Dominic Chianese A lifetime of striving to become
The Soprano Who Really Can Sing -- Richard Cuccaro
We know him as "Uncle Junior" in the monster HBO series, "The Sopranos."
Photo: Albert Watson
In the finale of the last episode
of the third season, this gruff, sullen mob character broke into song at a family gathering. As the camera moved
around the room, capturing familial reactions, Dominic Chianese sang "Core 'ngrato" ("Ungrateful Heart").
It stunned and delighted many of us who had no idea that the role of "Junior" Corrado Soprano was hiding
in its portrayer a life-long love for and an ambition to create… music.
Photo: Richard Cuccaro
These days, his success as an actor is enabling him to rekindle an old dream for a second career, writing and
singing songs. Before exploring the details of this present surge, let's take a long look down the years to the
bedrock of this amazing life.
He was six years old, living in a tenement in the Belmont section of the Bronx, when he was given a "3/4"
violin by a neighbor, Mrs. Freeman. His mother said that he'd take it to bed with him. He got free lessons
in public school. At eight years of age, he liked country music and was a member of the Gene Autry fan club.
As a youngster, he had a sweet, tenor voice .His family would wake him up after he had gone to bed, just to
sing for visiting friends. He states "When I was a child, the family would always encourage me to sing.
Growing up in a very demonstrative kind of culture, Italian-Americans would sing a lot, and I think possibly,
my grandfather singing out the window probably had the greatest influence in my life. I would say, 'Why is
he singing out the window?' He was singing about Naples and Italy and just enjoying himself and there was
theater because my grandmother would say, 'Open the window, open the window with that cigar smoke!'"
His musical heroes, from a bygone era, include Ross Columbo, Bing Crosby and Al Jolson. The biggest role
model was, you might have guessed… " 'ol blue eyes," Frank Sinatra. In 1947, at sixteen, Dominic went to
see him at the Paramount.
In junior high school, P.S. 45, he joined a quartet and remembers singing the the folk classic, "If I Had My Way."
Later, at the Bronx High School of Science, he joined the glee club.
After high school, he became a bricklayer, but at night would sing for free at amateur nights in nightclubs in
the Bronx and Manhattan. This would get him a free drink. At eighteen, he auditioned at Radio City Music Hall,
singing "The House I Live In." The response he got momentarily thwarted his dream of a singing career. He was
advised to "go to college." Oops.
But wait just a minute. A free New York State college existed back then, Champlain College at Plattsburgh,
near the Canadian border. It's motto was, "Let each become all he is capable of being." Dominic's first professional
singing experience came here, with the Champlain College Drones. Alas shortly thereafter, the then New York State
governor Dewey, in a cost-cutting measure, disbanded the college.
Back to bluecollar. Riding on the bus one day with his dad, on the way to a bricklaying job , he spied a newspaper
lying on a seat and within, there was an ad for singers. He asked his father if he could get off the bus to audition.
The word "singer" was magic to an Italian father who loved to hear his son sing. He agreed to the audition and
this led to the next major step into the entertainment world. He got a part in Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore
and then "American Savoyards" under the direction of Dorothy Raedler. At 21, as a chorus boy, he went on national tour.
College was still to be the road of choice, however, and Dominic spent the 1950's entering and dropping out of college.
He attended City College, Long Island University, and finally graduated from Brooklyn College in 1961 from their night
school program with a Bachelor's Degree in Speech and Theater. During those college years, he did a lot of acting.
Inspired by Brooklyn College professors such as Wilson Lehr and Bernard Barrow, he made the decision to become an actor.
1961 was also the year he got married for the first time, to Merle Molofsky. The marriage lasted about six-and-half years
and they had three children. During this period, he settled down and took education courses, did some substitute teaching
and tried teaching the fifth grade. The pressure of dealing with bureaucracy got to be too much and he decided to go back
to acting. This led to dissension and the marriage collapsed. In 1965, he got a job as an actor-singer in "Oliver!"
Throughout the 70's and into the early 80's, Dominic lived the life of a struggling actor. In 1978, he was accepted at the
Eugene O'Neill Playwrights conference at Waterford, Connecticut. In the 1980's he moved to suburbia. This, he says, was
a time of maturation and rejuvenation.
