For many of us, our earliest musical influences were our parents. Whether that be the music they listened to or created themselves, it undoubtedly makes the first permanent mark on our ears. My earliest memories are peppered with my father playing the accordion and our big Wurlitzer organ in the early 80s. It was due to his encouragement that I embarked on my earliest attempts at music creation. Through him I was introduced to the classic crooning of the Rat Pack, the wizardry of Buddy Rich, Max Roach, and Louis Bellson and the various stylings of Miles Davis and his contemporaries and we would regularly attend concerts together through my teenage years. As a successful businessman and electrical engineer, you can imagine his horror at my insistence on pursing a career as a musician.
Some time in late 2011 my dad proposed the idea of playing some Neapolitan and traditional Italian songs together acoustically as a duo (accordion/acoustic guitar). I thought it would be fun so we started getting together weekly and building a short list of songs.
A few months later we thought we would take it out of the basement and play a few gigs, so we expanded to a trio with an added upright bass player (Colt Morris). After recording a short collection of demos in August of 2012, we posted them on YouTube and started booking jobs.
We had no idea what interesting clients and wonderful feedback we would encounter for the following 10 years, highlighted by our first recording “Italian Medley” reaching 13 million YouTube views as of 2023, leading to several licensing agreements. Most notably, placement in the HBO and Starz network original series “Minx”. We performed for a number of high profile events, such as international weddings and were requested to perform for the pope’s Philadelphia visit, even though we had to decline due to prior commitments and logistics issues.
As of late 2022, we have ceased in-person live performances due to several reasons, but we still post recordings and live stream regularly on our YouTube channel. Stop by sometime for a Tarantella, a Tango or some Tony Bennett.