Most people are familiar with the traditional diatonic harmonica’s long, wailing notes and chords on blues and country songs. Yet there’s another version of the instrument that allows the musician to tear through three octaves of sharps and flats. Once cherished in jazz, classical and folk circles, the chromatic harmonica is disappearing from the musical landscape, and Enrico Granafei is one its few remaining masters.

Granafei was born and raised in the Italian region of Calabria region, and as a young man took an interest in guitar.

“I enrolled in a classical guitar course at the conservatory,” Granafei says from his home in New Jersey. “Then I moved to Rome because my professor transferred to L’Aquila. It was a small city and I wanted to be in the capital, where things were happening.”

Granafei earned a degree in classical guitar from the conservatory in L’ Aquila and taught in Germany before returning to Rome in the late 1970s. While there, he performed regularly as part of the Pippo Caruso Orchestra on the television show “Un milione al secondo.” It was during this period that he first heard the Bill Evans record “Affinity,” which featured Toots Thielemans, a Belgian musician who will be remembered as the undisputed master of the chromatic harmonica.

Thielemans played with everyone from Benny Goodman to Miles Davis and on dozens of soundtracks for TV shows and movies, including “Midnight Cowboy,” winning almost every musical award bestowed in Europe and America. Granafei became fascinated with Thielemans and eventually had the honor of becoming the master’s one and only graduate student.

“I first heard him in a festival in Italy, traveling 1,200 kilometers by train to hear him. Years later, after I moved to this country, I met him in New York City and he invited me to his house. I played with some cats who played with him,” Granafei recalls. “Later I was doing my master’s degree in jazz performance at the Manhattan School of Music. At the time, I applied as a harmonica player but they had no teacher. So I called Toots and asked him, ‘I hope you don’t mind but I would like to study with you.’ ”

Thielemans told Granafei he would love to teach him, but he was busy touring and recording around the world. And yet, the two worked out an arrangement. “He told me that we could do it informally, just getting together whenever he was in town and I said, ‘Okay, you got it.’ ”

In the ensuing years, Granafei has performed in festivals in Italy, Hungary, France, Italy and Finland as well as clubs like the Blue Note and Birdland. He also was the only individual to record an entire album playing the chromatic harmonica hands-free while also playing the guitar. The instrument has a button on the side that you press with your finger to switch from major notes to sharps and flats. Granafei perfected the skill of working the button with his lips. It was something that had never been done before, and it amazed the harmonica world. Granafei continues to amaze, performing, recording and conducting workshops and furthering the art of the chromatic harmonica.

“It’s Hard to Say Goodbye”
Enrico Granafei

If you are a fan of jazz, bossa nova and jazz fusion, Granafei’s chromatic harmonica sound blends all of them with a unique tone that makes your ears perk up and listen. The disk starts with Amina Figarova’s “Night Train,” which combines elements of bop, fusion and bossa nova. With its light, airy sound and notes that seem to dance like stardust, the instrument is perfect for capturing the bossa nova sound and mood. That feeling also comes through on “Claudinho,” where Granafei’s instrument frolics above a low sultry saxophone, and “Medo De Amar,” where he sings in Portuguese, handling the vocals with smooth perfection.

Granafei is joined by many master musicians on the record, most notably famed trumpeter and flugelhornist Claudio Roditi and pianist and longtime Dizzy Gillespie collaborator Mike Longo, both of whom passed away shortly after recording this project. Granafei ends the disk with a tribute to this mentor, Toots Thielemans. “Bluesette” is Thielemans’ signature tune, and Granafei delivers with pitch perfect tone and timing. Yet it’s the title track, “It’s Hard to Say Goodbye,” that perfectly blends Granafei’s skill with Thielemans’ inspiration. The track takes you on a leisurely walk along the Aterno River, with L’Aquila perched in the hills above, the notes spreading through the air like a field full of lilies of the valley, bursting with vibrant life.

The article above appears in the February 2025 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture.

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New Orleans, 1919. The cobblestone streets are filled with fancy carriages as well as carts pushed by vendors, many of them Italian American, selling fresh fruit, shrimp and oysters. As gas lanterns light the nighttime streets of the French Quarter, a new music is being born. Part ragtime, part blues, part march music, it’s called jazz.

Decked out in high-collared shirts and dark suits and with their hair slicked back, Cosimo and the Hot Coals transport audiences back to that magical time when a new sound was born in New Orleans. Based in Milan, the band regularly performs throughout Italy and Europe and recently did several shows in Saudi Arabia.

The group is led by Cosimo Pignataro, whose love of the trumpet and jazz inspired him to embark on this grand creative endeavor.

“I come from a small town in Calabria called Vaccarizzo Albanese in the province of Cosenza,” Pignataro says from his home in Italy. “My mother listened to a lot of old-time Italian music on the radio. One day by chance we listened to Louis Armstrong, and I fell in love with him. I was about 10 years old.

“That’s when I began studying trumpet, and as I grew older, I realized playing jazz and trumpet was my path in life,” he continues. “I began studying in Milan at the Civic Jazz Academy, specializing in the jazz music of the 1920s.”

Like many Italian musicians, Pignataro got his start playing home-grown folk music before being seduced across the Atlantic by the sounds of rhythm and blues and early rock. Possessing a theatrical flair, he convinced the members of one of his first bands to dress the part as well.

“The idea of creating a project that, in addition to recreating the music of an era, also involved dressing and styling your hair in that way came from me, from my love for vintage eras of history,” Pignataro says. “I had already played for years with another band in the style of ’50s rhythm and blues before founding this one, so I had learned from those older than me that style is also important for having an identity.”

An idea and a dream were hatched in Pignataro’s mind. Why not combine his love of vintage costumes and theatrics with the music he truly loved, the sound of New Orleans during the birth of jazz. Unlike the often simpler forms of vintage American music from later decades, Pignataro had to reach back to his years at the jazz academy in Milan to find musicians with both the skill and dedication needed bring his vision to life.

