THE BRONX WANDERERS: ON THE BIG STAGE GIVING BACK

By SAM WAGMEISTER

The Bronx Wanderers joined some of Las Vegas royalty on the Big Stage at the Orleans Casino in the Penn and Teller Showroom for the 2016 Headliners Bash. The 5th Annual Headliners Bash, conceived by juggling funnyman Jeff Civillico, is a fundraiser that raises money for on-going programs that benefit hospital patients, senior care residents, special needs children and adults and veterans and military families.

Also performing were Larry Edwards as Tina Turner (of Frank Marino's "Divas"), the acrobatic kids of Social CirKISH. The Vegas Tenors, comedian Jason Hewlett, the Lon Bronson band, the casts of "Menopause the Musical" and "Baz - Star Crossed Love" and Clint Holmes. Receiving the award as "Entertainers of the Year" were producers Kathi Glist and Alan Glist and the cast of "Menopause the Musical" for their charitable work. The Glists also produce The Bronx Wanderers' show. 

THE BRONX WANDERERS AT BALLY’S KEEPS IT ALL IN THE FAMILY

By ROBIN LEACH
NICHE DIVISION OF LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

It’s a family affair when Vin Adinolfi takes the stage of Windows Showroom at Bally’s because his sons Nick on drums and Vin III on keyboards belt out the hits for Dad to sing and accompany with his rhythm. The trio who make up The Bronx Wanderers for their new show are joined by Joe Barui on sax, Joe Bonasorte on lead guitar and Jeff Saltzberg on bass guitar.

Vin Sr. told me: “The band started with my two kids and myself and a few of my friends. Our original sax player was one of The Tokens (“The Lion Sleeps Tonight”) and the other was a guitar player who was an original member of The Earls (“Remember Then”). Doing up to 225 one-nighters a year took a toll on them and also took them away from their families.

“My kids had their own band of friends from high school who I knew from always being in our house. The kids invited me out one night to play with them, and I asked if they wanted to tour and do this. I thought it would make for a fun dynamic. The old guy trapped with the kids and the kids stuck with the old guy.

“We are together as this unit almost 4 years. In 2002, we were doing oldies shows with members of Dion’s current band at that time. In 2004, we left and went out on our own as the family act you see today.” Vin credits Dion for his start. In the show, he refers to him as the group’s patriotic saint.

“I grew up in the same neighborhood as Dion and The Belmonts and Chazz Palminteri. Dion was close with our family, as my grandmother and Dion’s mother were distant cousins in the Campanella family. I know Dion since my crib. In our neighborhood even to this day, he is looked upon as our star who made it out of the neighborhood and is known worldwide.

“Chazz, too, with ‘A Bronx Tale.’ I’m down the chain but have been presented awards by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and our New York senators. I went to the record label and told them I know Dion and I wanted a job, and they called him with me in the office saying, ‘There is some kid here looking for a job who says he knows you.’ He told them to hire me, and they did. I have seen him through the years and will forever be indebted to him.”

Vin began at the New York recording/music publishing company in 1977. “I have remained with them until this day. We are not operating as a full-blown label anymore, but we still license material for movies and TV. I am involved with that. The production company owners have always treated me as a son, and I do all I can to always help them out.”

For the last five years, The Bronx Wanderers have played South Point twice a year. Vin continued: “As a record executive, I knew we would have to have a game plan, so I had a 10-year plan. I told the boys if they work hard, someday we will get our own room in Las Vegas. To do this without a hit record would mean we would have to work twice as hard as everyone else.

“They agreed, and in the first five years, the plan was to play in the New York Tri-State area and establish ourselves as a serious act. I gave them a group to target and said I want to be on the level by year five. We got there in year four. The next phase was to travel across the country and establish ourselves as a national act.

“We went from Seattle to Miami and from Los Angeles to Massachusetts. We roughly play 225 dates a year with the most being a sit down for only three days. So lots and lots of traveling.” For as long as he can remember, Vin’s dream had been to have his own show here: “I’m a throwback. I always say I was born too late.

“I love Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, Paul Anka, Tony Orlando and Wayne Newton. I always watched and studied them. They were who I wanted to be, and Las Vegas was where they worked.

“In 1983, my wife and I stopped in Las Vegas from Hawaii on our honeymoon, and I took a photo in front of a marquee picture of Frank Sinatra and wrote the caption ‘someday’ on the picture. Just a few weeks back on Sept. 30 when we celebrated our 33rd anniversary here, I wrote in the card to my wife, ‘we finally did it!’ referencing that picture.”

