(ignore April 30, 2017 publish date – this was published on December 10, 2021)

 

NOTE: an April 18, 2022 update has been added at the end.

 

 

                       ALL PHOTOS AND TEXT ARE ©BOB LEAFE

 

If you’re not familiar with the name in the above image, it’s because that’s the original title of a documentary that’s being put together and was scheduled to be released in Spring 2022 (see update at the end – it’s now scheduled for release in the Fall of 2022).

However, many of you are familiar with a couple of the members of this “once-in-a-lifetime” performance band. If you’re from the New Jersey area, you know Uncle Floyd. If you’ve ever watched Conan O’Brien’s show, you know the show’s band, led by musical director and lead guitarist Jimmy Vivino and features his brother Jerry Vivino on sax.

They’re the younger brothers of Uncle Floyd Vivino. As the official photographer of The Uncle Floyd Show back in the day, I’ve known these guys for about 40 years.

This is the original trailer for the documentary. It pretty much explains the premise for this entire venture:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MeYLZTt3jY&t=4s

 

You may have noticed this image in the video:

This was the Vivino Brothers Band, who provided the music for the Uncle Floyd live show at the Club Bene in Sayreville, NJ, and I took the picture on January 15, 1983 before the show. You can see Jimmy on guitar and Jerry wailing away on sax. The handsome guy with the drumsticks is Frank Pagano, who you just saw in the video.

I have no idea where that version of the shot came from, so here’s a better version:

 

Floyd has an 8pm Tuesday night show on StageIt.com that I recommend you all check out. In it, he and cast member Scott Gordon show (and comment on) old UFS shows from the late 70s and first half of the 80s that Scott personally preserved.

Some of the bits are absolutely hilarious!

These shows are not repeated nor are they archived, so it’s one showing only and that’s it. Either you see it at 8pm on Tuesday nights or you don’t ever again. It requires a $5 ticket from StageIt and tickets are limited.

If you’re interested, go here:

https://www.stageit.com/uncle_floyd_and_scott_gordon/this_was_the_uncle_floyd_show_44_with_uncle_floyd_and_scott_gordon_live/103253

(This link is ONLY for the 12-14-21 show! After that, go to StageIt.com and find Uncle Floyd)

As I write this, there are 82 tickets left for the 12-14-21 show. (OK, Floyd – there’s your plug)

During one of those shows last month, Floyd mentioned that his brothers were flying in from CA to do a show with him and others on December 2, 2021 in the auditorium of Glen Rock High School.

I wasn’t aware of the BFGRH documentary, but I hadn’t seen Jimmy and Jerry since last century and thought this might be a good time to get pictures of the three brothers together. Quite frankly, we’re all old – how many other opportunities might there be to do this again?

I have to go to this show.

 

By the time I found out where to buy tickets, they were sold out, so I had to try to do this officially – something I haven’t done in a LONG time.

I still have Floyd’s number, so I called him to see if he knew who handled photo passes. He didn’t.

I called the school and left a message telling them who I was, what I needed and asking whom do I speak with to get this done.

I got a call back the next morning telling me to call someone named Barry Rubinow: “He’s in charge”. I left a message with Barry (who turned out to be the producer of the whole shebang). He called right back and said “No problem”.

And there wasn’t. I told him I’d also like to shoot the rehearsal, where things are a little looser and I could talk to people and get the lay of the land. You don’t want to start doing that 5 minutes before showtime.

“Get there between 3 and 4pm. Parking may be a problem.”

So I called the school again and spoke with another very helpful person, who said, “3 o’clock is the worst time because of parents picking up their kids, but if you come at 3:20, that’s done with and most of the teachers have left. Park right in front near the flagpole”.

She was right.

I was told that security would be VERY tight. I envisioned a phalanx of 7-foot goons with cavemen clubs, but when I walked in, it was empty…………oh wait – there’s a man behind plexiglass in a little booth against the left wall.

“Can I help you?”

Barry told me beforehand to say I’m with the film crew, so I did.

“May I have your license, please?”

After a minute, he handed it back to me, along with this:

 

Oh, great – my horrible license picture is on this and I’m now “Robert”. Guess what I turned backwards for the rest of the night. (Note: After the night was over, I thought about a little photo project I should have done – gone around and asked to shoot everyone’s pass, especially Jimmy’s brothers, Florio and Jerome.)

I found the auditorium and, ultimately, Barry, who was with a small group that included Floyd, who looked at me and said “Bob – you made it!”

“Piece of cake”, I replied.

I then met Barry, who pointed to the stage where the rehearsal was in full swing and said “Go do your thing”. So I did.

 

There were 3 or 4 video guys in front of and on the stage who were moving around, so stage and very close to it were off-limits. I was further limited by my little camera, which had to use a too-long-to-hold-steady exposure, so I wound up taking most of my rehearsal shots from the second or third row of seats. This let me steady my shots on the seatback in front of me.