“I met many of the guys during my last year at the academy, but then we lost touch,” Pignataro says. “A year or two after my graduation, I contacted them again to do some rehearsals and then start playing small shows around town. Some of them had much less experience than me with being on stage, and so even though they had the musical skill I needed to coach them on the whole concept of performance and art. Eventually we bonded as one, which makes everything become magical and fun.”

Troppa Serietà
Cosimo and the Hot Coals

Cosimo and the Hot Coals’ latest recording continues the band’s amazing journey, taking listeners back in time with authentic renditions of 1920s and 1930s American jazz while adding an Italian spin. The first cut, “Hot Coals Call,” is a love letter to several genres of that era, combining Delta blues, boogie-woogie, swing and Dixieland in the CD’s only English-language track.

The CD’s title song, “Troppa Serietà,” jumps right out at the listener as bandleader Cosimo Pignataro trumpets, skats and swings his way through this danceable tune. “Bella Sarena” combines a traditional Italian two-step dance beat and lyrics with a tremendous high-wire trumpet solo by Pignataro. “Bambina” is a New Orleans-style shuffle blues that has you picturing the band strolling and playing down Rampart Street.

While Pignataro’s vocals and trumpet are the focus of the recording, he is more than ably backed by Michele Capasso on drums, Mirko Boles on bass, Stefano Della Grotta on guitar and banjo, Martin Di Pietro on piano, and Giovanni Amodeo on clarinet. While almost all of today’s music is recorded on separate tracks, often with computer enhancement, this was recorded live, with all the musicians playing together in one room, just like Louis Armstrong and Nick La Rocca did back in New Orleans.

The article above appears in the August 2025 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture.

To view a sample copy, click here.

To subscribe, click here.

“Surrender” blossoms into a seven-minute introduction of the project’s theme — a philosophical look at life as one reaches middle age and beyond. This exploration continues in songs like “The Melody of You,” “Don’t Ever Look for Love,” “In the Middle of Life” and “Keeping Track of Time.”

The title track, “You Think You Know” and “Shooting Star” all have a Latin flavor. During these tracks, co-producer and master guitarist Fareed Haque steps to the forefront. Haque adds a touch of bossa nova here and Flamenco there, along with a splash of tango and some standard jazz runs.

The two artists magically mesh on “Lafayette,” where Pallatto’s vocals and Haque’s guitar create the illusion of words and notes dancing across a ballroom floor cooled by a soft ocean breeze.

Backed by the piano of Sparrow, bass of John Christensen and percussion of Eric Hines, Pallatto continues to add to a legacy of music that, like Chicago itself, cannot be captured in a single category.

For more, click here.

A half century at any job is something to celebrate, but Sam Gullo is marking five decades as the barber at one of Chicago’s most iconic buildings, the Civic Opera House, home of the Lyric Opera.

Gullo and his family arrived in Chicago from Caccamo, Sicily, in 1961. “I came here with my father and brother,” Gullo says from his shop on the 15th floor of the historic building. “My father worked in Chicago for two years, then returned to Sicily to bring us back. We first settled at Ohio and Leavitt streets.”

Gullo learned his trade from his older brother, who also tipped him off that the plum location at the opera house was available for purchase. “I bought the shop on May 28, 1973,” Gullo says.

Over the decades, Gullo has coiffed many a luminary, including conductor Sir Andrew Davis, Bishop Edwin Michael Conway, legendary candymaker Salvatore Ferrara, Illinois Appellate Court Judge Mel Jiganti, and mogul/philanthropists Robert Lurie and Richard Notebaert.

Every day, Gullo walks along marble floors, past 40-foot columns and beneath crystal chandeliers covered in gold leaf on the way to his shop. But it’s the people that have made Gullo’s job so special.

“I love to come to work,” Gullo says. “Every day, I meet and talk to people in the arts and finance, lawyers and judges. People ask me if I will retire, and I say, ‘Why?’ To me, there is no more interesting place to be than here.”

(civicoperabarbershop.com)

— David Witter

Embracing the Great American Songbook while fellow high schoolers were dancing to ’70s rock, Denise Tomasello has emerged as Chicago’s quintessential chanteuse.

Known as “Chicago’s Queen of Cabaret,” Denise Tomasello has been entertaining audiences in many of the area’s finest venues for decades. After a nearly three-year hiatus from show business, this acclaimed chanteuse is once again taking to the stage with her stirring interpretations of the Great American Songbook.

Tomasello is a native of Melrose Park, where she attended Proviso East High School. Her mother worked at Amling’s Flowerland, and her father was a delivery driver for the old Burny Brothers Bakery.

“As a child, I remember we would go to church at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and have these wonderful family dinners with my grandparents and other relatives,” Tomasello says from her home in north suburban Chicago. “Sunday was always my favorite day.”

Tomasello has had a lifetime love affair with the music of composers like Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Sammy Kahn and other authors of the Great American Songbook. The same can be said for the generation of singers she admired while growing up.

“When I was younger, I remember my parents and I always used to watch The Judy Garland Show on television,” Tomasello recalls. “I never really liked the newer songs, the rock or pop. I was never really into them, even when I was a teenager.”

Instead, Tomasello, along with her parents, listened to artists like Streisand, Sinatra, Martin and Bennett. Her uncle Joe Toullo played the saxophone and toured with the Lawrence Welk Orchestra, but it was Tomasello’s sister Diane who nudged her toward her chosen career.

“My sister’s boyfriend was starting a show band, and they were looking for a female singer, so she forced me to go to the audition,” Tomasello says. “I never really sang in school, but I did play guitar and sing around the house with my sister Debra. I was 19 at the time, and I was thrilled when I got the job.”

The band played hits from the ’70s throughout the Chicago area. Tomasello went on to form a trio of her own so she could showcase the repertoire that was near and dear to her heart. Local agent and music manager Tony Leanardi booked her into the Tack Room at the Arlington Park Hilton, where local bands held sway. Meanwhile, national headliners like Eydie Gormé, Steve Lawrence, Kenny Rogers, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra Jr. and Nancy Wilson were performing upstairs in the Hilton’s prestigious showroom. The venue’s entertainment director heard Tomasello singing in the Tack Room and approached her.

