![]() | |
---|---|
Glenn M. Taylor, guitar, keyboards, vocals * Bob Cianci, drums, vocals Chris Roselle, guitar, harmonica, vocals Russ Crapella, guitar, vocals Gary Evans, keyboards, harmonica, bass, vocals Jeff Guenther, guitar, bass, vocals | Mike Guaragna, bass, guitar, vocals Rhonda Grindell, drums, vocals Pepe Hernandez, bass, vocals Sean Jenness, guitar, vocals Ted Wyman, bass, guitar, vocals |
![]() | ![]() | Christopher Bolger, guitar, bass, vocals * Joe Alexander, guitar, vocals Al Egizi, guitar, vocals Keith Theall, bass, vocals Dave Hirschberg, drums, vocals Jerry DeLisio, saxophone(s), flute, vocals Lenny Kirk, drums, vocals Don Guinta, drums, vocals Joe Coghlan, drums, guitar, vocals Scott Calvert, saxophone(s), woodwinds, vocals Andrei Koribanics, drums, vocals Tom DePalma, saxophone(s), woodwinds, vocals John Frondelli, drums, guitar, vocals Ethan Maayan, drums, vocals Kevin Ellman, drums, vocals Bill Winters, guitar, bass, harmonica, trumpet, vocals Matteo Varano, saxophone(s), woodwinds, vocals, percussion * Indicates original Kootz / OMJ band-member; (see history) | ![]() |
Tom DePalma - saxophone(s), woodwinds, vocals
Tom DePalma is a life-long resident of 'The Garden State'... This 'Jersey Boy' was born-into a creative-household, in 1961...
With an artistic & musical Dad, a creatively-versatile Mom and three (additionally) creatively-inclined siblings; George, John & Jim, life in the small-town Bergen County (NJ)-hamlet of Hasbrouck Heights, was kind-of like a 'Musical-Mayberry' during Tom's youth!
All-through his 'Wonder Years', music was always 'in the air', playing on radios, 'round-the-house'... Upstairs in the kids' bedrooms it was WABC AM (Rock/Pop) which could be heard loud & clear... (they were also just 1 mile from the 50,000-watt transmitter!)...
Downstairs, the 'station-of-choice' was WNEW-AM (Big Bands/Standards). Musically, while brother-John took to the piano... and Jim, the drums... George (the oldest) honed-in on Architectural Design and studied the art, intensely-at F.I.T. (Fashion Institute of Technology), in Manhattan.
During high-school, while brothers John & Jim joined the school marching & concert bands... Tom tried his hand at piano-lessons but didn’t like it... and wanted to join his two brothers who were enjoying the 'perks' of travel and performance in the school-bands.
At the recommendation of his two musical-sibs, who were having so much fun in the school musical-programs, Tom was convinced that he ought to borrow a saxophone and 'try it on for size'... After bringing the instrument home... and having no idea how to play it, (let-alone put the reed on the mouthpiece), he gave it a try... and at a ripe-young age of 13, Tommy-D began to catch-up with his musical-peers, who by this time, had already been studying since they were 7 or 8-years-old!
Meanwhile, brother-Jim started taking private lessons with Joey Cass (of Four Seasons-fame) and also quickly expanded and excelled in his musical career.
Young-Tom took lessons in school, but quickly surpassed what the music teacher could offer him, so on the instructor's recommendation, Tom began private saxophone lessons. His parents' uncertainty about the 'worth' of private-instruction was quickly allayed when Tom’s first teacher, Jerry Vivino (Tonight Show & Conan O’Brien) was convinced that young-Tom had “it” and took him under his wing, helping him mold his instrumental-skills and developing him into a 'true'-player/musician.
The results were obvious; Tom quickly excelled past the other student-players at Hasbrouck Heights High School, landing him in the 'lead chair' as a freshman. He even mentored the other sax players, right-though until graduation in 1979.
Tom furthered his musical education, studying-at and receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree from Jersey City State College (now New Jersey City University), in 1983.
This was a formative time in Tom-D's musical career as well, as playing in various ensembles and networking with other musicians, led him to meet his 'mentor' Emile DeCosmo, a noted studio and Las Vegas musician who (upon Tom's persistence) worked with him, to further develop his own 'personal-sound & style'. Tom still uses Emile's techniques to this very day.
All through college and after graduation, Tom worked with a wide-array of Latin-groups, wedding-orchestras, big-bands, and theatrical/musical-productions, while he also became a highly sought-after, 'go-to' sub and fill-in player for several musical-entities.
In nearly 40 years of professional-performance, Tom-D has been featured with a star-studded-collective of artists, bands & performers, both domestically... and on the international-scene.
Some of the musical projects that TDP has lent his talents-to, include; The New York Swing, Big City Swing, Band of Gold, Frank Bennett, Jason Craig and Groove Entertainment. There were also stints at The Paper Mill Playhouse that included such 'Direct-from-Broadway' productions as: West Side Story, Jesus Christ Superstar... and Company. There were also fundraising benefits with a variety of theatrical-stars; Some of Tom's time was also spent in Miami Beach, where he performed alongside artists who 'sat-in' while on tour, the likes of Clarence Clemons, Queen Latifah and Albita.
When Tom isn't performing, the 'day-gig' that 'parallels' his musical-career is as a graphic designer and director. He has created marketing & advertising designs for a 'who's-who' of clients, such as Macy’s, Lord & Taylor and Johnson & Johnson, to name a few. Currently, Mr. D is the Senior Graphic Designer for a national lighting company based in northern New Jersey.
Tom is very happily-married to talented-singer Denny Jarrett DePalma and resides in Hudson County, NJ. Denny has also had an amazing career in the New Jersey music-scene and still 'rocks the house' with area groups... Sometimes, even joining husband, Tom, on-stage, when he performs with "The Kootz". C'mon out and catch this talented "reedsman", soon... He is MORE than... 'Toot' (and 'KOOT')-worthy!