Who is left of the original TjB?

JAZZTAX

New Member
Hello. I am new here. I used to live next door to Nick and Judy Ceroli. My family were good friends
with all the guys in the brass. Are any of the musicians on this forum? Its been a very long time, but
thought I'd ask! thanks
 
Other than Julius Wechter checking in here before 2000, I can't recall any other members of the touring Brass showing up. Carol Kaye, who played bass on the WHIPPED CREAM album and perhaps before, was here a couple of times back then too.

The following are all gone:
Bob Edmondson
Tonni Kalash
Nick Ceroli
Lou Pagani

Still with us are Pat Senatore and John Pisano.
 
Hello. I am new here. I used to live next door to Nick and Judy Ceroli. My family were good friends
with all the guys in the brass. Are any of the musicians on this forum? Its been a very long time, but
thought I'd ask! thanks
That’s amazing! Must of been a thrill living next door to great Nick Ceroli. Do you have any stories to share? Thanks for posting!
 
I have, like some others here on the forum, had some contact with Pat Senatore. He used to be responsible for artist bookings at Herb's jazz club Vibrato in Bel-Air. On my annual trips to L.A. I always scheduled an evening at Vibrato and often got the chance to talk to Pat, who willingly shared memories from the TJB days. Pat and his wife moved to Rome, Italy shortly before the pandemic and he told me on e-mail that he played a lot with Italian musicians and enjoyed life in Rome.

- greetings from the north -
Martin
 
Martin--thanks for the info regarding Pat and his wife now living in Rome, Italy. I would guess he felt his ancestral homeland would be a wonderful place to retire. I have vacationed in Italy. You can't do any better than that.
 
Italy has an active music scene, so I bet Pat is enjoying the heck out of it! I wonder if John Pisano is still doing his Guitar Nights.
 
A trumpet player I played with in a sextet some years ago studied with Claude Gordon in LA. He said that Nick Ceroli was teaching drum kit at the same time (presumably at the same locale); although he only crossed paths with Nick in passing, he said that Nick always seemed very nice and that he was easily approachable.

I met Pat Sanatore purely by chance round about 20 years ago: He was playing double bass in a trio at a Ventura night club my uncle and I happened to venture into for a drink… I didn’t visually recognize him, but when the pianist introduced the group, I surely knew the name…I went over and said hello. We briefly chatted: I recall he said that toward the end (of the TjB) it was like a whirlwind of European cities (years later, I surmised he was probably referring to the autumn ’69 tour). I’m sure these guys probably get tired of all the "…can you tell me about all the stuff you did — 30 years ago…" bit, so I kept if brief. I recall the trio was quite good and that his bass playing was light years beyond what he ever did for Herb. (I also later learned that he played with Kenton in the early '60s — so the guy had the chops. For whatever reason, for the Brass Herb chose to write bass parts that rarely opened up the instrument; rather he seemed essentially content with rudimentary "root-V" and simple variations on the voicings, which seemed at odds with Herb’s memorable and innovative arrangements for other instruments.)
 
  • Like
Reactions: lj
Apparently, according to a post on John Pisano's guitar night fb site, John returned home from some successful surgery at the beginning of December.

- greetings from the north-

Martin
 
A trumpet player I played with in a sextet some years ago studied with Claude Gordon in LA. He said that Nick Ceroli was teaching drum kit at the same time (presumably at the same locale); although he only crossed paths with Nick in passing, he said that Nick always seemed very nice and that he was easily approachable.

I met Pat Sanatore purely by chance round about 20 years ago: He was playing double bass in a trio at a Ventura night club my uncle and I happened to venture into for a drink… I didn’t visually recognize him, but when the pianist introduced the group, I surely knew the name…I went over and said hello. We briefly chatted: I recall he said that toward the end (of the TjB) it was like a whirlwind of European cities (years later, I surmised he was probably referring to the autumn ’69 tour). I’m sure these guys probably get tired of all the "…can you tell me about all the stuff you did — 30 years ago…" bit, so I kept if brief. I recall the trio was quite good and that his bass playing was light years beyond what he ever did for Herb. (I also later learned that he played with Kenton in the early '60s — so the guy had the chops. For whatever reason, for the Brass Herb chose to write bass parts that rarely opened up the instrument; rather he seemed essentially content with rudimentary "root-V" and simple variations on the voicings, which seemed at odds with Herb’s memorable and innovative arrangements for other instruments.)
Met him at the Vibrato one night when we traveled from Atlanta for a fundraiser where Sergio Mendes and his wife played a couple of songs. Herb's daughter was there, sort of overseeing operations. She was friendly, for sure. We were seated close to the front and were first to arrive — so were the focus of attention from the warmup guy: Jeff Goldblum. The three of us had a long back and forth with him and got pictures. Anyway — I did go up to Pat and said hello. He shared what a great businessman Herb is. He said Herb alternated photos on the back of albums where every other one showed the group. This prevented any member of the group from getting too much clout. (This didn't come across as mean — just savvy.)
 
Back
Top Bottom