Harry Schroeder – “Doctor Cabbie” Harry Schroeder was born in New York City. At the age 7, he took piano lessons and did his best to ignore them. Schroeder heard Louis Armstrong for the first time when he was fourteen years old. He discovered music again. He started playing trumpet in the high school band […]
Anthony “Tony Baltimore” Durante and his lightning in a bottle Tony Baltimore loves music, songwriting, and poetry. He asked his wife to tell him when he starts to lose his touch. When people aren’t coming to his shows or listening to his music, he would rather hear that from her instead of a reviewer. He […]
Gary Hernandez “Music is for everyone.” Gary Hernandez is a “true Conch”, born and raised in Key West, FL. He began studying piano while in Horace O’Bryan Middle School and continued his music education through high school, playing various instruments. While in high school, Gary played the trombone with Joe Dallas and the Paradise Big […]
Jeff Dalton – if only that bass could talk Jeff Dalton, the youngest of four brothers who are all bass players, was born and raised on Long Island, New York. His father, Big Al Dalton, was a music teacher and leader of the Dalton Family Band. At fourteen, he attended the Interlochen Arts Academy, a […]
Richard “Richie” Ciavolino “Once you become a drummer, the beat will be inside of you.” Richie Ciavolino was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1960. His father Bob “Chevy” Ciavolino was a drummer in Italian street bands in New York and had a great singing voice. The elder Ciavolino performed and booked acts for the Italian […]
“Changing of the Guard” The changing of the guard in any music scene is a natural progression and happens often through the generations. Younger musicians learn entertaining and music skills from older musicians. Likewise, the older musicians learned these skills, when they were young, from the previous generation. In Key West, this change has been […]
Fifty Years of Dave Wegman David Wegman hails from Fort Wayne, Indiana. He never attended any music or art school but taught himself to play music and had a wonderful uncle who showed him how to mix colors in oil. In the 60s, Wegman built and raced A/Gas dragster. He raced all over the East […]
Henry Lysy – he knew immediately he had to step up his game Henry Lysy grew up in the suburbs outside of Baltimore, Maryland. His grandfather immigrated from Ukraine. His father, who was his greatest musical influence, grew up in Rhode Island and his mother Susan was from a large Italian New York family. They […]
Skipper Kripitz. – has developed his own music identity Samuel David Kripitz, lovingly known as Skipper, grew up in pre-casino Atlantic City, New Jersey during the 50’s and 60’s. His sister was a jazz groupie and inundated him with Billy Holiday, Carmen McRae, Sarah Vaughn, Count Basie, Miles Davis, et al. Located just 50 miles […]
George Victory “Key West is like Trinidad without the mountains” Born in 1950, George Victory grew up in Five Rivers, a small village near Arouca in Trinidad. He said there was only one river but you had to cross it five times as it snaked its way down Arouca. One of George’s teachers recognized his […]
