| Chapter 6: | The Clarinet |
own band. He led his orchestra in hit tunes including “Thanks for the Memory” and “I’ll See You in my Dreams.” Toots was a legendary saxophone soloist and was included in the Metronome All Star Band of 1940 recording “King Porter Stomp” with Charlie Spivak, Ziggy Elman, Harry James, Jack Teagarden, Benny Goodman, Charlie Barnet and Gene Krupa. Toots, born Nuncio F. Mondello on August 14, 1911 in Boston, died in New York on November 15, 1992. Pete Mondello, his brother, was not as famous but he played tenor saxophone professionally with Woody Herman’s Thundering Herd Band. I hoped I could get Toots or Pete to give me some lessons in playing jazz on the clarinet.
I was thrilled when I learned that our junior high school band would march in the Columbus Day Parade. For weeks we practiced marching tunes. On the day of the parade, I lost one of the keys on my old clarinet as we were marching. It was a struggle for me to continue to play but I faked it where I could. Weeks later, grandpa bought me a better model, an “Anthony Special.”
I was determined to make a name for myself in the world of music and I practiced every day I could. But most of the time I was playing lessons’ music and not jazz.
I played clarinet in the James Otis Junior High School Band and later in the Benjamin Franklin High School Band. When I was in 8B1, I participated in The Good Neighbor Festival sponsored by the Lions Club of Yorkville. It was held in the Benjamin Franklin High School auditorium on Saturday, May 25, 1946, beginning at 2:30 p.m. Twenty-two schools participated in this event, intended to honor school children in the eight, ninth and tenth grades. Ten