Frampton to open Pops season

By Janelle Gelfand, The Cincinnati Enquirer (2/10/06)

The Cincinnati Pops will rock out to open its 2006 Riverbend season, with a little help from British-born guitar legend Peter Frampton.

Frampton, 55, will appear in a symphonic setting for the first time in his nearly 40-year career - a career that skyrocketed in 1976 with "Frampton Comes Alive!" the best-selling live album of all time.

"It's every musician's dream to stand up there in front of an orchestra one day. There's nothing more awe-inspiring," said Frampton, who lives in Indian Hill with his Cincinnati-born wife, Tina, and their daughter, Mia.

The June 24 Riverbend show will include Frampton's hits "Show Me the Way," "Do You (Feel Like I Do)," "Baby I Love Your Way" and others. He and Cincinnati composer Steven Reineke are arranging them for orchestra, four-piece band and his signature "TalkBox."

For the Pops show, Frampton and Reineke are also writing an original work together.

The rocker is hoping it could lead to a symphonic DVD. But first, he and Reineke, who is also conducting, will take the show on the road, performing with 12 to 15 other orchestras. And although this is a Pops gig, he hopes to eventually compose a classical symphonic work, he says.

The idea started with an invitation from Paavo Järvi, music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and a former rock drummer.

"I had been thinking about it before that, because James Taylor and other people had done some nice things with orchestras," Frampton said. "Hey music - it's all about learning, every day."

The '70s rock icon is recording his first completely instrumental album in his Indian Hill home recording studio, slated for September release on A&M Records.

A onetime teen idol, Frampton became a megastar with "Frampton Comes Alive!" which was re-released in 1995. He received a Grammy nomination for his 2000 album, "Live in Detroit."

He's worked with David Bowie, former Rolling Stone bassist Bill Wyman and Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band and appeared in the 1978 film "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." In 2003, Frampton recorded "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" in memory of his friend George Harrison.

Tickets go on sale May 8.