MUSIC'S BACK; PARTY IS TOO; BIG BAND PLAYS FOR FUN.Byline: Dennis McCarthy Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
In the old days, the cops would have raided the place, just on a hunch. There had to be something illegal going on inside - a crap game, a betting parlor, something fishy Something Fishy is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on January 18 1957 by Herbert Jenkins, London and in the United States on January 28 1957 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, under the title The Butler Did It. . How else are you going to explain all those guys and dolls walking in the back door of Leon's Steakhouse in North Hollywood a little before 10 a.m. on a Wednesday morning? Sure, the economy's pretty good, but they can't all be eating steak for breakfast. No, something besides breakfast is going on inside the lounge at Leon's on Wednesday mornings, and five will get you 10 it ain't bingo. Step inside and meet the boys. They just may be the best-kept secret in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. today. You probably won't recognize their names or faces, but you'll have no trouble placing them. They're your history. At least they are if you were somewhere around the drinking age Noun 1. drinking age - the age at which is legal for a person to buy alcoholic beverages eld, age - a time of life (usually defined in years) at which some particular qualification or power arises; "she was now of school age"; "tall for his eld" when FDR and Truman were president, World War II was winding down and the country was ready to let off some steam and party. The boys threw that party. They played with bands like Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was a popular United States musician and band leader, and a well-known trumpet virtuoso. Harry James was born in Albany, Georgia, the son of a bandleader of a traveling circus. , Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) (pianist) led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator. , Ray Anthony, Billy May, Tex Beneke Tex Beneke (b. Gordon Lee Beneke, February 12, 1914, Fort Worth, Texas - May 30, 2000, Costa Mesa, California) was an American saxophonist, singer, and bandleader, who is probably remembered best for his association -- and best-selling hit records -- with Glenn Miller's popular big , Les Brown Les Brown may refer to:
Alton Glenn Miller, Miller , Benny Goodman Noun 1. Benny Goodman - United States clarinetist who in 1934 formed a big band (including black as well as white musicians) and introduced a kind of jazz known as swing (1909-1986) Benjamin David Goodman, Goodman, King of Swing , Woody Herman Noun 1. Woody Herman - United States jazz musician and bandleader (1913-1987) Herman, Woodrow Charles Herman and the Dorsey brothers. All the great ones. They were, and still are, the best musicians this country ever produced. Musical tastes may have changed over the years, but the boys' talent didn't. Once a week for the last couple of years, they've been walking in the back door of Leon's and jamming for a few hours in the lounge. Alone, at first. Just 15 or 20 of them rehearsing some charts. Keeping their talent in shape. Then word started getting around town that something magical was happening over at Leon's. Some guys from the Big Band era were turning back the clock. Pretty soon, a few dozen parents of baby boomers, then a few dozen more, weren't walking the dog, going to the gym, or sitting at home watching TV talk shows on Wednesday mornings anymore. They were walking in the back door of Leon's Steakhouse to listen to a band called The Alumni Association knock 50 years off the calendar. The old millennium was back, and damn, it sounded good. RANDY VAN HORNE and George Kenny sit in a back booth in the lounge at Leon's on Wednesday morning, and watch the crowd slowly filter in. All the regulars are here, say the men who started all this. There's Mary Helen Haar, a retired school teacher and principal from Van Nuys who never misses a Wednesday, and Joe Seaman from North Hollywood, who remembers lying in his bunk in World War II and listening to a lot of these same men help him fight the loneliness with their records. There's comedian Buddy Lester, who brings the doughnuts and never misses a Wednesday morning, and retired fight promoter Don Fraser, who doesn't either. All in all, there are nearly 50 people talking and waiting patiently for the boys to set up the bandstand. Mary Hall, whose been waitressing at Leon's for 17 years, has never seen anything like it. The bar lounge used to be as dead as an old hangover on Wednesday morning; now it's hopping with nearly 50 people having a little steak and eggs with their music. ``It charges the band up, having a live audience like this at our rehearsals,'' says Kenny, an arranger and trombonist who played with the Billy May Orchestra. It was never supposed to be this way, the men say. Leon's was just supposed to be a getaway for the boys to meet and enjoy one another's company again, while keeping their talent in shape. As Van Horne, the band's conductor and arranger puts it, a chance ``to be with 18 guys on the bandstand who all understand the concept of real Big Band music because they were all there.'' But the boys are just too good to keep under wraps. They played this year's Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy muscular dystrophy (dĭs`trōfē), any of several inherited diseases characterized by progressive wasting of the skeletal muscles. There are five main forms of the disease. Telethon, and recently divvied up $15,500 for a New Year's Eve gig at a private party in Hidden Hills for 300 guests, Van Horne says. It doesn't matter what millennium the boys are playing in, Van Horne says, good music is still good music. By 10:30 a.m., he is standing on the bandstand calling for chart 201 - looking into the faces of Johnny Vana on drums, Al Vescovo on guitar, Bill Casilli on piano, Fred Dutton on bass, and Jack Feierman, Bob Rolfe, Jack Coan and Fred Koyen on trumpet. The faces of Ron Smith, Robby Robinson and Lon Norman on trombone trombone [Ital.,=large trumpet], brass wind musical instrument of cylindrical bore, twice bent on itself, having a sliding section that lengthens or shortens it and thus regulates the pitch. The descendant of the sackbut, it was developed in the 15th cent. , and John Setar, Ira Schulman, Larry Covelli, Ethmer Roten and Larry Doherty on sax. The boys. Big Band musicians who threw a wild, wonderful party for this country more than 50 years ago are still throwing one for free every Wednesday morning at a steakhouse in the Valley. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) Fred Dutton plays the bass with The Alumni Association during one of their Wednesday morning jams at Leon's Steakhouse in North Hollywood. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer (2) The Alumni Association plays a tune as part of its weekly Wednesday morning set at Leon's Steakhouse. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer |
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