Mario DeSantis Orchestra members Maria, Keith, Ronnie, and Israel

The orchestra gave its first performance at Lincoln Auditorium in Syracuse on May 22, 1947, and continues with its repertoire of jazz to contemporary music. It features special arrangements of big band, swing, 60’s and 70’s, jazz and current selections that are custom written each year by Jay Owen and Joe Riposo.

The deSantis Orchestra has provided 25 to 36 piece backups for national artists such as Marvin Hamlisch, Bernadette Peters, Natalie Cole and Little Anthony.

Joining pianist-conductor Mario de Santis, who has earned a Syracuse area music award for lIfetime achievement, are vocalist Keith Condon; Maria deSantis, 2005 SAMMY hall of fame winner; multiple SAMMY winner Israel Hagan; SAMMY winning guitarist Mark Copani; bassist Dave Welch and Sammy winner Jimmy Johns. The sax section features SAMMY hall of famer Joe Riposo, Brian Scherer, Dick Simiele, and Paul Dipastena. Trumpeteers include Steve Carney, Bull Crist and Tony Godaoy. The trombonist is Bill Palange; stage manager and sound engineer is Rob Cleland.

Come Join Us!

All concerts are held from three to five o’clock on Sunday afternoons at the Battlefield State Park in the village. Bring a blanket or lawn chair, picnics welcomed. Rain site is the United Presbyterian Church.

Sponsoring the series this year is the Watertown Savings Bank. Additional funding is received from the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program, administered by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council; the Village of Sackets Harbor; and the Town of Hounsfield’s Committee for the Advancement of Tourism. Contributions from area businesses and organizations, and a weekly “Passing of the Hat” at the concerts also provide financial support. View the full concert schedule here.

The Finger Lakes Wind Quintet

Come Join Us!

All concerts are held from three to five o’clock on Sunday afternoons at the Battlefield State Park in the village. Bring a blanket or lawn chair, picnics welcomed. Rain site is the United Presbyterian Church.

Sponsoring the series this year is the Watertown Savings Bank. Additional funding is received from the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program, administered by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council; the Village of Sackets Harbor; and the Town of Hounsfield’s Committee for the Advancement of Tourism. Contributions from area businesses and organizations, and a weekly “Passing of the Hat” at the concerts also provide financial support. View the full concert schedule here.

Fritz's Polka Band

FPB has performed on stage with “Canada’s Polka King,” Walter Ostanek (three-time Grammy winner), “America’s Polka King,” the late Frank Yankovic (Grammy winner), LynnMarie Rink (Grammy nominee), and Glen Burtnik.  Additionally, Fritz has performed on stage with Steve Augeri (former lead singer of Journey) and opened for Grammy winners Jimmy Stiff and BeauSoleil..  Fritz’s Polka Band has made 17 recordings, which have achieved international airplay.  FPB even appears on “The Manchurian Candidate” DVD, from Paramount Pictures!

Members include Fritz Scherz on piano, accordion, button-box accordion, and vocals; Gabe Vaccaro on bass guitar, guitar, and vocals; Tom Campbell on guitar and vocals; Frank Nelson, guitar and vocals and Mike Faraino on drums

Come Join Us!

All concerts are held from three to five o’clock on Sunday afternoons at the Battlefield State Park in the village. Bring a blanket or lawn chair, picnics welcomed. Rain site is the United Presbyterian Church.

Sponsoring the series this year is the Watertown Savings Bank. Additional funding is received from the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program, administered by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council; the Village of Sackets Harbor; and the Town of Hounsfield’s Committee for the Advancement of Tourism. Contributions from area businesses and organizations, and a weekly “Passing of the Hat” at the concerts also provide financial support. View the full concert schedule here.

The Double Barrel Blues Band

The Double Barrel Blues Band (DBBB) will perform on Sunday August 15 at the Battlefield State Park as part of the Sackets Harbor Historical Society’s Concerts on the Waterfront series. The Syracuse based Band was a 2009 SAMMY award nominee for the Best Blues recording and is a regular at Blues Fests throughout New York State.

Musicians Mark Cloutier (lead guitar and vocals), John Hart (vocalist and slide guitar), Garnett Grimm (drums) and Bill Satterly (bass) have been together for 3 years, but each has a vibrant background in the blues and rock and roll scene. Mark, Bill and Garnett previously played together with Dirty Pool, a blues band that toured in the 90’s. John’s harmonica, guitar and vocals rounded out the blues sound they were searching for, and the DBBB was formed.

