The Kings are one of many reasons this summer to get outside and soak up some sounds in the parks, amphitheaters and museum courtyards throughout the city.

"After years doing this, it seems the public has caught on to what we do," said Anthony, a Woodland Hills resident. "Kids like it, and we get a kick when older folks call out song titles. They really dig it. People don't hear vibes anymore."

The Marsicos began playing together growing up in Philadelphia. With Anthony on upright bass and Frank on vibes, the brothers developed an early appreciation for jazz, soundtracks and various pop music tributaries.

"I've loved instrumental music my whole life -- whether it's surf or garage or jazz -- there's something mysterious about it," said the bassist, who also wrote and directed a forthcoming 30-minute feature called "Camp Burlesque" ( www.campburlesque.com ). "And it works a special magic when you hear it in the open air."
Fred Shuster, (818) 713-3676 and fred.shuster@dailynews.com

The Martini Kings --
on a Red-hot Mission of Redefining Cool
L.A.'s Martini Kings are on a mission. Performing a style of music termed "cool jazz" -- "a form that emerged in the early 1950s, characterized by rhythmic and emotional restraint" -- The Martini Kings are hell-bent and determined to "Redefine cool on contemporary terms!" And if the industry barometers are any indication, The Martini Kings will soon be taking the country by storm.

(PRWEB) June 4, 2005 -- L.A.'s Martini Kings are on a mission. Performing a style of music termed "cool jazz" -- "a form that emerged in the early 1950s, characterized by rhythmic and emotional restraint" -- The Martini Kings are hell-bent and determined to "Redefine cool on contemporary terms!" And if the industry barometers are any indication, The Martini Kings will soon be taking the country by storm!

Prominently featured on-camera in the season-premiere of Six Feet Under (June 6th), as well as in the upcoming cinematic farce Camp Burlesque (set for July release), The Martini Kings are enjoying a spate of live performances in the Los Angeles area, including Jax (in Glendale), The Grove, and the esteemed Skirball Center.

The "unexplicably-hip" Martini Kings is the creative outlet of brothers Anthony and Frank Marsico, a pair of transplanted Philadelphian musicians whose talents have populated the tours and recordings of Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Marianne Faithful. With Anthony on upright bass and Frank on vibraphone, the listener is transported to the smoky lounges off Times Square in Dwight D. Eisenhower's 60s--To a post-bop, pre-psychedelic American musical landscape, vaguely reminiscent of the atmosphere created by Angelo Badalamenti for the cult-classic Twin Peaks.

Says composer/vibraphonist Frank Marsico, "After all these years hoofing around, playing in this sort-of retro-cool Manciniesque bag, it seems the public has finally caught on to what we do. And really, what we do is what we've always done. My brother Anthony and I have been playing some of these tunes together since the early sixties, when our family lived above the pizza shop in downtown Phillie. It's funny--looking back--how what's in style goes cold... and suddenly
becomes hot again."