Now The Bronx Wanderers are playing to packed audiences and getting standing ovations and loud cheers. Said Vin: “This is an amazing dream, and there isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t look up and say thank you for all that is happening to us. It’s an incredible opportunity in this amazing town.

“I almost can’t believe it. I keep waiting to be told to wake up, that this is all some sort of dream. I keep thinking back to when I looked at the kids and we were unloading all of our band equipment on a cold winter night, and I would be looking at them as they were 14 and 11 and wondered what kind of father am I making them do this?

“I never thought this would work, but I never stopped hoping and praying. I tell the kids all the time we have all of this because of the audiences who come to see us. Never forget that and each and every night, we personally thank all who come to our shows in our meet-and-greets.

“We are all humbled every night as audiences come to our show in a city where there are hundreds of choices. The next phase of that plan is to hope we will be here a long, long time.”

“Solid Gold Soul” is the other new musical at Bally’s, and we’ll take a look at that amazing tribute to Motown on Wednesday.

“THE LOVE YOU TAKE…”: THE BRONX WANDERERS

By Spotlight Central

The Bronx Wanderers came home to New Jersey and packed the house on Saturday, May 7, 2016, at the Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts in Toms River, NJ. Performing to a sold-out audience of family, friends, and fans, the group wowed the hometown crowd with an exciting selection of tunes ranging all the way from the 1950s to the present.

The Bronx Wanderers is a father and son (and other son!) band which includes dad Vinny on lead vocals; son Vinny Jr. on keyboards; and son Nicky on drums. Rounding out the group are friends and neighbors Joe Bonasorte on guitar, Joe Bari on sax, and Ethan Bill on bass.

According to Vinny Sr., even though he grew up in the Bronx — where, over the years, he became friends with such famous local residents as Chazz Palminteri, Danny Aiello, and Tony Orlando — once he was older, he decided to cross the river and raise his family in Demarest, located in nearby Bergen County, New Jersey.

In addition to that, according to Vinny Sr., he also maintains a personal connection to every song he and the boys perform in their show. As such, it’s no surprise they opened the evening at Toms River’s Grunin Center with “The Wanderer” and “I Wonder Why,” both hits by Dion, with whom Vinny Sr. used to work.

In fact, according to Vinny Sr., Dion is the individual who introduced him to Columbia Records’ Tommy West and Terry Cashman, a pair of music producers who made a name for themselves producing records by such acts as Jim Croce and The Partridge Family. Telling them he wanted to be a star, West and Cashman convinced Vinny to become a record producer instead, thus enabling him to stay home in New Jersey and raise a family. He did just that — for 35 years, in fact — producing records for the likes of Alabama, Reba McEntire, George Strait, The Spinners, and many more, all while working in a local band he founded, The Bronx Wanderers. Once his sons were old enough, they joined the band, and they have now been a part of the act for years.

And although the family now travels the world doing live performances — in fact, they just returned from a string of concerts in Florida and are about to embark on a recurring house gig in Vegas — they always love coming back to perform in their beloved home state. And is it any wonder why, when the audience is filled with people who know and love them?

For example, at the Grunin Center, Vinny Sr. made it a point to introduce many “celebrities” in the audience — his family doctor for many years, who, he claims, up until this evening had never seen him perform; the family who owned the restaurant which gave The Wanderers their start when Vinny Jr. and Nicky were just kids; and his wife, Carol, who runs the slideshow of movies and photos during the show which visually help to tell the story of Vinny and his lifelong love affair with music.

The audience at the Grunin Center was also treated to a very special surprise when Vinny Sr. introduced another guest in the house this evening — Joe Long, bass player for the Four Seasons from 1965–1975 — who had been quietly enjoying the show from the balcony. And one of many highlights of the evening followed when The Wanderers expertly performed a tribute to The Four Seasons which included a medley of their smash hits “Rag Doll,” “Walk Like a Man,” “Dawn,” and “Who Loves You?”

Another highlight of the show was The Wanderer’s complete rendition of Billy Joel’s “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant.” As with many of their numbers, the multi-talented band members traded off singing lead vocals and playing instruments. For example, when it was brother Nicky’s turn to sing lead vocals with Dad, brother Vinny Jr. took over the responsibility of keeping the beat by playing Nicky’s drums.

Yet another highlight was the Bronx Wanderer’s medley of instrumental surf tunes which included exciting versions of “Wipe Out” and the theme from “Hawaii Five–0.” Here, Vinny Sr. turned the spotlight over to the youngsters — Joe Bari on saxophone, Joe Bonasorte on guitar, Vinny Jr. now on guitar, Ethan on bass, and Nicky on drums — and simply played the part of the “proud papa” as his “boys” rocked the house to a fascinated crowd.