Critics remark on their versatility and virtuosity. Post Standard’s Mark Blalczak notes that John can “add the grit or spread the honey” and Mark can play it “hot and fast” or “slow and easy”. When they’re hot, we get both barrels of anguished blues, hence the name of the group.  Peter “Bleuzeman” Lauro, in reviewing their latest CD Bad Bad Feeling, says “If you can sit through this…you gotta be in a body cast.”

John is a former army officer who played in a rock band at many of his European assignments. Interestingly, in the past few years, thanks to the webskills honed by Mark, Europe is enjoying the  Syracuse blues sound offered by DBBB. Their excellent website www.doublebarrelbluesband.com; shares enthusiastic reviews from the Continent.

Band members credit family and each other for their musical prowess. “We push each other’ observes Mark. “We challenge each other and we practice daily. The day we stop practicing is the day we stop learning.”

They have opened for several national acts, like the Marshall Tucker Band, and the Fabulous T Birds, where Radio Jockey Johnnie Keegan noted that “they stole the show”. At Blues Festivals throughout the state, from Adams Center’s Harley Davidson fest to Lake George’s Blues Fest, they pack in the crowds. Whether it’s soulful blues or swinging blues, the DBBB promises a great afternoon.

Come Join Us!

All concerts are held from three to five o’clock on Sunday afternoons at the Battlefield State Park in the village. Bring a blanket or lawn chair, picnics welcomed. Rain site is the United Presbyterian Church.

Sponsoring the series this year is the Watertown Savings Bank. Additional funding is received from the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program, administered by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council; the Village of Sackets Harbor; and the Town of Hounsfield’s Committee for the Advancement of Tourism. Contributions from area businesses and organizations, and a weekly “Passing of the Hat” at the concerts also provide financial support. View the full concert schedule here.

The Bill Tiberio Group

Bill Tiberio straddles the divide between straight-ahead and pop-oriented jazz styles. Bill is the resident conductor of the University of Rochester Wind Symphony and the River Campus Jazz Ensemble. He seeks soulful, blues-driven melodies, and his alto sax is a recognizable sound in the Rochester, NY music scene.

In addition to being an accomplished and versatile saxophonist and woodwind player, Bill Tiberio is a music educator. He has over 20 years of experience in the field of public music education, and has been at Fairport (NY) high school for 16 years. He is the former president of the NY State Chapter of the International Association of Jazz Educators, and is on the summer jazz faculty for the Eastman Community Music School high school program and the founder and director of the Hochstein School of Music summer jazz camp. Bill is also a regular faculty member for the Tritone Jazz Fantasy Camps, held in Rochester in the summer. He is the founder and conductor of the Eastman Community Music School High School Chamber Winds, and was recently appointed to conduct the University of Rochester Wind Symphony.

Bill is a frequent guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator for both jazz and concert honor groups and festivals throughout NY State. He is active in the Rochester music scene as a jazz saxophonist and woodwind player, and is comfortable with all styles of jazz from contemporary to Latin, and straight-ahead. He is joined by guitarist Melvin Henderson, organist Gerry Youngman, drummer Ted Poor, vocalist Harold Pannell, and Latin percussionist Tony Padilla.

Come Join Us!

All concerts are held from three to five o’clock on Sunday afternoons at the Battlefield State Park in the village. Bring a blanket or lawn chair, picnics welcomed. Rain site is the United Presbyterian Church.

Sponsoring the series this year is the Watertown Savings Bank. Additional funding is received from the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program, administered by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council; the Village of Sackets Harbor; and the Town of Hounsfield’s Committee for the Advancement of Tourism. Contributions from area businesses and organizations, and a weekly “Passing of the Hat” at the concerts also provide financial support. View the full concert schedule here.

10th Mountain Division Band

Stateside, the musicians of the 10th Mountain Division Band provide a wide range of musical entertainment for the Soldiers, as well as for the citizens of the North Country.  In addition to the Marching and Ceremonial Band, the 10^th Mountain Band can also field an array of diverse performing groups such as: Stage Band, Rock Band, Jazz Combo, Salsa Band, Dixieland Band, Brass Quintet, and even solo piano and guitar.

This is the sixteenth appearance by the 10^th Mountain band in the Sackets Concert series; they first played in 1989.  From patriotic marches to pop, Sinatra standards to salsa, there’s something for everyone. Sackets is fortunate to be included as part of their impressive summer schedule of community appearances.

