Music like The Gene Harris Quartet

Frank Potenza (born February 10, 1950) is an American jazz guitarist.

A native of Providence, Rhode Island, Potenza started playing his sister Norma's acoustic guitar. At age 12, he was influenced by his cousin, Jimmy Gagliardi, who "played and sang in rock and roll shows and nightclubs", drove a convertible, smoked Lucky Strikes, and was "the epitome of cool". Gagliardi taught Potenza guitar parts from the R&B songs of the day, especially Duane Eddy and Bill Doggett tunes. He was exposed to jazz via his father's record collection, but by his early teens, Potenza was more interested in the electric guitar sounds of rock and roll.

By the early 70s, Potenza returned to jazz after hearing George Benson. This led him to other jazz guitarists, such as Pat Martino and Wes Montgomery. After high school, he attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, graduating in 1972 with a bachelor's degree in music. During the rest of the 1970s, Potenza he with jazz bands at clubs in New England, including with Diamond Centofanti.