“He came up to me and said, ‘What are you doing here? You should be downtown. I know this jewel of a room that is perfect for you.’ He told me he was bringing an agent in the following night, but he never showed up,” Tomasello says. “Oh well, that’s showbiz. But on Monday morning, the phone rang, and I was told an audition had been scheduled for me at Sage’s. I hadn’t planned on being a cabaret singer. In fact, I had never been to a cabaret show in my life. I had to go on cold and sing three songs. The entertainment director shook my hand and hired me for two weeks. That two weeks ended up being a six-year engagement.”

With a style reminiscent of Minelli and Garland, Tomasello took the local cabaret scene by storm. Settling in at Sage’s, she began refining her craft. In this intimate setting, she was able to not only make each song her own, but create a special bond with her audiences. Critics like Rick Kogan and Larry Kart wrote rave reviews, and the who’s who began to turn out in force.

“Sage’s was across the street from the Ambassador East’s Pump Room, so all the celebrities used to come in,” Tomasello says. “On any night, you could see Irv Kupcinet or Harry Caray. That was where I became a chanteuse. I loved it so much I sang there year ’round. I didn’t even want to take a vacation.”

That was a different era. From the 1950s through the 1990s, Rush Street had a vibrant entertainment scene, boasting clubs like Blondies, Billy’s, Yvette’s, The Acorn, Toulouse, P.S. Chicago and the biggest of them all, Mister Kelly’s. With her repertoire of classic torch songs like “Just in Time,” “Our Love is Here to Stay” and “Come Rain or Come Shine,” Tomasello fit right in and played them all.

Word of her talent spread beyond the Chicago area, and Tomasello was soon booking engagements at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Cinegrill and Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles, as well as the 88’s and Townhall in Manhattan. She also got the chance to open locally for Don Rickles and Alan King. After she opened for Jackie Mason at the Tropicana in Atlantic City, the legendary comic called her, “an amazing singer and brilliant comedian. She is so natural on stage, like a female Dean Martin.”

Along the way, she developed a close personal relationship with Frank Sinatra Jr., which led to her working with some of the top names in the business.

At the time, Chicago was the capital of the advertising industry, and countless major commercials were being produced there. Tomasello’s voice reached a national audience on the soundtracks of ads by Toyota, American Airlines, Motorola and Oscar Mayer.

As the years went by, the entertainment scene changed dramatically. Rooms like Sage’s were closing, and deejays began replacing professional musicians. Tomasello’s career continued to thrive thanks in part to Ron Onesti, who started booking her at his Italian fests, where she headlined for years.

“I have to give so much credit to Ron,” Tomasello says. “He gave a great boost to my career. He is so wonderful to work for, and he treats his performers with such respect and courtesy.”

Things took a tragic turn when Tomasello’s mother passed away in 2017, followed by the death of her beloved husband, Don Conover, in 2020. Then, the pandemic struck, hitting the entertainment industry particularly hard. Tomasello ended up putting her career on pause for three years.

It was only a matter of time before Tomasello’s love for music and life reasserted itself. She made a triumphant return to the stage on June 12, 2022, when she performed “Judy, Liza, Barbra and Me” with her 17-piece orchestra at Onesti’s Des Plaines Theater. Then, it was back to her cabaret roots on Oct. 15, 2022, when she wowed audiences at Davenport’s Cabaret and Piano Bar in Chicago.

She also played a key role in Davenport’s Chicago Emerging Artist Showcase in August, during which five young musicians competed for the first-ever Denise Tomasello Scholarship. The grant was established by Tomasello to foster the careers of young cabaret singers on the local entertainment scene. She will soon be launching the Don Conover Foundation in loving memory of her late husband.

“Music has the power to heal. I really do believe that” Tomasello says. “It’s given me so much, and I’m happy to do my small part to give back.”

The above appears in the January 2023 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture. To subscribe, click here.

A commercial artist for Fortune 500 companies early in his career, Carlo Beninati emerged as the go-to portrait painter of the previous century’s sports legends.

While some may experience an occasional “brush with greatness” in their lives, artist Carlo Beninati has spent a lifetime “brushing greatness,” creating portraits of the legendary sports figures of the 20th century. Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Mario Andretti, Muhammad Ali, Joe Montana, Walter Payton, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Derrick Jeter are among the countless luminaries Beninati has captured on canvas. Using bold colors and impressionistic backgrounds, Beninati depicts the prowess and charisma of his subjects in ways that no photograph could.

His portraits of individual legends have garnered him international renown, but Beninati is perhaps best known in the Italian-American community for a collage assembling a pantheon of greats who trace their roots to the Boot.

Commissioned by the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, Beninati combined the likenesses of Joe DiMaggio, Vince Lombardi, Willie Mosconi, Yogi Berra, Mario Andretti, Eddie Arcaro, Rocky Marciano and others, both posed and participating in the sports that made them famous.

Beninati’s trajectory is all the more impressive given its humble origins. While many artists develop their skills at prestigious art schools or with the support of wealthy patrons, Beninati built a career on raw talent, diligence and the patronage of the Italian-American community.

“I was born in Humboldt Park, but our family moved to Elmwood Park before I was a teenager,” he says from his home in Geneva, Illinois. “I attended Elmwood Park High School where I was part of the first graduating class. I played football on the offensive and defensive ends of the team. That and playing baseball is what probably began my lifelong love of sports. As for art, my teachers always told me I was very good, which is probably why I continued to increase the time I spent drawing.”

Beninati set his sights on being an architect while continuing to hone his artistic craft. His first break came while he was dining at Armand’s Restaurant in Elmwood Park. Beninati’s parents mentioned to owners Mike Caringella and Armand Christopher that their son was an artist. After seeing his work, the restaurateurs agreed to display his paintings in the restaurant, where they promptly sold out. Caringella and Christopher touted Beninati’s talents on the national level, convincing UNICO to commission him to paint their Man of the Year portrait in 1962.