This concert tops off the eighth annual Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site’s War of 1812 Weekend held all day Saturday until 1pm on Sunday. Visitors enjoy authentic presentations in a lively, fun filled atmosphere.

Come Join Us!

All concerts are held from three to five o’clock on Sunday afternoons at the Battlefield State Park in the village. Bring a blanket or lawn chair, picnics welcomed. Rain site is the United Presbyterian Church.

Sponsoring the series this year is the Watertown Savings Bank. Additional funding is received from the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program, administered by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council; the Village of Sackets Harbor; and the Town of Hounsfield’s Committee for the Advancement of Tourism. Contributions from area businesses and organizations, and a weekly “Passing of the Hat” at the concerts also provide financial support. View the full concert schedule here.

The Buskers

With more or less old school instruments, THE BUSKERS tap the street music tradition for which they are named, then go much farther, with serious musicianship, a sense of humor, and energy to burn. Their kitchen sink approach ignores traditional boundaries between jazz, folk, pop and rock and their sound is defined only by deep respect for the craft of songwriting and arranging, and a shared love for the inventive possibilities of improvisation.  A 2007 review in Fourth Coast Entertainment magazine describes THE BUSKERS, “Spunky, energetic, fabulously talented…see this band if you get a chance. I’d even call them luminescent. As well as versatile, passionate, and funny.”  New Hampshire’s Union Leader described the band like this: “The Buskers tap the street musician tradition for which they are named, and then go much farther in several musical directions…a folk aspect…traditional roots music and old tunes…and an affinity for jazz”. Their versatility is apparent in their performances, which include jazz standards to folk ballads – all with a “killer fiddle”.

The original group formed in 1993 after meeting at an open mic night in Bristol, NH.  Since then they have produced three recordings, gone on to represent New Hampshire at the Eastern States Expo, as well as playing at historic venues like Canterbury Shaker Village and at town bandstands, music festivals, and opera houses in the northeast.  In performance, they play a lively fusion of their original acoustic folk/pop, New Orleans-influenced R&B, jazz, and they always throw fiddle tunes somewhere in the mix as well.

Kathy Sommer (nee Zimpfer) fronts the band with a kinetic, genre-blurring approach to the violin (electric and acoustic violins, mandolin and vocals). She first became familiar to New Hampshire audiences as a member of the all-women swing band Sweet, Hot & Sassy.  She has studied with latin jazz maestro Eddie Palmieri, the Turtle Island String Quartet, national fiddlers Matt Glaser, Mark O’Connor, Jay Ungar, and mandolinist Peter Ostroushko.  A longtime resident of New Hampshire, she moved to northern New York State in 2004.  In addition to touring with THE BUSKERS, she plays freelance with a number of area bluegrass and jazz musicians and continues to run a popular weekend-long acoustic music camp every September called Fiddleheads Acoustic Music Camp.

Washington, D.C. native Craig Jaster (piano, bass, accordion and vocals) taught jazz piano at Plymouth State College from 1999-2004, and has played with jazz artists that include Delfeayo Marsalis, Tiger Okoshi, and the late Big Joe Burrell.  He is currently performing arts department head at the Sant Bani School in New Hampshire.  Mr. Jaster’s playing can be heard on albums by Rik Pfenninger, Sweet, Hot & Sassy,  and The Parlour Band, and in a CBS TV production of the play On Golden Pond.

Guitarist Paul Hubert joined the group in 2004, just in time to play on the band’s second album, “Ray’s Vacation,”, which David Colburn of the Vintage Fret Shop called “sexy…romantic…an eclectic tour de force of original material…with a nod to tradition in the voodoo/gumbo arrangement of Tommy’s Tarbukas by…fiddle wizard Alasdair Fraser.”  Hubert brings extensive experiences both as a singer-songwriter and as a guitarist ready to play flamenco, fingerpicking, or pedal-to-the-metal blues at the drop of a hat.  He has an ongoing relationship with New Hampshire’s Very Special Arts program, and plays trombone in The Baker Valley Band, a central New Hampshire wind band.

THE BUSKERS will be joined by one of their touring drummers, Kyle Tupper of Canton, NY.  Kyle is a percussion major at Crane School of Music in Potsdam.

For serious BUSKERS fans, more information about this energetic band and their 2010 schedule can be viewed on their website and blog at www.thebuskers.com.

