Ed Frank (June 14, 1932 - February 13, 1997)[1] was an American jazz and rhythm and blues pianist who performed and recorded for more than forty years.

[5] As a member of the house band at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studios, he performed on hundreds of R&B and rock 'n' roll records produced by Dave Bartholomew and others.

"[10] Frank recorded with Pee Wee Crayton, Lloyd Price, Fats Domino, Elmore James, Big Joe Turner, Little Richard, Smiley Lewis, Bobby Charles, Shirley and Lee, Dave Bartholomew, Tommy Ridgely, Leroy Jones, Lillian Boutté, Chuck Carbo, Bobby Mitchell, The Spiders, Art Neville, Lee Allen, Clarence Ford, Wendell Brunious, Wallace Davenport and Smokey Johnson, among others.

[9] Rounder Records producer Scott Billington said of Ed Frank, "His was a very elegant approach to R&B that made use of his extensive knowledge of jazz harmony.

Frank later recalled, "I had Blanche Thomas, Chuck Badie, and Ed Blackwell, and we did an after-hours thing for the barmaids, musicians, dancers, and waiters."

[7] Despite segregation enforced by law, black and white musicians often played together in the underground modern jazz scene of the early 1950s.

[12] In 1960, Frank went to Houston to work for Don Robey at Duke/ Peacock records and play with Arnett Cobb's big band.

[7] He played jazz in a band called The Crescents (later the Afro- Caribbean Sextet) with Ed Blackwell on drums, Richard “Didimus” Washington on percussion, Eluard Burt on flute, Otis Deverney on bass.

[15] In the mid-1960s Ed Frank’s jazz band featuring Red Tyler on sax, Chuck Badie on bass, and June Gardner on drums played at the Forest Inn and the Haven Night Club.

[5] In 1978 Frank teamed with bassist Gerald Adams, and sax/clarinetist Clarence Ford, performing in the lounge at the Marriott Hotel on Canal Street in New Orleans.