Following a short break, The Wanderers came back to invite the audience to sing along with them on Dion’s “Teenager in Love” and then segued into one of their most impressive performances of the night — a stunning live version of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” — so perfectly brought to life, it immediately brought the dazzled audience to its feet.

Vinny Sr. went on to introduce another guest star — Johnny T of The Mystics, a group who had a major hit with “Hushabye” — Johnny being a member of this group from the mid-1970s until 1990. Together, they treated the audience to a rollicking version of another Dion hit, “Runaround Sue.”

And if that weren’t enough, Vinny Sr. went on to introduce yet another special guest star to the hometown crowd when he invited DJ Rockin Ray, The Doctor of Doowop, from Jersey’s WBNJ radio to join him on stage. DJ Ray’s excitement was obvious as he joined Vinny and the Wanderers for a second Four Seasons medley featuring “Sherry,” “Let’s Hang On,” “Opus 17 (Don’t You Worry About Me),” and “Bye Bye Baby (Baby Goodbye).”

Following this memorable performance, DJ Ray excitedly spoke from the heart about his love for “oldies” music, explaining how he feels the music of today just isn’t the same, and his admiration for The Bronx Wanderers, who consistently perform this classic music with all the love and respect it deserves. And to musically prove that point, for the band’s grand finale, the Wanderers presented a live version of one of the classic music performances in rock history — The Beatles’ Abbey Road “Medley” — one of the high points being when Joe Bari, Joe Bonasorte, Vinny Jr. and Vinny Sr. all joined Nicky in communally playing the riveting drum solo from “The End.”

The Wanderers concluded their two-hour show by trading guitar solos and, lastly, by joyfully reminding all their friends, family members, and fans who came to cheer them on at their home for the evening, Jersey’s own Grunin Center, “And in the end… the love you take… is equal to the love you make.”

For more on The Bronx Wanderers, please go to bronxwanderers.com. For more information on upcoming programming at the Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts — including Broadway’s Adam Pascal and Daphne Rubin-Vega from RENT on June 3 and The 1910 Fruitgum Co. on June 4 — please go to grunincenter.org.

FAMILY BAND STEPS BACK IN TIME

by STEPHANIE TURNER
Aiken Standard

Vinny Adinolfi, a musician from The Bronx, credits the start of his career to rock-and-roll legend and fellow Bronx native Dion DiMucci. One night, Adinolfi was playing with DiMucci when “The Bronx Tale” actor Chazz Palminteri stopped by and joined the two on stage.

As the three performed, Adinolfi caught sight of his son out in the audience, noticed his resemblance to a character from “The Bronx Tale” and invited him on up. When Adinolfi’s son came up on stage, “the crowd went crazy,” Adinolfi said. That night was the beginning of Adinolfi’s family band, The Bronx Wanderers.

Aiken Performing Arts Group will present The Bronx Wanderers at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 6 and 7 at the URS Center for the Performing Arts, 126 Newberry St. S.W. The Bronx Wanderers, made up of Adinolfi and his young adult sons Vinny and Nick, have been called “the perfect musical storm,” according to a release. “We are Nu-Wop,” Adinolfi said. “We take classic songs put our spin on them as I try to stay as close to the original as possible.”

The band’s name itself partially came from DiMucci’s 1960s hit “The Wanderer.” When he discovered that “The Wanderers” was already a popular band name, Adinolfi added his hometown to the title. DiMucci isn’t the band’s only connection to the 1960s.

“We are ‘The Jersey Boys’ meets ‘A Bronx Tale,’” Adinolfi said. “The Jersey Boys” refers to the 1960s rock-pop band The Four Seasons. Adinolfi knows the group’s lead singer, Frankie Valli. “He’s a good guy,” he said. The story of The Four Seasons has been adapted to Broadway and the big screen with “The Jersey Boys” show and film.

“Nick played drums for the Chicago cast of ‘The Jersey Boys,’” Adinolfi said. Nick and Vinny are in their 20s, are from New Jersey, the same state Valli came from, and grew up with stars like Palminteri and DiMucci hanging around their house. “Audiences love seeing (people their age) play songs that are 50 years old,” Adinolfi said. The Bronx Wanderers also perform numbers from the 1950s and 1970s.

Young Vinny, who can play the guitar, piano, bass and violin, and Nick, a drummer who enjoys jazz and hip-hop, are also in the rock band Lovebent. The family trio have played together for more than a decade. “It was tough at first because I was the band leader but I had to be Dad,” Adinolfi said.

The three do about 200 to 250 shows annually. “It never really stops ... but it’s been great. I’ve watched them grow up, and, now 11 years later, they carry me,” Adinolfi said with a laugh.