“Mike and Armand knew a lot of influential people, and they were very kind in promoting me and my work,” Beninati says. “They set up an interview for me at a top downtown art studio: Stevens, Biondi and De Cicco. That brought me to another level.”

Beninati began to work for Chicago’s major ad agencies on projects for Fortune 500 companies. This led to him rubbing elbows with government officials, business executives, entertainment personalities and sports stars. Two of the latter were Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams.

Beninati has done several portraits of DiMaggio, which like many of his works are reproduced and often sold at sports memorabilia conventions and auctions. “At first, DiMaggio was a bit distant, and as a celebrity, he was always very guarded,” Beninati recalls. “It was all business. He would set up his pens, put a pad down for his elbow, sign the works and give them to a notary nearby. It took a while before he began to trust me.”

His portraits of DiMaggio were seen by archrival Williams, and Beninati ended up doing similar portraits for the “Splendid Splinter.”

“With Williams, it was different,” he says. “I bonded with him, and he invited me to his home in Florida for a week where I had a marvelous time.”

Beninati’s reach was dramatically extended through his long association with the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame.

“I was the beneficiary of a lot of effort by (NIASHF founder) George Randazzo,” he says. “Through him, there were invitations to fundraisers for the Better Boys Foundation, Athletes in Action and other groups, which is how I met Joe Montana, Dan Marino and Anthony Munoz, and eventually painted their portraits.”

Beninati’s portrayal of Montana is truly iconic. Attired in his bold scarlet and gold 49ers jersey, the football superstar stares intently down the field. By blurring out the crowd behind Montana, the artist highlights his intense concentration, almost looking into Montana’s soul. Like many of Beninati’s works, the original image was taken from a photograph, but Beninati’s interpretation transcends a merely realistic depiction.

Another notable subject was Mario Andretti, whose wavy brown hair, tough guy smile and gleaming Formula One race car are captured in the corner of Beninati’s collage of Italian-American legends.

“People forget what a big star Andretti was,” Beninati says. “His and Andy Granatelli’s STP stickers were in practically every filling station in the country.”

Beninati emerged as the go-to guy when a portrait of a sports great needed painting. Mickey Mantle, Mike Ditka, Willie Mays, Dennis Rodman and Tiger Woods were among the luminaries, but the biggest of them all may have been Michael Jordan.

“I worked a lot with Michael Jordan during the 1990s,” Beninati says. “Like almost all of the subjects, he was extremely gracious and kind. But he was such a sought-after star at that time, almost like The Beatles, that his mother handled a lot of his day-to-day business. She was also a wonderful person.”

Beninati has served as a director of the Village Art School in Skokie and member of the Graphic Design Advisory Board at Elgin Community College, as well as on the board of directors of the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame and the Ways and Means Committee for Scalabrini Village. He and his wife of 40 years, Diane, each have three children and numerous grandchildren. In 1992, he was honored as Man of the Year by the Chicago Chapter of the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame.

Beninati’s work has continued into the new millennium. In 2004, he was commissioned to create a poster for NASCAR’s Brickyard 400 and ended up painting portraits of drivers Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Sr. Extending his string of portraits of Yankees legends, he was also called upon by representatives of Derrick Jeter and Alex Rodriguez to set their images to canvas. In so doing, he has captured three generations of American sports heroes with his brush and pallet, creating images that will long outlast their on-field careers.

“I have been very fortunate to have been promoted and believed in by many important and influential people, and then to work with all these legends of sports and industry,” Beninati says. “They have always been very kind and gracious. I’m a lucky man.”

The above appears in the December 2022 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture. To subscribe, click here.

Lifting himself out of poverty by his own bootstraps, Tom Dreesen made it to the very pinnacle of standup comedy by staying in touch with his humble roots.

Tom Dreesen grew up in a shack with no hot water, started working at age 10 and, as a young comedian, slept in a car for three weeks. In that very same lifetime, he appeared on “The Tonight Show” more than 60 times and spent 13 years riding in private jets and limousines as the opening act for Frank Sinatra.

Like the Sinatra song “My Way,” Dreesen — who is half Irish and half Italian — has had his share of ups and downs, starting with a rough-and-tumble childhood in Harvey, Illinois, a working-class town where his family barely clung to the short end of the stick.

“It’s hard to describe how poor we were, but I’ll try,” Dreesen said from his home in Southern California. “Our home was rat and roach infested. We had no bathtub or shower. For heat, we would gather the little pieces of coal that fell off the train in a box.”

Dreesen spent his childhood defending himself against neighborhood tough guys and listening to his parents, who both had drinking problems, argue until dawn. He would then get up, deliver newspapers and go to school. He found stability by joining the U.S. Navy at 17. His service led him to exotic ports around the world, where he gained life experience but no trade or profession. Instead, he returned to Harvey and worked odd jobs, from bartender to dock foreman to insurance salesman.

As a release, he joined the Jaycees, where he met Tim Reid, who would later find national stardom as Venus Flytrap on “WKRP in Cincinnati.” Dreesen and Reid began their long friendship doing middle school drug prevention presentations that were filled with give-and-take and lighthearted banter. Those evolved into gigs at local clubs, and the two men became “Tim and Tom,” the first black/white comedy team.

They toured the country together, working college campuses and the black “chitlin circuit” between long stints at Playboy clubs around the country. But after six years, there was no “big break,” and the team broke up. Dreesen could have returned to the Chicago area and made a good living selling insurance, but his life so far — the good, the bad, the poor, the funny — was a story he needed to tell. So with no money in the bank, one suit and a dream, he left for Los Angeles.

Sleeping in an abandoned car, washing up in a nearby gas station and living on a dollar a day for food, Dreesen would distribute headshots to agents during the day and wait for the Comedy Store to open its doors in the evening.

