Frank O’Sullivan is a professional guitarist/composer based in Montreal. Originally from Ottawa, Ontario, Frank relocated to Montreal after graduating from the Berklee College of Music in 2012, where he majored in jazz performance and studied with Tomo Fujita, Tim Miller, Sheryl Bailey, Bruce Saunders, and Jon Damian.
Once arrived in Montreal, Frank quickly established himself as a first call musician for the RnB/Jazz/HipHop scene after joining the Kalmunity Vibe Collective. Kalmunity is Canada’s largest and longest running collective of afrocentric music, performing twice a week for over fifteen years. Frank went on to become a founding member of Urban Science, hosting the hiphop jam session LeCypher every Thursday night since 2014. Maintaining a prolific and diverse career as a sideman, he has performed and recorded with artists such as Malika Tirolien and Kallitechnis, among many others, touring all over North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
In 2020, Frank released his debut full length album as a composer and bandleader, titled MFQ. The project featured a quintet made up of Theo Abellard on piano, Jonathan Arseneau on electric bass, Julien Fillion on tenor saxophone and Thomas Sauvé Lafrance on drums. MFQ is a collection of Frank’s original compositions as well as collective group improvisations, all recorded live “off-the-floor” at Planet Studios in Montreal.
The following year Frank wrote, recorded, and released Something’s Weird, his second full length album with Thomas Sauvé Lafrance on drums and Gabriel Forget on upright bass. Conceptually, this project was an expression of the strange state of the world Frank observed at that moment in time, especially regarding both the pandemic and unstable politico-social climate. Sonically, what resulted was a minimalist, experimental, psychedelic blues trio aesthetic.
In 2022 Frank released his third full length album, aptly titled LPIII, which saw a return to the quintet format featuring Émile Farley on electric bass, David Osei on piano/keyboards, Alex Dion on tenor saxophone/flute/bass clarinet, and Ronny Desinor on drums. Though this album was also recorded live off the floor, Frank’s artistic vision for this project brought him to include additional overdubs and production techniques more commonly associated with rock/pop projects. Currently, Frank is mixing his fourth studio album as well as composing the music for his fifth.
As a creative collaborator, Frank had the pleasure of co-writing "Gifted" by Kallitechnis, which was nominated for Best Contemporary RnB Recording at the 2022 Junos.