For more than a quarter century, New Year’s Eve in Syracuse meant dancing to the music of the Stan Colella Orchestra at the landmark Hotel Syracuse. Colella, the legendary trumpeter, bandleader and educator, conducted his 12-piece ensemble there every Dec. 31 since the mid-1970s.
Stan passed away in 2002, and the old hotel closed in 2004.
But the orchestra plays on. Now under the leadership of Stan’s son, Len Colella, the big band has continued the holiday tradition…until this year, of course.
“I played the last New Year’s Eve before the hotel closed in ’04,” Len remembers. “And we’ve played the last three since the reopening in 2016.”
That year, Hotel Syracuse was reinvented as the Marriott Downtown Syracuse, but longtime Central New Yorkers still call it simply, “The Hotel,” and everyone knows exactly what you mean.
‘Just For Fun’
Even though the Hotel will remain dark this Thursday night, you can still dance to the Colella Orchestra’s swinging music by spinning its newest disc.
The CD, called “Just For Fun” celebrates the orchestra’s 50 years of entertaining audiences at countless concerts, conventions, festivals, weddings and dinner dances across New York State.
Though its title suggests a less-than-serious session, “Just for Fun” shines like a carefully faceted jewel, a thing made beautiful by meticulous attention to detail in both performance and production. The 10 tracks were produced by John Laverty and engineered by Ron Keck at SubCat Studios.
Len Colella wisely decided to hire a couple particularly gifted singers – Joe Whiting and Rocco Barbato – to complement the orchestra’s regularly featured vocalist, Dave Baker.
Skaneateles’ blue-eyed soul man Joe Whiting kicks off the set by crooning a hook-laden original, “Do It Yourself,” arranged by young Nick Colella, followed by the R&B standard “Let the Good Times Roll.” That latter tune is right in Whiting’s wheelhouse as are “Teach Me Tonight” and “Route 66,” which come later.
Great American Songbook
Singer Dave Baker pays homage to the Great American Songbook with his straight-ahead versions of “Please Don’t Talk about Me When I’m Gone” and “(Up a) Lazy River.” And Barbato, the Syracuse native saxophonist who now headlines in Las Vegas, delivers a downright lascivious rendition of “Just a Gigolo,” ably arranged by the veteran M.C. Snow.
Several Liverpool-area musicians make notable contributions, including saxophonist Jim Spadafore blowing leads on “Do It Yourself” and “Blues for Sale,” and trumpeter Rob Robson wailing away on “Route 66” and the disc-closer, “Do Nothin’ Till You Hear from Me.
“Just For Fun” is available digitally on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Bandcamp and physical CDs can be purchased directly at stancolellaorchestra.com/shop.
Last word
“Since we can’t play late, let’s play early!”
–Sign in window of the Cobblestone tavern, promoting its pandemic Happy Hour ($1 off all drinks from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday), created in response to state mandates requiring bars to close nightly at 10 p.m.
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