Producers would attend sets there in search of talent, with the holy grail being an appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.” It’s where superstars like David Letterman, Robin Williams and Jay Leno got their start, but at that time, they were all struggling for a break. After hundreds of sets at the Comedy Store, Dreesen was the first of that legendary lot to finally be invited onto “The Tonight Show.” The audience loved him.

Beyond his infectious personality and boyish good looks, Dreesen’s life experiences fueled comedy that every working person could relate to. After seeing him perform, Sammy Davis Jr. invited Dreesen to open for him. He then toured with Liza Minelli, Natalie Cole, Frankie Avalon, Smokey Robinson and others. That journey inevitably led him to the late, great Frank Sinatra.

The story goes that Dreesen attended a Sinatra show at Harrah’s Hotel right after his own performances at Caesars Palace in Lake Tahoe. The manager of Harrah’s introduced him to Sinatra’s manager, Mickey Rudin, suggesting that Dreesen would be a good opening act. Rudin asked, “Hey, kid, if I gave you a week with Frank Sinatra, would you want more than 50,000 a week?” Dreesen replied, “If you give me a week with Frank, would YOU want more than 50,000?”

The rest, as they say, is history. Sinatra discovered that he had much in common with the young comic. Both came from hardscrabble backgrounds, growing up in saloons. Frank’s father was a boxer, and Dreesen boxed while in the Navy. Both were passionate supporters of the civil rights movement, and both were Italian.

That part of Dreesen’s identity came as a surprise. As a child, he assumed he was a combination of Dutch, German and Irish, but he always felt comfortable at the Italian churches and carnivals he attended in Harvey and nearby Blue Island. He also felt close to his uncle, Frank Polizzi, his mother’s sister’s husband.

“I was 13 when I began to realize that I didn’t look like my brothers. They had blonde hair and blue eyes. But I looked just like my uncle, Frank, and his two sons. They had black hair and brown eyes,” Dreesen says. “So when I was 15, we went for a walk. I always felt very comfortable with him, so I told him, ‘I think I’m your son.’ He told me, ‘Yes, it’s true. I am your father. And you can tell the world about it, but it would ruin your mom and dad’s marriage, and it would ruin mine.’”

Sinatra was one of the few people to whom Dreesen privately related the story. Upon hearing it, Sinatra told him, “That kind of thing happens more than you know.”

As time went on, the bond between the two men grew stronger. Dreesen often stayed at Sinatra’s palatial home, where he mingled well into the morning hours with guests like Gregory Peck, Kirk Douglas, Robert Wagner and Clint Eastwood. Then, it was off on Sinatra’s private jet to open for the megastar in front of as many as 40,000 people.

As Frank aged, Dreesen became more than an opening act; he was a vital part of his support system. When Sinatra died in 1995, Dreesen was honored that Sinatra’s wife, Barbara, asked him to be one of the pallbearers and to speak at his funeral. But it was also the end of an era for him.

“The day I met him, my life forever changed,” Dreesen says. “The day he passed away, I knew my life would never be the same.”

After Sinatra’s passing, Dreesen continued to perform his standup routines across the country and appeared on shows like “Late Night with David Letterman.” Dreesen also showed up in Eastwood’s film “Trouble with the Curve” and has co-written “Tim and Tom,” a book about his days working with Reid, and his autobiography, “Still Standing: My Journey From Streets and Saloons to the Stage and Sinatra.” Outside of the spotlight, he has worked tirelessly for several charities, most notably raising funds to fight multiple sclerosis and to help disadvantaged children.

“I look where I came from and pray every night, realizing how grateful I am to make a living as a standup comic and entertainer,” Dreesen says. “In this way, my prayers have been answered, and the least I can do is to give back so that maybe someday the dreams of some young person can come true, as well.”

The above appears in the November 2022 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture. To subscribe, click here.

From arias to anthems, standards to stadium rock, Diva Montell takes almost any musical style and makes it her own. Blessed with a powerful soprano voice, Montell’s talents brought her to a crossroads early in her career when she had to weigh what was in her heart against the expectations of others. That journey began at birth.

“Yes, I was born with the name Diva,” Montell says.

“My mother, Concetta Ferreri, was an opera singer who performed with the Apollo Opera Company, The Midwest Opera and other venues,” she continues. “After she was married, she had four children but continued to sing at Mass at Our Lady of Pompei, St. John Cantius and Santa Maria Addolorata. My father, Freddie Montell, made his living as an entertainer performing in places like Mr. Kelly’s, the Starlight Lounge and Chez Paul. Our surname is Montalto, but Dad took Montell as a stage name and I did the same.”

Montell was born in the Chicago Italian enclave around Grand, Ogden and Racine, spending time in her grandmother’s eight-flat apartment building. “There weren’t many green spaces in the neighborhood, but our homes were filled with family, friends, food, faith and, above all, music,” she recalls.

“When I was 6, mom was singing ‘O Mio Babbino Caro’ as she was cleaning, and I started singing it with her,” Montell says. “At that point, she realized that I had a talent for opera.”

With the old neighborhood changing, the family moved to Western Springs when Montell was 7 years old. During middle school, she was reluctant to take the lead and fully express herself as a singer. One day, her choir teacher gave her an ultimatum, stating, “With a name like Diva, you had better learn to sing, or else you will amount to nothing!”

Montell’s talent was evident, not only to her parents and middle school teachers, but to the larger educational and musical communities, as well.

“I was awarded a scholarship to DePaul University, where I studied under Dr. Frank Little,” Montell says of the tenor who performed with the Metropolitan Opera and once gave a private, command performance for Pope John Paul II. “I was one of only three students, and when Dr. Little moved on to New York, I continued my studies at the American Conservatory of Music at his urging.”

With talent came enormous pressure, and Montell began to feel she was being corralled into a career that was not entirely of her choosing.

“Studying opera was so intense. The commitment was just mind-boggling,” Montell says. “I love all kinds of music, but I couldn’t sing anything else but opera. Then, I began to learn more about Renata Tebaldi.”