Come Join Us!

All concerts are held from three to five o’clock on Sunday afternoons at the Battlefield
State Park in the village. Bring a blanket or lawn chair, picnics welcomed. Rain site is the United Presbyterian Church.

Sponsoring the series this year is the Watertown Savings Bank. Additional funding is received from the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program, administered by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council; the Village of Sackets Harbor; and the Town of Hounsfield’s Committee for the Advancement of Tourism. Contributions from area businesses and organizations, and a weekly “Passing of the Hat” at the concerts also provide financial support. View the full concert schedule here.

Atlas

The Sackets Harbor Historical Society continues it 26th season of the Concerts on the Waterfront on Sunday July 18 with a performance by ATLAS, the big and brassy band that is one of the all-time favorites in this series.  Atlas highlights 20^th century music ranging from Earth Wind and Fire and Tower of Power to Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett to the Motown Era.

Formed in 1981 as the Atlas Linen Company, the nine piece lineup includes founder George Feldman on the trombone, John Kowalczyk on the trumpet, Gerry More on the saxophone, Anthony Gordon on drums, Ronnie Dorsey on bass, Peter Isaac on guitar, Eric Miller on keyboard, and Andre Johnson and Julianne Holiday on vocals. “We love to come to Sackets” says Feldman. “There’s such a range to the audience, and we play to that, with swing to pop.”

This is the ninth year that Atlas has appeared in the Sackets series. Its blend of Motown, oldies, big band, jazz and disco is one of the most popular events of the summer.

Come Join Us!

All concerts are held from three to five o’clock on Sunday afternoons at the Battlefield State Park in the village. Bring a blanket or lawn chair, picnics welcomed. Rain site is the United Presbyterian Church.

Sponsoring the series this year is the Watertown Savings Bank. Additional funding is received from the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program, administered by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council; the Village of Sackets Harbor; and the Town of Hounsfield’s Committee for the Advancement of Tourism. Contributions from area businesses and organizations, and a weekly “Passing of the Hat” at the concerts also provide financial support. View the full concert schedule here.

Soft Spoken

Reggie Siegler is the bass player and founder of the Soft Spoken band.  Reggie records numerous commercials and voiceovers for both radio and TV in his own studio, the Bishop Marguerite studio.  With the SSB he has played nearly every venue available to a regional act. He enjoys doing the business of the band as well as putting together an occasional arrangement for their live performances.  He majored in voice at Alabama State University and currently plays bass and acts as elder statesman for the SUNY Cortland Gospel Choir.

A child prodigy brought up in church choirs, Donna Alford (Reggie’s wife) can really sing. Blessed with the gift of song, she delivers a sound that can touch the hearts of anyone. In addition to her nearly 17 years of performing with the Soft Spoken Band, she has recorded numerous jingles and commercials. She is also responsible for the vocal harmonies for which the SSB is noted. Donna has been nominated for a Syracuse Area Music Award (SAMMY) three times. She also sings for ceremonies and events, and with her husband, have traveled the Caribbean performing on cruise ships.

Keith White, aka “the Kool One”, is the heartbeat of the SSB.  Keith keeps the beat steady and tight and not too light.  Like Donna, Keith was introduced to music in church at a very young age.  He understands the dynamics of how to raise the enthusiasm of a crowd with a funky beat and how to keep a party going strong.

Rob Brown (trombone and keyboard) is a music teacher at Blodgett elementary in the Syracuse schools and a Crane graduate with a master in music education from Syracuse University. He has played with the Black Lights and the Paul Robeson Company. He is also Music Minister at the Temple of Praise Church. As adjunct professor, he directs the SUNY Cortland Gospel Choir which has competed nationally in the National Gospel Choir competition. Rob and Reggie have both traveled widely to Germany, England, Canada, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Two recent additions to the band hail from Ghana West Africa and have played throughout Europe. On saxophone is Kofi KariKari and Oboubi Ashlong plays guitar. Reggie suggests that they may wear authentic African Garb if weather permits on July 11.

Dave Kuykendall alternates with Oboubi Ashlong on the guitar. He attended the Music Institute in Hollywood California where he studied theory, composition, improvisation and ear training under the guidance of internationally famed jazz guitarist Norman Brown. In addition to playing with the Soft Spoken Band he also does solo guitar work.  His personal quest is to master the art of finger style solo guitar.

Come Join Us!

