This is how it's done around here for Social Ballroom &
Tea dances....good stuff.

Love that "Fly Me To The Moon" & "Volare" versions!!

You're right Donny

Good stuff and very enjoyable

Thanks
Bernie

Very nice Donny, a knockout band and they appear to be having a ball.

WOW !

Frank

Oh how I miss those days with my 7pc band 25 fun years just like they are having on stage in the video,..... almost 19 yrs now as a solo act, having fun, making a livin', but, it's just NOT the same...

Agreed. I miss the synergy and craziness of the 4-7 pc groups I played in.
But times and music change...and $olo is the right thing now...for me.
Eddie

I miss it a little, but then I think about all the problems. Just about time you get a band solid, somebody quits, or the drummer starts dating the guitar player's wife, or the bass player wises off to the club owner, etc. Nobody wants to rehearse. Nobody wants to load p.a. equipment, but everybody wants an equal cut of the money.
I love the "single" life! If I need a band fix, I can just pick up the phone and get one of several world-class guitar players to come "sit in" for free any time I want.
I could even get Boo to drive down from Colorado with his Sax!
DonM

Don,

I totally agree with you re: "problems with sideman" etc.

I never thought I would ever be a "Solo act" especially since my major instrument in college was the Saxophone!

But, dealing with "sideman" who showed up drunk or late to a gig drove me to go out on my own as a Solo act.

And dealing with Chick singers! Well that's a whole different head banger! [No pun intended :-)]

Ron in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

I love the arrangements to many of these great songs like
Mr. Bojangles at 2:02......

Ron, I haven't had much luck with singers...especially females.

Still, I'm not ready to give up on group play. That's probably because it's my group, and I can make the gig without any one player (left-handed bass, vocals, keyboard or guitar backing or solos, a drum machine, if I have to).

The problems I have with a group are when it's not my group. As a sideman, I NEVER have a problem, but have to listen to all of the problems described above...and MORE!

R.

I miss it A LOT ... ... 26 years starting from high school with the same guys ... NEVER had the problems mentioned above ... but we were somewhat unique: no drugs, some booze but not enough to cause problems, no 'extra' women - all of us married to our original wives - , split all money equally - the 'leaders' pay went into a fund that helped pay for tuxedos, PA systems, etc., no one left a gig until EVERYONE left the gig ... with the exception of one member who passed away, we are all still good friends ...

We weren't all the best musicians around, but it was a case of the sum being greater than the total of its parts ... when we took the stage our enthusiasm went right into the crowd ...
those were the absolute BEST years of my musical career ... only the move of my day JOB to a different state separated us ...

But, ALL good things come to an end ... and times change ...

Donny ... thnx for posting those clips ... I would like to see those guys perform ...

ME, too! I'd like to play with them...piano...guitar...bass...vocals.

What FUN!


R.

Some of you may remember the angst I had about cutting my quartet loose a couple years ago. I'm glad I considered it for as long as I did, which was about a year or more.

There were some good times, for sure...no big problems beyond not wanting to rehearse or travel too far for gigs. After 11 years, it was time to put a fork in us---we were done...

And I don't really miss it...Playing as much as I do as a solo and in so many different styles keeps things very fresh for me. I suspect someday I'll put a duo together again...maybe, but not for a while...

Nice clips, Donnie