Here's a couple of photos of a fun bunch and good musicians all around
The Back East Band
After that long Greyhound bus trip from daytona to Newark NJ I needed a paying gig. Tony Veil, the owner of LouRose Music in Edison NJ gave me a couple of leads to lounge bands that were in need of a singing bass player. After a few months of bouncing around I was hired by the Back East Band. Rich Sorce, the keyboardist was a great arranger and he filled out all the tunes we played with interesting chord changes. Fast forward a few years and Rich would sit in the producer's chair for a couple of Grover Kemble and Za Zu Zaz recording sessions. Barbara Norris was in the singer's seat and she did a marvelous job. Barbara was particularly good singing Brazilian tunes. Rich's brother Ken on guitar was a lot of fun on the road trips.
Our last gig together was at the NATO base in Keflavik Iceland. Perry Cavari (back row on the right) took over the drum chair for this trip. We left from Maguire AFB in NJ right after Christmas 1974 and returned home 5 weeks later.
Crazy cold up there like, nothing you can imagine unless you've been North of the Arctic circle in the winter.
The Northern Lights were really cool to watch!
There were plenty of fill in gigs along the way. Prior to the Back East gig, I did about 3 months of weekends at Manny's Tavern in Perth Amboy NJ. On that gig I met Flossie Cirrelli. Good singer and good at fronting the band.
Wedding gigs were always an option and I did plenty of them over the years. Weddings at times provided extra cash for all the musicians that I hung with and over time, plenty of laughs, too.
I think it was late 1984 (post Za Zu Zaz days) that I got a call from Frank Weber. He was in a house band at a restaurant in Paramus called HB's. The bass player had just left the gig and Frank asked if I had eyes for something steady. I auditioned for the spot and ended up working there for the next 3 years, during which time I went back to scool to finish my BA at Livingston College.
I think it's time to talk about Grover, Margret and Za Zu Zaz.