SPIRIT OF AMERICA

The American soundtrack: The Moonlighters continue to make music in the community

For almost 30 years, The Moonlighters have kept big band music and the American Standards alive in the community.

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As America changes, so does its music — and in turn, so have The Moonlighters. 

Founded in the mid-1990s by saxophone players John Fuelner and Robert Mondelli, the band’s early days mirrored that of the Glenn Miller Orchestra of the ’40s with a 17-person composition. That was Fuelner’s vision. He was a retired music teacher who had a desire to form a big band in Ormond Beach. 

Dr. Joseph Mirante joined the band as a trombone player shortly after its founding in 1995. They played at municipal and private events, from the annual Fourth of July celebration in the city of Ormond Beach to playing on the fields for the Jacksonville Jaguars. About 12 years ago, when Fuelner was ready to retire, Mirante took over as the band’s leader, and the sheet music started featuring songs by Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis and Dean Martin. 

A more contemporary, but still traditional, sound featuring songs from the ’50s and ’60s that people recognize and love.

“As people get older, they want to look back to those days and remember their music,” Mirante said. “So it’s the soundtrack of our growth, development and changes as Americans.”

The Moonlighters of today — an eight-person group made up James Paris on trumpet, Mark Campbell on baritone sax, Paul Ricci on tenor sax, Tony Santos on alto sax, Gerry Amatucci on bass guitar, Manny Simpson on drums, Greg Wieboldt on guitar and Mirante on trombone and vocals — completed their first performance season in their new format last year. The band has gotten very close, Mirante said. 

Some of them have been playing together for over two decades. 

“I think we have become part of the fabric of the community — I like to think that, and that when they see our name, people expect good entertainment and a good time,” Mirante said.

A part of the ensemble

Wieboldt has been playing with The Moonlighters since November 2002. He got a call from one of the musicians in the band, who told him they were in need of a guitarist. Wieboldt played a couple rehearsals before Fuelner came up to him and told him he had landed the gig as the group’s guitar player. He told him where to show up for the next show — a New Year’s Eve concert in New Smyrna — and told him how much he’d be paid.

The rest is history.

Wieboldt started performing at 16 years old in 1963 and continued through his high school and college years. After he graduated from college, he went on to work as an engineer for General Electric, and music had to take a backseat. He would play for parties or church events, but it wasn’t until his kids were grown that Wieboldt began to refocus on his music.

Joseph Mirante sings during a performance with The Moonlighters at Rockefeller Gardens. Courtesy photo
Photo by Michael [email protected].+1 415 987 7323

“I was about ready to retire and my wife says, ‘Go ahead, you can go play now,’” Wieboldt recalled. “‘You’ve been good all of these years. Go play.’ It was like a week later, I got the call from The Moonlighters. It was really serendipitous.”

Santos joined The Moonlighters about 13 years ago, but he’s been playing for over 70 years. A former music teacher, he said he’s happiest when he’s playing music. He and his fellow saxophone players have performed together in past bands, but it all started with The Moonlighters.

“Many of us have gone on to other bands, but always stayed with Joe (Mirante),” Santos said. “... Joe is probably the best organized man I’ve ever met.” 

Mirante started his musical journey as a euphonium player in the fifth grade in New York. Then in middle school, he wanted to play with the jazz band, so he took up trombone and never looked back. 

The love of contemporary music came from his father, who was always playing music in the home. 

“The whole American songbook, from old to new, is part of my life,” Mirante said.

Moonlighting

The Moonlighters are all top notch musicians, Wieboldt said, with experience ranging from playing in Las Vegas performance groups to the U.S. armed services bands. 

“They’re great musicians, plus they’re great people,” Wieboldt said. 

They simply enjoy playing together, Santos said.

“It really is a family,” Santos said. “We enjoy rehearsals  as much as performances, because we get a chance to bounce off each other and play, and play with some good musicians.”

Mirante said what stands out as memorable experiences with The Moonlighters are the little moments — the showcasing of good technique during a rehearsal and the camaraderie.

“There are many ‘Moonlighters’ bands around the country, and the implication there is these are people who are not musicians all the time,” Mirante said. “They’re moonlighting. ... People coming together to take time from outside their mainstream life to make music together and share it with the community.”

'Music is everywhere'

Santos spent three years with the West Point Band seeing how music can make an impact. The first time he performed with the West Point Band was for the inauguration parade for President John F. Kennedy. He remembers how two Secret Service agents posed as extra saxophone players in the band, holding instruments but not playing. 

“Being there (at West Point), you see American culture at its best,” Santos said. “The students are great and all the tradition there, but when you come out in the communities now and you see music has an infinite place in life.”

It’s the one thing that tends to stick in people’s minds, he said.

“Music is there when somebody gets married,” Santos said. “It’s there when someone dies. Music is everywhere.”

When The Moonlighters transformed into its current format, it freed them from only playing charts from the 30s and 40s — it also gave Wieboldt more chances for solos and interesting riffs. 

“We’ve been playing in this new format now for probably about six or eight months, and I’m loving it,” Wieboldt said.

The band plays some Count Basie and Duke Ellington tunes here and there too. People, including World War II vets, still love to hear them, Wieboldt said.

Because music brings people together, Wieboldt said. It gives people common ground to talk about songs and lyrics.

“It’s inspirational, and to a degree, it can free up your soul a little bit from the daily grind,” he said. 

Music helps society see who we are, Mirante said. Big band particularly is the soundtrack of patriotism and love of country from the 30s, and 40s, he said. Through the decades, genres have followed changes in American society, Mirante said.

If you ask 10 different people what music embodies Americana, you’ll get 10 different answers, he said — from a John Philip Sousa march to a Taylor Swift pop hit. 

“Music is right at the heartbeat of American culture,” Mirante said. “What are musicians? They are our modern poets. They speak to what in our thoughts and what’s in our souls.”

 

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