All concerts are held from three to five o’clock on Sunday afternoons at the Battlefield
State Park in the village. Bring a blanket or lawn chair, picnics welcomed. Rain site is the United Presbyterian Church.

Sponsoring the series this year is the Watertown Savings Bank. Additional funding is received from the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program, administered by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council; the Village of Sackets Harbor; and the Town of Hounsfield’s Committee for the Advancement of Tourism. Contributions from area businesses and organizations, and a weekly “Passing of the Hat” at the concerts also provide financial support. View the full concert schedule here.

Bill Smith and Don Woodcock

Bill Smith hails from near Colton in St. Lawrence County. He grew up in a time before television defined our evenings and you had to visit a comedy clubs to find laughs.  Gathered around the old round oak stove, Bill’s extended family, and an endless stream of visiting characters, wove tall tales to delight the youngsters and themselves. Most of the stories revolved around the theme of how a city slicker (or anyone official, like a game warden) is dazzled and sometimes hoodwinked by the wise and crafty rural hero. Prepare to meet Lanty Martin and his blue tick hounds, Uncle John and Aunt Lillian, Ira Irish and the Reverend Waterson.

Bill, the youngest of ten children, was born in the Adirondack foothills to Emily Bicknell and Roy Smith, a woodsman who delivered provisions to lumber camps over 70 years ago. Emily boarded the loggers as they traveled from camp to camp, so there was a steady supply of North Country originals, all with a story and a song.  Bill remembers that his mother Emily always had a song going. Once he learned how to play the guitar, Bill began hanging out with the fiddlers at Cook’s Corners and learned hundreds of the old timey tunes and ballads. He has spent his life in the Adirondacks, as a hunter, trapper, logger, fisherman, basket maker and guide, and has the tales to prove it. And no story, as they say, ever lost anything in Bill’s retelling.

His songs are winsome and nostalgic, the fiddling pure Adirondack style, but it is the story telling that defines Bill Smith. Prepare to laugh your head off at Bill’s tall tales and step back in time as he describes country life in the old days.

Bill will be joined at this presentation by Don Woodcock on the fiddle.  Don holds the title of Grand Champion Fiddler of New York State, having won the state championship contest three times: in 1977, 1979 and 1982. His peers say Don Woodcock’s playing is technically superb and he is widely recognized for having one of the greatest repertoires of traditional fiddle tunes anywhere around. Alice Clemens, herself a well-known traditional musician, said of Don Woodcock: “When [he] is playing, the music just seems to flow from his heart and soul. It reflects the inner goodness of Don Woodcock…The feeling and flow of his music is magnificent.”

More About Bill Smith
In an introduction to LaMar Bliss’ radio interview in the Fall/Winter 2001 Journal of New York Folklore, Varick Chittenden of Traditional Arts of Northern New York (TAUNY) calls Bill Smith “an icon of life in the Adirondack Mountains”. Mr. Chittenden notes that “Bill received a grant from the Folk Arts Program of the New York State Council on the Arts to study storytelling with an acknowledged master of “big stories,” Ham Ferry of nearby Sevey’s Corners. Since that apprenticeship, Bill has become well known throughout the Northeast, traveling almost constantly to one place or another to tell Adirondack stories and sing old songs. He has performed in hundreds of schools, town halls, church meeting rooms, and banquet halls, as well as sites as widespread as the National Folk Festival in Lowell, Massachusetts, and the Augusta Heritage Center in West Virginia. He has appeared in dozens of publications, including National Geographic and Dirty Linen, and has recorded a half-dozen albums of songs and stories Despite his travels and many acquaintances far from the Featherbed, Bill still takes his greatest pleasure in swapping stories with old friends around home. His is such a deep well of tales that you can always hear a new one, or an old one with a new twist. And if you sit back and close your eyes, you can easily imagine that you too are around the old cookstove, just waiting for one more good one to be told.”

Come Join Us!

All concerts are held from three to five o’clock on Sunday afternoons at the Battlefield
State Park in the village. Bring a blanket or lawn chair, picnics welcomed. Rain site is the United Presbyterian Church

Sponsoring the series this year is the Watertown Savings Bank. Additional funding is received from the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program, administered by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council; the Village of Sackets Harbor; and the Town of Hounsfield’s Committee for the Advancement of Tourism. Contributions from area businesses and organizations, and a weekly “Passing of the Hat” at the concerts also provide financial support. View the full concert schedule here.