Reprinted from the News of Delaware County

GEARING UP FOR ANOTHER SUMMER SEASON

By Joe McAllister , CORRESPONDENT

05/19/2004

Summer winds and sunny days ... Surf, sand and Margaritas ... Long weekends at the Jersey Shore ...

This is the season of The Chatterband.

The nine-piece local band is gearing up for its 20th season in the sun. This veteran dance band travels back and forth between the Philadelphia area and the Shore, racking up tolls and highway miles - all in its quest to bring the mobile party to generations of loyal listeners.

"We're selling fun," says The Chatterband's charismatic frontman Paul Martone, "If you're going to be live, make sure the audience knows it."

From the Wildwoods to Sea Isle and many points in-between, The Chatterband brings its toe-tapping, feel-good brand of music to the southern resort towns.

"That's where we gather a lot of our fans," says Martone, who has played the Shore for so many years that he can rattle off a short history of the place.

The Chatterband is Martone's baby and it has grown along with a legion of loyal Chatter fans. What started out at Fred's Tavern in Stone Harbor, playing mostly big band, rock and R&B covers, has grown into the Tri-state area's premier party band.

By Martone's estimate, the band plays over 200 gigs a year. Bar Mitzvahs, birthdays (The Chatterband played then Governor Tom Ridge's 40th surprise party), backyard barbeques, fund-raisers and even the hallowed blueblood halls of the Union League - you name, and the band plays it.

Choosing from its catalogue of over 400 songs, The Chatterband can segue from the Beatles to OutKast without missing a beat. With one foot in the past and the other on the pulse of current Top 40 hits, The Chatterband's appeal crosses a generation.

"Our group has a mental attitude of late 20s and over," Martone says. "Older folks who still have a lot of life in them want to party and it gives the younger kids a break from banging heads."

Martone's rendition of Sinatra's signature standards would bring a twinkle to Frank's 'ol blue eyes. "When Paul sings Sinatra he's vocally unbelievable. He brings people back to an era," says guitarist Jeff Raffi, of Aston.

The members of The Chatterband have been schooled in rock, jazz and other genres of music. "We're a band of accomplished musicians," says saxophone player Alex Bancer,  of Brookhaven, who himself graduated from the Manhattan School of Music and plays bassoon for the Delaware County Symphony.

"Many of us have studied in college or privately. We easily change from pop songs to Big Band to jazz standards."

Bancer is the anchor of The Chatterband's horn section, lending authenticity to jazz and big band arrangements as well as certain energy to the group.

A longtime "Chatter charter member," Bancer remembers playing Fred's Tavern in the 1980s. "There was a line outside of Fred's that extended around the block. I grabbed my sax, hopped on Paul's shoulders and played the saxophone walking around outside. People really got into it."

Aston's Jeff Raffie doesn't know any other life. "This is what I've done since the age of 16," says Raffie, who, along with Bancer, played in The Heartbreak Band out of North Jersey in the late '70s and early '80s.

"We knew Paul. We worked the same circuit," Raffie recalls. "Bottomline, I wanted to work and I know Paul is honest, hardworking and professional." Raffie and Bancer played their first Chatterband performance on Jan. 2, 1986.

Raffi, who studied music theory at Juilliard in New York City, credits The Chatterband's longevity to its lively stage show. "We have a certain stage presence and musical energy that we send off into the crowd," Raffie says. "That seems to always work and I guess that's why we always work."

Another formula for The Chatterband's success is that members refuse to be stuck in the music of the '60s, '70s, '80s or any other era. "Times change and you go with it. Our musical formats have grown and changed," says Raffie. "We do a spectrum of sounds from the '40s to the present day, from Big Bands and Sinatra to AC/DC and the Doors."

At a recent performance at the Adelphia Restaurant in Deptford, N.J., Ken Thomas of Florida took time out of his business trip to take in a Chatterband show.

"We don't have this kind of music in Miami. It's mostly Latin and Carribean stuff," says the 56-year-old businessman. "This is the music I like - going back to the '60s and '70s - and I get to see it live."

From Memorial to Labor Day, The Chatterband invites fans - young and old - "down the Shore" for the band's annual May-September get together. They'll appear every Thursday night at Kixx in Sea Isle and Sunday evenings at Moore's Inlet in North Wildwood.

"The Jersey Shore has matured," says Martone. "The young people who saw us play 10 years ago are now married with children. It's become a family affair."

Members of The Chatterband are: Paul Martone, master of ceremonies; Jeff Raffie, lead guitar; Alex Bancer, saxophone, vocals; Amy Caparo, vocals; Billy Garrett, bass; Jake Weiner, drums; Steve Hyde, trumpet; Chris Leggerie, vocals; David Rand, keyboardist; and Kenny Rhein, sound engineer.

If you go: Call 1-800-Chatter or visit www.chatterband.com or www.thechatterband.com for more information.