I’m really not a big fan of detailed info on the Internet but I’ll try to keep this vague as possible just so no one can say I didn’t post anything.
Born in Coney Island New York 1952 into an Italian immigrant family my father who played Trumpet in the Italian Navy in the 1930’s & thru WWII, a prisoner of war by the Germans twice and escaped then made his way to Brooklyn where he met my mother. His musical knowledge was the start of my musical career of which at age 7 he thought it was time for me to play an instrument of the Piano or Accordion….I chose the Accordion to make him happy and play all the great old Italian songs like , Malafemina, Santa Lucia, Lady Of Spain, Granada, o Solo Mio etc..so I started to take lessons at the conservatory of music locally for $12.00 per month once a week. Every night after dinner my dad would sit with me for a half hour practicing scales, songs, theory etc, etc.. I got yelled at, punished, and all due to my stubbornness to learn versus going out and play with my friends. But I persevered and started to like it and get very good at it….at 10 years old I played my Accordion at a backyard family party and someone asked me to play Malafemina, which I did & when I was done he handed me $10.00..WOW!! I thought to myself ten bucks just to play a song I do all the time?..”hey this music stuff could be a good thing”! In the years to follow what I learned playing the Accordion would be the foundation for my love of music and making people happy doing so.
At 12 years old I saw the Beatles perform for the first time on the Ed Sullivan show I sat with my dad so excited & this made me think of trying other instruments, so I bought an old set of drums and self taught myself to be a Rock & Roll drummer, followed by bass guitar, I bought a Hofner in New York City like Paul McCartney’s, and a six string electric also a Rickenbacker…now I had the fever. But my love for keys was my foundation so I bought my first Hammond M100, followed by a B3, and so many others like a Vox Continental, Farfisa Compact Duo, Juno, Crumar, Rhodes, & more.

In my school days I made sure I was in the Band & Orchestra and took Music as a major throughout my time in school, I learned to play Alto Saxophone, Tympani & Percussion instruments, and performed in the All city Big Bands, even doing a concert with them in Carnegie Hall too, many recitals, and Music for Stage plays too.

I played and filled in for many local wedding bands when I was 16 and formed my own wedding band at age 17 taking all the knowledge I learned from the old timers I performed with and made good use out of it, learning the business from the real pros, and paying my dues year after year….After a stint in the US ARMY 1969 when I returned I also formed a few rock/pop bands and played Keyboards in clubs all over the NYC tri state area. I also performed in shows for the big New York AM Radio stations like WMCA Good Guys, WABC who sponsored many of our shows all over with top bands of the time period. Many of the Vocal Doo Wop groups like the Mystics “ #1 song Hushabye” 1959, Drifters, Johnny Maestro, Passions,Motown's Marveletts, and so many other groups that didn’t have a band to back them up so I was offered to be the musical director for many of the big oldie shows to back them up with my group.
I even also did a 6 month stint Sponsored by WCBS FM Radio & Holland America Cruise Lines performing Rock & Roll Doo Wop cruise shows all over the world. After my ex wife passed away which was very sad at a young age,I persevered and while on tour in NYC gigging in a Greenwich Village night club show I met my wife now of 27 years & has been my trusted loving partner and manager to this day.

When Arranger KBs came on the market and 1970's Disco Fever was upon us & Dj’s started to undercut the Bands, I needed to figure a way to keep working to amke a living so the early Arranger KB gave me an idea to do it all myself. Being also a singer I had all the tools to create a solo act that would keep me working and most of all SOUND LIKE MY BIG BAND….in the coming years work for the band dwindled down but my Solo career skyrocketed. As technology increased so did my solo act until present where I still Sing & create that Big Band sound and make people dance every night in many ways musically & put smiles on their faces. I also opened two weekly Social Ballroom dance clubs which are very successful & fill a void out there for dancers. I couldn’t think of anything else I would want to do in my life. I was blessed with music & health, family & friends & I'm very grateful for that. There's much more to tell but for now I hope you enjoyed the read.

Thanks

BTW...Now if anyone sees my father whos almiost 90 yrs old tell him the lessons didn’t go to waste!



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 05-13-2010).]