One of the great opera singers of the 20th century, Tebaldi performed in more than 1,000 operas and was a favorite of both Arturo Toscanini and Riccardo Muti. Her fame, however, came at a price. “She never married, couldn’t be a mom. She had no personal life. Everything was career, career, career,” Montell says.

So Montell took off — literally — as a flight attendant for American Airlines. After returning to the Chicago area, she opened her own business, Montell Personal Staffing. “Business was booming, and the job was very fulfilling,” Montell says. “I was able to help thousands of people and shape many careers.”

Montell also achieved one of the goals that Tebaldi could not, becoming a mom. As her children grew and were more independent, she started singing again.

“I performed what I liked at the time, pop and disco, at Al di La in Oak Brook on Tuesday nights,” Montell says.

More gigs followed at places like Volare’s, Capri’s Steakhouse and Onesti’s Supper Club. “Ron has been a friend way back from the days when he worked with me and my aunt, Mary Scalera, doing fundraisers for the Villa Scalabrini,” Montell says. “One night, I was opening for The Drifters when he came in. It was a great show, the crowd loved it and we reconnected.”

Onesti has since featured Montell in shows opening for K.C. and the Sunshine Band and Michael Bolton; at the Chicago Italian fests on Taylor Street and Oakley Avenue as well as in Milwaukee; and at the Des Plaines and Arcada theaters.

The community has showered her with accolades, including a da Vinci Award from the Order Sons of Italy, a Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Humanitarian Award from the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans and an Impresa Award from the JCCIA Women’s Division.

Meanwhile, she has taken advantage of opportunities to explore her musical options and expand her repertoire. “I love the jazz and scatting of Ella Fitzgerald, the disco of Donna Summer, the ballads of Barbara Streisand or Celine Dion, the pop of Madonna,” Montell says. “That’s just what I can think of offhand. There’s a lot more.”

The music of Etta James and Frank Sinatra are also within her musical reach, as are the modern pop sounds of Jennifer Lopez, Norah Jones and Alicia Keys — and her covers of Cher will leave you speechless.

Montell performs solo and with her longtime collaborator in opera shows, Jeorge Holmes. But she’s really able to cut loose with the band EZFM Yacht Rock.

“We do music from the ’70s and ’80s, by artists like Christopher Cross, America, Pablo Cruz,” Montell says. “I generally do the female parts, singing songs by Carly Simon, Carole King and Linda Ronstadt.”

While covering the classics of both Ronstadt and King requires some pretty diverse vocal chops, Montell turns the heat up even higher with another vehicle, Heart to Heartbreaker. The group takes audiences back to the ’80s, performing the hits of hard rockers like Heart and Pat Benatar. Montell’s unique range of talents propels the group to heights rarely achieved by other tribute bands.

At a recent performance at Rosemont’s Parkway Bank Plaza, Montell took to the stage as Heart’s Ann Wilson. While many can mimic the sounds of pop superstars like Wilson, Montell is one of the very few who can match Wilson’s range and power.

Performing in front of a crowd of thousands, Montell delivered renditions of “Crazy on You” and “Magic Man” that were more than just notes. They were musical lightning bolts that flashed across the plaza, inspiring a combination of amazement and applause.

As she ended the show with more vocal pyrotechnics on “Barracuda,” Montell looked over the crowd, all with their arms held high in the air clapping in unison. As she walked off the stage, the applause echoed across the arena.

Meanwhile, her father’s words echoed through her mind. “Dad said, ‘Sing what you love, what is in your heart, and your soul will connect with others,’” Montell recalls. “He was such a wise man.”

The above appears in the October 2022 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture. To subscribe, click here.

Three decades and 8,000 performances later, Tony Ocean continues to chart his own musical course, attracting legions of fans in the process.

As Tony Ocean belted out the final notes of “My Way” to a roar of applause on May 29 at the Des Plaines Theatre, he surveyed his band onstage and his wife and family in the audience and, amid a shower of roses, wiped a tear from his eye. And why not? Ocean had just finished his 8,000th performance.

There has been plenty of glitz along the way: a run in Las Vegas, a performance in Aruba, and the wildly popular “Rat Pack Is Back” shows at Jilly’s and other clubs. But all that fun and glamour has been built on a foundation of hard work: endless rehearsals, countless sound checks, driving home at 2 a.m. in subzero temperatures. But Ocean wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I’m so grateful that my fans would spend their hard-earned money on one of my shows, and even if some didn’t have a lot of it, still come out to see me,” Ocean says. “And I’m so lucky to be able to work with all the musicians who have played in my bands, and people like Ron Onesti, who believed in me and backed me.”

The foundation for Ocean’s long musical career was laid when his parents, Giovanni and Graziella Carrara, left Lucca, a small village in the Tuscan region of Northern Italy. They came to the United States in the summer of 1962, settling just outside of Chicago, where they had a son, Maurizio, and daughter, Tania.

“I grew up in Cicero and attended Elmwood Park High School,” Ocean says from his north suburban home. “My father was a baker who worked for Gonnella — first at the factory on Erie Street and then at the frozen food plant in Schaumburg. He worked very hard for many years. It’s from him that I gained my work ethic.”

Ocean grew up in a household that embraced its Italian heritage.

“My mom spoke only Italian,” Ocean says. “As for music, that was very Italian, too. My mother listened to Italian operas and popular music, and my uncle listened to Sinatra and Martin.”

Ocean got his first taste of fame when his high school choir performed for Pope Paul VI in Rome. But while his mom loved Verdi and Puccini, rock ’n’ roll was Ocean’s genre of choice.

“I was very much into the British Invasion, listening to everyone from The Beatles and Herman’s Hermits to The Bay City Rollers,” Ocean says. “I was also into bands like The Raspberries, Ramones and Cheap Trick. The first band I gigged with regularly was The Dream Police, a Cheap Trick cover band.”

