The Buckinghams in Concert

To those in Chicago who look forward to attending the annual Columbus Day Parade, it is especially memorable for those of Italian heritage, thanks to Christopher Columbus for discovering America. The year 2021 Parade marked the 69th annual parade, held on State Street. [L to R: Carl Bonafede, Rocky Penn, Carl Giammarese, Carlo Isabelli, Nick Fortuna, Bruce Soboroff. Photo by Susan Rakis.] Pride in one’s family heritage runs strong, in Chicago and in every city across the country, but in the case of the Columbus Day annual celebration, one need only look to the JCCIA, which stands for the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans. [Photo courtesy of San Filippo Foundation, Facebook page.] When JCCIA current president Ron Onesti, CEO of Onesti Entertainment (The Arcada, Des Plaines Theatre, and several other venues), was planning for the 2021 Columbus Day Parade, he reached out to the Sanfilippo family (Jasper Sr.’s widow, Marian, and their five children continue to be inv...

It's always a nice surprise when you have fellow musicians drop by backstage after the show to say hello and catch up for a few minutes. After the Happy Together concert at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, New Jersey, multitalented musician Paul Shaffer came by to visit many of his friends. It's always great to see Paul. What an amazing collection of music he is responsible for! Of course you watched him for years every night on the "Late Show with David Letterman" as he conducted his "World's Most Dangerous Band." His book, "We'll Be Here for the Rest of Our Lives," is, as he subtitled it, "A Swingin' Show-biz Saga Book." He talks about his years leading the Saturday Night Live Band, leading the Blues Brothers Band, and then the Late Show band and TV personality. Get the book here . Do you have a CD of their cover songs? (Find one here: https://theshaffershop.bigcartel.com/ ). Here's a photo of Nick...