His film appearances began with a small role as a panhandler in "Fuzz" in 1972. He has acted with Al Pacino in four films,
and regards him as "a very big influence on my life." He has also worked on three films with director Sidney Lumet.
Major film appearances include:
• "The Godfather, Part II" (1974)
• "All the President's Men" (1976)
• "Fort Apache, The Bronx" (1981)
During this time he also appeared as a singer and soap opera actor on ABC's "Ryan's Hope"
As he aged into character parts, he began to work with slightly more frequency, either playing figures of authority or,
more often, gangsters.
Around 1995-6, he appeared in the TV movie, "Gotti," with Anthony Quinn and Armand Assante. Then came the call
that changed his life. In 1998 he auditioned for "The Sopranos," and won the part of "Uncle Junior."
All through his years as an actor, Dominic never lost his desire to make music.
From 1964 to 1969 he was an MC at the old Gerdes Folk City at 11 West 4th Street (The club moved its location around 1973)
He continued as an MC and occasionally performed through the years until around 1976.
In 1982, he began playing in nursing homes and continues to do so. His repertoire includes old Italian songs, Irish, Jewish
and Spanish songs as well.
Today, in addition to new acting roles and his burgeoning musical career, he shares his heart and his talent as a celebrity
spokesperson for YAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities Network, a group of agencies that creates and maintains
homes, job programs and medical facilities for the developmentally disabled. He wrote music and performed it in a television
public service announcement for the network's annual spring Central Park family day fundraiser, which he attended and
participated in.
Photo: Richard Cuccaro
Dominic's debut CD, Dominic Chianese/Hits is well-produced and infused with a variety of styles from old standards, Italian
and Spanish songs to folk. He wrote three songs on the album as well. There are intricate harmonies with choral backing and
a various assortment of instruments to back up.
Although the album, with its reliance on standards and time-tested chestnuts seems slanted toward an older audience, it also
shows a thrust toward achieving his ultimate goal of being regarded as a songwriting folk troubadour. Dominic wrote three
of the songs and displays a very strong baritone (a soprano in TV role only), excelling with interpretations of "Guantanamera"
and "Amazing Grace." His own "True Love Still on My Mind" shows an aptitude for penning a country ballad. The pedal steel
backup here is especially satisfying.
Web site: www.dominicchianese.com
Dominic is currently appearing live at Sofia's Restaurant (212-719-5799) at 221 West 46th Street, west of Broadway for three
consecutive Monday nights, September 16th, 23rd and 30th. He'll be performing with The Cement Sidewalkers,
as part of a 7 piece band consisting of three guitars, a stand-up bass and three back-up singers.
Dominic, doing a solo at Sofia's
We'll be there to cheer him on. Hope you can make it, too!
Bruce Balmer: Rough Diamond by Richard Cuccaro
Photo: Richard Cuccaro
Maybe it's the shifting points of view within a song. Or maybe the heart-stopping melody variations. Whatever it is,
I am riveted to his singing and what happens when his fingers fly over the frets.
More than likely, you haven't heard of Bruce Balmer. He's one of those below-the-radar gems, playing out-of-the-way
bars, coffee shops, and Greenwich Village clubs that can easily escape your attention.
Photo: Su Polo
He sings in a muscular lower register. It works well with the poetry of his lyrics. His vocals may never catapult him
into that rarified stratosphere inhabited by the Ellis Pauls of the singer/songwriter field, but it cannot disguise the poetic
soul at the core of who he is. It certainly does not hide the solid musicianship he possesses.
The guitar of Bruce Balmer is a voice unto itself. While it reflects Bruce's passion, it also speaks a second language,
apart from the words that are being sung. The personality coming from his arch-top acoustic Gibson (with pickups)
is so strong that there's another presence on stage.
One particular song, for me, epitomizes his skill. "If You Find What You're Lookin' For," a blistering, rollicking ride,
on his solo album Upstream. I suspect that this is the one that had one poetry circle organizer speak in worshipful
tones in describing Bruce. It begins:
If you find what you're lookin' for,
Keep it to yourself.
If you find what you're lookin' for,
Keep it to yourself.
You're out on your own, now,
You want to see what you can do;
You've had the taste of life on a charm,
It's comin' out of your radio.
Punchin' the keys to a million memories
Of tales yet to be told;
But when it comes to the one you want,
Some things are better left unsold;
When it comes to the life you love,
Some things are better let grow old.
