Franko Spero - When You Are Near *THE SMOOTHJAZZ LOFT*

“Franko Spero“ is the brainchild of composer/producer Frank Hestness, born, raised and still living in Stavanger, Norway. Franko’s life always was and still is about music one way or the other, both listening and producing. Franko grew up playing the guitar, bass and later turned to the keys. Franko always had an interest in music technology and was an early adoptor of computer based music production. Franko is influenced from a variety of musical styles within the genres of soul, funk and fusion during the 80s and 90s reaching from producers like Nick Martinelli and Jam/Lewis to bands like Shakatak and Mezzoforte. The later years learned Franko to make a dive into the world of jazz to discover and understand more of the origin and the roots to so much of the music he was already familiar to. With special attention to the modern smooth jazz scene including artists like Brian Culbertson and Steve Cole, just to mention a few, the idea to release his own music was seeded,