I also had my iPhone with me, which I like to use for panoramic shots and backstage portraits. Everything comes out nicely without having to fiddle around with settings.

So, I’m going to start off with the 22 passable rehearsal shots I took, in the order I took them, with the little Canon held down tightly on the back of the seat – which was NOT flat – in front of me, beginning with a group performance shot where everyone isn’t visible:

 

Jimmy:

 

Lee Shapiro:

 

Jimmy/camera/Lee:

 

Jerry/Frank/Jimmy:

 

Jerry:

 

Lee/Floyd:

 

Another group shot (missing a few):

 

Jimmy:

 

Floyd’s new instruments and how to get the best sound when you only have one of them:

 

Two shots of a cameraman & the brothers – Jerry/Cymbal Simon/Jimmy:

 

Lee laughs:

 

At the Trumpet Exchange – Jeff Venho, Jimmy, Floyd:

 

Jimmy/Doug Romoff – Either somebody farted or Jimmy doesn’t like my watermark placement:

 

The band plays on and Floyd’s at the snack table:

 

Jerry/Jimmy:

 

Frank (it gets a little grainy zoomed-in that much):

 

Jerry doubling-up (twice):

 

Jimmy:

 

Jimmy/Doug/Jerry:

 

Jimmy:

 

 

I also took 4 iPhone shots during rehearsal.

 

Band/cameramen/snack table:

 

Frank/Jimmy/Doug/Jerry/Lee/Floyd:

 

Last rehearsal shot:

 

The curtain is pulled down until showtime as Floyd directs traffic. I don’t know who the other gentleman is:

This just in………….the producer informs me that the man’s name is Rennie and he’s Jimmy’s guitar tech.

 

 

Almost forgot – I DID take 2 panoramic iPhone shots during rehearsal. CLICK TO ENLARGE BOTH OF THEM.

 

In a rare moment when there were no cameramen in front of the stage, I got to pan the whole stage:

It would have been nice to have done that during the show, but it was not possible right in front of an audience and with cameramen moving around

 

But I DID take a smaller PANO shot from the second or third row:

 

 

ON TO THE BAND ROOM (backstage)

 

Frank/Floyd/Jimmy

 

Pizza/Jimmy/Frank

 

Broadway star Donna Vivino (Jerry’s daughter) and her drum-playing son, Hendrix. Behind them, her Uncle Jimmy completes the Jimmy/Hendrix Rhythm Section:

 

Hendrix thinks about his BIG aspirations (and he’s got the genes to get there):

 

Here’s Donna now:

 

The first time I photographed her, she was FOUR YEARS OLD with her paternal grandparents (Floyd, Jerry and Jimmy’s parents) at the baptism reception for Floyd’s son Christopher in 1982:

 

(From my site – bobleafe.com, if you’re interested) In the same year, here she is on The Uncle Floyd Show – dressed for stardom:

 

You may remember that I wanted to get a nice shot of the Vivino brothers…………this ain’t it, but here they are looking at pictures:

 

Finally – either because I asked them nicely or because they had a dozen boxes of pizza in front of them – I got the shot I wanted:

 

As I walked away, I noticed them still posing and snapped this (Snap it, pal!):

 

A short time later, someone unwrapped a box of…………..CANNOLIS and placed them on the pizza boxes:

 

Guess who was the first to partake:

 

Cannoli in hand, Floyd poses with documentary producer Barry Rubinow:

 

I had been noticing all the interesting-looking instrumentation in the room – most of which I had never photographed before – so a quick walk around the room produced these 6 shots of 7 instruments:

 

The room was starting to thin out as showtime approached, so I took this panoramic shot of the whole room (well, most of it). CLICK TWICE TO FULLY ENLARGE:

 

Some people were already seated (friends and family?):

 

Just before they started letting the crowd in, I went into the lobby to shoot whatever they were selling/displaying:

 

And then the doors opened:

 

SHOWTIME!

Since shooting up front was out of the question, I had to go ALL the way to the back – behind the last row, near/next to the soundboard, which was against the back wall. I would still have the same exposure problems, but no seatback in front of me to steady the camera on.

Fortunately, I thought to bring a tripod, which is usually a no-no at concerts and something I had never used in the 1,100 or so concerts/events I shot during my career. If I didn’t bring the tripod, I would have gotten nothing of the show.

But now there’s another problem – a BIG one.

Even with a tripod, the act of hitting the shutter button when you’re shooting long exposures will – by itself – cause shake and ruin a picture. There’s only ONE option open to me in that situation: using the timer.

I have never had to deal with a situation like this before. The art of shooting concerts is dependent on the photographer’s timing – to anticipate a movement and hit the shutter at the exact moment that the peak of the action occurs and capture a magnificent freeze-frame that magazines and fans will want to buy.