Still going by the name Carrara, Ocean played local clubs and bars like The Thirsty Whale in River Grove. Though he was on the verge of success for years without it materializing, Ocean kept at it. As the old saying goes, “Good luck is another word for tenacity of purpose.”

“We had a record deal that fell through, and I was working at Electek in Willowbrook,” Ocean recalls.

The tipping point came in 1992, when his band, Big Bang Rodeo, was voted runner-up on the TV show “Star Search.” The band lost by half a vote, and Ocean knew it was time for a change. He took the stage name Tony Ocean as an homage to Danny Ocean, Frank Sinatra’s character in “Ocean’s Eleven.”

“I began singing Dean Martin songs at a karaoke bar,” Ocean recalls. “People enjoyed it, and we started to do a little show at Café Clemenza. Nick Fortuna (best known as the bass player for The Buckinghams) liked it, and we put together a little jazz show featuring the old Martin and Sinatra songs at the Jazz Buffett in Chicago.

“We wanted to move to a bigger venue, and we were all set up at Piper’s Alley in Old Town. The show was sold, but we had no liquor license. That’s when Ron Onesti saved the day. He got the liquor license, and we started putting together what would eventually become ‘The Rat Pack Is Back.’”

The show played to sold-out houses in a variety of locations for nearly 20 years.

“It took off in 1998, and we owe much of the credit to Tony Bennett,” Ocean says. “He was the one who introduced the music to a new generation through his performances on ‘MTV Unplugged.’”

An offshoot of this musical rebirth was the opening on Rush Street of Jilly’s, which was named after Frank Sinatra’s favorite club in New York.

“It was a wonderful place, where on any given night celebrities like Tommy Lasorda, Kevin Costner, Tom Jones, Mike Ditka would show up,” Ocean says. “Out of my 8,000 shows, I can’t count the number I did at Jilly’s, but it was a lot. I’m so grateful to (owner) Stan Wozniak for bringing me in.”

Ocean’s fame began to spread nationwide, leading to appearances at the Riviera in Las Vegas, Jilly’s in New York and in Sinatra’s hometown of Hoboken, New Jersey.

“We opened for and got to meet Don Rickles, Tony Bennett, Pat Cooper,” Ocean says. “It was one of the first Rat Pack tribute shows, and I was lucky enough to perform it for two decades.”

For his commemorative show at the Des Plaines Theatre, Ocean, a 10-piece band led by Nick Psyhogios and producer Ron Onesti put together a musical retrospective that squeezed 30 years and 8,000 shows into a three-hour extravaganza. Channeling David Clayton Thomas, Rod Stewart and John Lennon, Ocean got the ball rolling with stirring renditions of “You Make Me So Very Happy,” “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You” and “Imagine.”

When Jack D’Amico took the stage and the duo launched into “That’s Life,” the audience lit up like a bonfire. A steady stream of guests followed, including the Jersey Girls, Rat Pack co-stars Elliot Wimbush and Bill Serritella, and local favorites Diva Montell and Denise Tomasello. Backup singers included Kim Peterson; Regina Karma; and Ocean’s sister, Tania.

Switching gears yet again, Ocean brought his Cheap Trick tribute band onstage. His booming voice filled the theater as he and his band performed “I Want You To Want Me,” “Dream Police” and “Surrender.” Meanwhile, the audience was dancing in the aisles, the lobby and probably the bathrooms.

The show ended with Ocean covering “Luck Be A Lady,” “New York, New York” and a rousing reprise of “My Way.” While that song signaled Sinatra’s first retirement, Ocean says he’s nowhere near ready to pack up his golf clubs and move to Palm Springs.

“I’m a long way from retirement,” Ocean says. “There’s a saying that old musicians never die; they just go from bar to bar.”

The above appears in the August 2022 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture. To subscribe, click here.

One of the last great performers from the golden age of rock ’n’ roll, Dion DiMucci has recaptured the spotlight by embracing his musical roots.

Dion DiMucci is a living legend known worldwide for hits that span decades and generations, like “Teenager in Love,” “Runaround Sue,” “The Wanderer” and “Abraham, Martin and John.” One of the last great performers from the golden age of rock ’n’ roll, DiMucci is still playing and recording at age 82. On his most recent release, “Stomping Ground,” the rock hall of famer is joined by Bruce Springsteen, Joe Bonamassa, Peter Frampton, Mark Knopfler, Billy Gibbons, Eric Clapton and many more. Speaking with DiMucci, you soon realize why so many of these renowned artists are willing to bestow their talents in tribute to this man, who is not only an oracle of pop music, but also of life itself.

DiMucci, known to legions of fans simply as Dion, was born in the Bronx, New York, in 1939.

“My parents were second-generation Italian,” he says from his winter home in Florida. “My grandparents came here in 1906 and 1909. As a child, I spent a lot of time with my grandfather. He used to take me to Manhattan, and on the way there, we would go by the Statue of Liberty. We would stop, and he would tell stories of how he arrived in America and what the statue represented to him. He also used to say there should also be one on the West Coast to welcome the immigrants who came in from there.”

DiMucci grew up in the Little Italy section of the Bronx and experienced firsthand the positive and negative effects of living in an urban, ethnic enclave.

“It was a rough neighborhood. Guys were always fighting. There were gangs. Jake La Motta used to walk the streets,” says DiMucci, who still has a thick New York accent. “But there was also culture nearby. My grandfather used to take me to the opera at the Windsor Theater near Fordham University, which was only a couple blocks from my house. I heard ‘La Traviata,’ ‘Pagliacci,’ Puccini arias. It was so thrilling.”

Even though he was deprived of a formal education, his grandfather was a well-informed man and impressed upon the future singer the value of lifelong learning.

“He was constantly reading books, newspapers,” DiMucci says. “And he stressed the same for me. Every morning before school, he would make me zabaglione, cracking two eggs and beating the yolks for 20 minutes. He would say, ‘Eat this. It’s brain food.”

