CHICAGO, IL (WBBM Newsradio) – Just around the corner from the Tony Fitzpatrick Studio on Damen Avenue in Bucktown, world renowned Jazz saxophonist Frank Catalano sits on a stool, perched at the bar inside Ed & Jeans Tavern.
Cupping a martini, Catalano can’t help but smile when reflecting on his relationship with longtime friend and collaborator Tony Fitzpatrick, though the sense of loss is felt heavily.
Catalano recalls the first time the two worked together, “On Damen Avenue, I was walking and kind of passed by his studio, and he popped out and he’s like ‘Catalano, go f… yourself’, and I’m like what?”, said Catalano.
Fitzpatrick, insisting Catalano knew why he was upset with him, finally explained, ‘you’ve never asked me to do one of your album covers, so you should go f… yourself’, said Catalano.
To solve this feud, Catalano asked Fitzpatrick if he would do an album cover for him to which the reply was, ‘Hell yeah’, “And then he gave me a hug and then he gave me one of his etchings,” Catalano said.
“His album covers, in a lot of cases, kind of had a Jazz flow about them,” Catalano said, referring to the variations surrounding one theme, with the final outcome just as great each time.
Over the course of 25 years, Fitzpatrick would go on to design several of Frank Catalano’s album covers, along with flyers for his shows, even a mural that incorporated Uptown’s Green Mill Cocktail Lounge with Catalano on the marquee along with drummer Jimmy Chamberlain of Smashing Pumpkins fame.
Catalano will be reproducing the image, in poster form, and making available for those who attend his shows at the Green Mill this upcoming weekend Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. The two shows will be dedicated to Tony Fitzpatrick.
“You know obviously I’ve lost a really good friend of 25 years but lost, you know, a collaborator as well. Almost everyone here in Bucktown feels such a huge loss, because we all loved Tony very much. It probably hasn’t even fully sunk in.”, Catalano adds.
A private memorial was held on Sunday Oct. 26 at the Steppenwolf Theatre, attended by family and close friends, Catalano who was among them was asked to speak and play a song.
Tony Fitzpatrick died of a heart attack Oct. 11, while awaiting a double lung transplant, Catalano says he spoke with him, just 2 days before his death, and that he had said he was having a good day, “Life is precious, and everybody should give each other a hug, and be cool for sure”, said Catalano.
Nov. 23 at Metro in Wrigleyville a public celebration of Tony Fitzpatrick’s life from 3-6p will include a Second Line New Orleans Jazz funeral procession afterward.