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CHECK OUT JOE FRANCIS'S INTERVIEW ABOVE & TONY CORBISCELLO'S INTERVIEW BELOW!

Joe Francis Interview
By: Jason Kolucki

How did you get started in music?

"Well it's a silly story, but I got started singing because I was listening to Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Bobby Darin and Frank Sinatra singing Christmas music when I was four years old. That goes back to
1964 I believe. I loved the way they sang the Christmas songs and ballads".

Of course Christmas time is a very festive time of the year and it brings out all the good feelings in the music. With the way I felt with those feelings, I decided that was what I wanted to do and I started singing those songs the best way I could. I have been singing for over thirty-five years and I think now I am starting to get down".

Well then, how did you get started doing vocals for the Tony Corbiscello Big Band?

"Well, I was working at the Rainbow Room as a sub contractor of sorts. The regular guy named Michael Andrew couldn't make it, so the booking agency hooked me up with Tony and his band. We started to work together and we really liked each other's styles. After that, Tony asked me to come out and sing some numbers with him and the band. That's how we got together almost five years ago now. Since then, I have been with him ever since".

What are your favorite songs and ballads?

"My favorites, that is a terrible question to ask a singer, there are so many. If I had to choice, I say "You Be So Easy To Love" and "Moon Light Becomes You". Those ballads are so beautiful and timeless. Also, I guess "I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry".

"As far as swingers go, I like Bobby Darin's versions of "Sweet Clementine" and of course "Mack The Knife".

What are you listening to now a days?

"Listening to, well I would have to say Mob Hits volume one and two. Also, I pulled out of the box some Henry Mancini for the heck of it".

Tony Corbiscello Interview: A Band of Tradition
By: Jason Kolucki

Born to be a drummer and lead his own big band, Tony Corbiscello is a man who knows what swing is all about. Tony grew up listening to Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa and the Tonight Show bands and also playing on the 1991 Sinatra Farewell Tour as the opening act. Tony and the band have played in such establishments as Windows of the World, Carnige Hall, The Rainbow Room, Trump Towers, The Supper Club and the Waldorf Astoria. The group has recorded two cds including 1999's In Full Swing and the up and coming It's Started All Over Again.

Winning the 1997 WBAI Radio Award also, Tony has learned something new everytime he gets behind the skins and makes magic on the bandstand. Joined by long time vocalist and friend Joe Francis, Corbiscello gives a rebirth to the rich heritage of the big band as he entertains fans both young and old.

Tony Corbiscello sits down with Jason Kolucki and talks about influences, music and the life as a drummer.

Jason: Tell me about yourself and how you got started?

Tony: Well, I've been playing the drums since I was in the fifth grade. I started listening to swing music since I was eight years old on WNEW. Always WNEW, I loved listening to William B. Williams and Ted Brown when I was a little kid, also Frank Sinatra. That is how I got into it. I always loved swing music, especially from the Sinatra/Count Basie perspective. Also a trumpeter named Pee Wee Irwin got me really into the swing sound.

Jason: What is the inspiration for yourself and your big band?

Tony: If you really wanted me to narrow it down, I would say playing at the Rainbow Room. For years I had a fondness for the big band sound and getting a band together. Unfortunately, nobody in the area had a big band to showcase any new material. So I got the idea to have a bunch of musicians and composers come over from New York City and the surrounding areas to sit in and jam on new material. It was kind of like a new outlet for new composers, right here in Fort Lee, New Jersey!

It was almost like a rehearsal band, we would all get together and play. However the idea of big bands and I was something since childhood, I always had the ideas for running a big band. Ironically, it was an old producer for the Joan Rivers show, a personal friend of mine Bill Reardon who said to me, "Why don't you have this big band start to work, start to get out and play for people? I thought he was crazy, how could I book seventeen or eighteen guys?

So we started to do small gigs all around, we even did gigs at a place called the "Nobody Inn" up in Mawaha, New Jersey. That was the place where John Pizzarelli started out. We did one job and the results were amazing, people of my generation and younger had not heard this kind of music. I saw the reaction of what everyone was thinking and I said to myself, "There is definitely a niche for this. This is something the people are clamoring to hear."

I figured if the music is at a certain level, then people can understand what we play. The music is very inside and swing oriented filled with melody and fun. I figured if I could keep it so the listener can understand it and yet keep the beat progressive and interesting, the music could be successful. As a result of that, the music and the band took off.

Jason: What were the influences for the big band and yourself?

Tony: Well, I would have to say the biggest influence on me was Gene Krupa. Oh yes, the funny thing is that people say I even look like him and have been associated with his style and appearance. Krupa was the first guy through high school and college. I would be remisive if I did not say Buddy Rich and the Count Basie Orchestra, the drummer Sunny Pane.
Growing up in the era of the Tonight Show and the Dick Cavett Show also had a big influence on me, I would watch the bands every night, Doc Severinsen’s and the Bobby Rosengarden Band. They all were a very big influence on me as a drummer and a band leader.

Those are my biggest influences over the years. Also the Count Basie album with Frank Sinatra, you know Sinatra at the Sands. That particular album was a very big influence on me as far as the style of what I like with Sinatra and the big band in that intimate setting. That is what I am trying to convey with Joe Francis and my big band, like we did at the FDU Jazz Festival last June.

Jason: What are a few of your favorite songs to play and where is your favorite place to play?

Tony: I would have to tell you definitely "Sing, Sing, Sing" I will have to say that. Also you know, Do we have to keep this big band oriented?

Jason: Whatever you want.

Tony: There is a singer called Johnny Hartman. Johnny Hartman did a record with sax player John Coltrane and pianist McCoy Tyner called John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman. It's a great album; there are so many great tunes on the whole album. Not to stray from the big band area, lets say "Sing, Sing, Sing", also the West Side Story melody played by Buddy Rich.
The melody played by Rich is one of favorites. Another one would have to be something from either Ellington or Basie, lets say "Satin Doll" performed by Duke Ellington. Also, another Goodman tune "Don't Be That Way."

As for places to play, I would say when it was at its peak, the Supper Club in the city. We were the house band there for sometime. It was a very alive place and we enjoyed our stint there. As I mentioned before, the Rainbow Room was great also. Those are a couple of places we enjoy playing.