DiMucci’s grandfather played a major role in his upbringing, not only because of the example he set, but also because of the amount of time he was able to spend with him. Opening up on a personal subject, DiMucci talked about the dramatically different relationship he had with his father.

“My father had the mind of a 13-year-old. He had no job and really couldn’t support us,” DiMucci says. “But he was an interesting man, and I treasure the time I spent with him. We used to go to the park, lie on our backs in the sun, and he would pick up a leaf and tell me what tree it was from and show me the veins in the leaf. During the summer, we would go swimming at Orchard Beach, sometimes naked, and we would always go to the Bronx River to look at the waterfall, or the Bronx Zoo. We lived a block from there, and together we saw every animal imaginable.”

DiMucci developed a love for American country music, specifically Hank Williams. By the age of 12, he learned to play all of Williams’ hits just by listening to his records. As a teenager, he started making money singing Williams’ songs in bars and even sang “Jambalaya” on Paul Whiteman’s radio show.

But it was doo-wop that propelled DiMucci to fame. He and his friends cut the classic figure of guys standing on a street corner, warming their hands around a garbage can fire and conjuring a capella harmonies out of thin air.

“It was me, Carlo Mastrangelo, Angelo D’Aleo and Fred Milano,” DiMucci says. “We were all street guys, so we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts after our neighborhood in the Bronx.”

With hits like “Where or When,” “I Wonder Why” and “Teenager in Love,” the group was an immediate success. They began appearing and touring with many big stars, including Bobby Darin (Walden Robert Cassotto), who also grew up in the Bronx and took DiMucci under his wing. In time, DiMucci met a Texan by the name of Buddy Holly.

“We used to run into each other all the time in New York, through events like the Alan Freed show, and he began to like it there,” DiMucci says. “In fact, he married a Puerto Rican woman, Marie Elana, who lived in New York, and they got an apartment near Gramercy Park in the Village. I started to show him around. I introduced him to Manny’s Music Store, Phill’s Men’s Store, egg creams and Parmesan cheese. One day he told me, ‘You know, I’m just a hick from Texas. I had never had Parmesan cheese before. In fact, I don’t think I ever saw an Italian.’”

In February of 1959, the Belmonts were asked to tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper as part of the “Winter Dance Party.” Exhausted and worn down by freezing-cold buses, Holly decided to charter a plane. DiMucci was asked to join them on the flight and related his answer on National Public Radio.

“He (Holly) said, ‘You know, it’ll be $36 (per person for the flight),’ and he hit the magic number. I grew up with my parents screaming and yelling at each other for the rent. At the time, it was $36. My mind hadn’t stretched out to that place where I could spend a whole month’s rent on a 45-minute plane flight, so I said no.”

The plane crashed, killing all on board: a tragic event Don McLean immortalized as “the day the music died” in his 1971 hit “American Pie.”

DiMucci had been a heroin addict since age 15, and the tragedy made matters worse, so he checked himself into a hospital for treatment in 1960. After emerging clean and sober, DiMucci went solo, and his career exploded. His “Runaround Sue” hit No. 1, and a year later, “The Wanderer” made it to No. 2. More hits followed, including “Donna the Prima Donna,” with a version sung in Italian. In 1962, he was on top of the world.

The next year, the “British Invasion” swept America, cooling DiMucci’s solo career. A short-lived reunion with the Belmonts didn’t catch fire, either.

“I was with Columbia, which was then run by Mitch Miller, who was kind of an old fogie, and they didn’t know what to do with me,” DiMucci says. “I was being paid $100,000 a year to sit in a room and play piano with Aretha Franklin. They wanted to make, of all things, an album of Al Jolson songs.”

In 1968, however, he released “Abraham, Martin and John.” Recorded shortly after the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., the song captured America’s overwhelming grief. Versions by Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Ray Charles, Harry Belafonte and Whitney Houston have enshrined the song as an emblem of an era.

During that second phase of his career, DiMucci found his way back to his musical roots, which extended far deeper than country music.

“I started to get into blues when I was 17, listening to people like Jimmy Reed, B.B. King, and the Chicago guys like Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters,” DiMucci says. “But then I got hooked up with the Belmonts and made all these records, and I sort of forgot about it.”

In 1966, after John Hammond had taken over Columbia, DiMucci recorded an album of blues standards that didn’t earn a major release. In the ensuing decades, his life and career went through many changes, including reunions with the Belmonts, a religious conversion and induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.

DiMucci kept playing and performing, and in 2006, he recorded “Bronx in Blue,” an album of blues standards that was nominated for a Grammy Award.

“It’s the shuffle thing; I got it in my bones,” DiMucci says. “Lord, that sound! The beat, the chord structure — it’s in my DNA.”

In recent years, DiMucci has recorded a number of blues-oriented albums, including “Blues with Friends” and the single “New York is My Home” with Paul Simon from 2015. His latest release, “Stomping Ground,” represents yet another chapter in his legendary career.

The recording opens with the searing guitar runs of Joe Bonamassa, whose label, Keeping the Blues Alive, released the project. “Dancing Girl” features Mark Knopfler’s trademark sparse licks to a rhumba-like beat. “If You Wanna’ Rock and Roll” is another straight-head blues track featuring Eric Clapton. On “There Was a Time” with Peter Frampton, DiMucci looks back on his life and youth. Although the lyrics come straight from the heart, that’s not what captures DiMucci’s imagination.

“My God!” he bellows. “Did you hear Peter Frampton playing slide? That guy killed it!”

But it is “Angel in the Alleyways” that makes this album extra special. Featuring haunting harmonies by Bruce Springsteen and Patty Scialfa, the lyrics sum up the life of a man who was born in the Bronx and carries the neighborhood with him to this day. At 82, DiMucci is a legend, an oracle and a force still to be reckoned with in rock ’n’ roll. As the notes on the album say, “Dion is like a circling star that never fades, continually generating the energy and force we need to pull ourselves up and start again.”

The above article appears in the March 2022 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture. To subscribe, click here.