Layers of guitar work -- all Bruce -- a jazz-like guitar solo with a hint of funk is overlaid on top of an insistent strum,
urgently pressing home the idea of a lonely inner dedication to working toward a goal instead of simply blathering about
it to others.
To begin with…
The rich depth of his playing speaks of a life that held promises from the beginning. His story (everything in quotes below)
can be found on his web site, as he told it to the webmaster for his home page, Bill Pierce:
"Though I didn't know it at the time, I grew up in an early form of a counter culture family in the Catskill Mountains,
where there were nearly weekly get-togethers of musicians playing old popular tunes from the thirties, forties and earlier:
"Stardust Melody," "Up A Lazy River," "Summertime," "St. Louis Woman," and others. I had piano lessons off and on
from age five; boogie-woogie was popular with my dad, still is, so I learned a bit of that to play for him, still do; I particularly
like Pete Johnson; never was crazy about ragtime. Then in high school, I listened to my brothers surf and pop band practicing
in the living room at least once a week; I don't know how my parents put up with it. The only complaint of any consequence
was the oil stain left on the beige carpet by the bass drum pedal; mom didn't like that."
"Not long after that I was in my own bands. I got my first guitars in 1966, a big year for me in a lot of ways, first loves and all.
I learned a lot from the golden Beatles song books. Anyway my bands were doing top forty covers for the next years through
high school; I was shamelessly entranced by big hits; My father bought me my first Jimi Hendrix record because he liked
The Wind Cries Mary; I thought he was weird at first, but for some reason I felt I had to be able to do what he was doing,
even though I didn't have a clue to where he was coming from; I'm still working on that one. Then, I was competitive about it;
now it's a great love, and some part of almost everything I do on guitar."
Photo: Su Polo
Higher Inspiration
Bruce received a B.A. from Marlboro College (Vermont) where he studied with the brilliant musician and teacher,
Blanche Moyse. He states:
"At Marlboro, Blanche Moyse, of course, was a huge influence: her love and illumination of J. S. Bach, her patience as a teacher,
clarification of what harmony was all about; but mostly she taught me to give myself a chance, have patience with my own process
of learning, how to practice any instrument or course of action."
"I used the stuff I learned from Bach when I was playing country and western 6 nights a week, 5 hours a night, for a living when
I was in Colorado in the early 80's. A lot was learned from doing George Jones, Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Marty Robbins,
Ricky Skaggs, Earnest Tubb, Bob Wills, Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton and others from Laramie and Cheyenne,
Wyoming, to Greeley, Denver, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, and various barrooms in east Colorado."
His musical training was strong enough to allow him to stretch out into other areas, like jazz and composition for dance. He recalled:
"At this time I was also going to blues and jazz jams in Fort Collins, where I was living; I was also working with a couple of
choreographers writing a few jazz and one ballet dance pieces. My piano-playing at that time was very strong from having to
perform for recording in one or two takes the dance pieces I was composing; the ballet gets more and more difficult toward the
end because of all the practicing I had to do to learn the parts before just so I could hear the damn thing."
A "finish" carpenter, he has paid his bills through the years working at this craft. He has assisted in building two recording studios;
one in Woodstock and one in Manhattan, the latter for Philip Glass.
Bruce recognizes a stylistic kindred spirit in Mark Knopfler. He said, when he first heard Mark's work, that he saw the same type
of electric fingerpicking. He acknowledges, however that he cannot match Knopfler's polish. The robust nature of Bruce's playing
more than makes up for any missing polish.
Asked about influences, his answer is characteistically reflective:
"My biggest influences have been my mistakes; I can find something wrong with just about anything I play, but I'm trying to get
over that. I take them personally, and learn from all of them; After that, my mother who played piano, accordion and organ and
sang; my family of musicians and their tastes and opinions."
Photo: Su Polo
He's currently recording his second CD with John Sonntag,of Thunderpumpkin Records, at John's Hoboken studio.
He has two upcoming gigs at the Baggot Inn:
Thursday, October 10th, 7pm $5
Thursday, November 7th, 7pm (birthday gig)
web site: www.wpierce.com/balmer.html
When Bruce picks up his guitar to play, I'll be there, getting my own dose of poetic inspiration.