You absolutely can NOT do that when you have to use a 2-second timer that eliminates shake (and your ability to capture the moments you want). How do you anticipate what a performer will be doing when the shutter opens a couple of seconds later?

Well, you do what you can and hope for the best. There’s no other choice.

 

OK, so now that you’re all weeping for me, let MY show begin and see what you think.

I started off with a group shot that I converted to Black & White. I like this one!

 

Floyd cracks up Frank and Jimmy:

 

This little camera has really good zooming ability………remember, I’m as far away as you can be in an auditorium:

 

Floyd’s still cracking Frank up:

 

Floyd does a bit where he starts off as Don Corleone (with wads of cotton stuffed in his cheeks) and finishes it as the Mayor of Munchkinland (not shown). Frank, Jimmy, Doug and violinist Krista Bennion Feeney are enjoying the bit:

 

An even longer exposure shows the audience. I was told before the show that 20 people called to cancel because of concerns about the new COVID variant (omicron), so maybe that explains the empty seats at a sold-out show………………or maybe a bunch of good friends all had to go to the bathroom together:

 

Jerry Vivino, John Feeney (Krista’s husband) and a partially obscured Lee Shapiro:

 

Krista, John and Lee. I had to guess if I would capture a lower, more-visible stroke from John, but the 2-second timer delay……………well, you know:

 

Floyd notices a photographer in the back of the room (trust me – he looked a lot better when I hit the shutter button 2 seconds before):

 

Jimmy welcomes gospel singer and pianist Ouida W. Harding – another GRHS graduate:

 

Talented Jerry doubles up again:

 

Jimmy/Krista/Doug/Jerry/John:

 

Donna Vivino belts one out…………what a voice! In the third shot, she’s sandwiched between her father Jerry on the left and her uncle Jimmy on the right – a family shot I really wanted to get:

 

Two shots of Lee (one is with the band’s original music teacher, Joe Sielski) as Floyd hides behind the curtain:

 

Joe gets flowers, praise and applause from everyone:

 

Joe grabs his sax, solos and then hands it off (via his thumb) to Jerry:

(Capturing that thumb was pure dumb luck when you’re dealing with a 2-second delay.)

 

 

The Triple-J Brass Section (Jeff, Jerry, Joe):

 

Frank and documentary producer Barry Rubinow:

 

Floyd gives old pal Lee a shoulder massage with a trumpet in one hand:

 

Just for the hell of it, I took a picture of the auditorium ceiling because no one else did:

 

There was a raffle of some sort that I know nothing about, but I had to get shots of Floyd calling out the winners (what did they win?):

 

Cameraman zooms in on Lee’s back – look for it in the documentary:

 

One last shot of the crowd…………..and it’s over!

 

I went up to the stage – guys are happy to pose with their teacher, Joe:

 

My last show shots – Floyd and Joe talk to audience members:

 

 

Eventually, I made my way back to the band room to see what everyone was doing. The place was practically empty except for man-of-the-hour/night/event Joe Sielski, who was talking with someone while packing up his sax

I wound up talking to him for a while and then went home.

The next day, while I’m looking through about 300 pictures, I’m trying to come up with one to end the story with, but nothing fits that description.

Then I think back and realize that it was right in front of me in that band room and I didn’t even think of it. What would be a better capper than a shot of Joe, triumphantly raising his sax over his head with both hands and with a huge grin on his face?

He just had the time of his life (I’m guessing) with his highly-accomplished students from 50 years ago in front of a wildly-cheering audience………….a shot of him bursting with pride would have put an huge exclamation point on this entire story.

But the professional music photographer didn’t think of it.

But that professional music photographer DID happen to collect email addresses of some of the participants – including Joe – so I could send them this post.

I IMMEDIATELY emailed Joe, explaining what I wished I had shot and asking if he and his sax would be willing to meet with me so I could take a couple of quick shots.

He called the next day: “Sure! Where and when?”

The band room – my first choice – was unavailable because school was in session and no other location really mattered. At that point, the background was unimportant, so – not wanting to inconvenience him in the least – I said, “Got a blank garage wall?”

And that’s what we did on December 7. I went to his home, met his lovely wife, Carolyn, and we hiked about 20 feet to the side of the garage. I took 8-10 shots of him holding his sax aloft with a big grin on his face and other poses.

Total time there? 17 minutes (and he didn’t have to drive anywhere)………perfect!

 

I went home to edit the photos and started comparing the sax-in-the-air shots. They were good, but I kept finding myself drawn to another shot and ultimately decided that this shot was the best one with which to conclude this long and rambling post.

I hope you agree:

Thank you, Joe!

 

And thank you everyone else if you made it all the way to the end of this post.

 

And WHATEVER you all do out there, make sure you find this documentary when it’s released!

 

 

April 18, 2022 UPDATE: Documentary producer Barry Rubinow has informed me that the project has a new name, logo AND a new trailer (which shows the new name/logo in the cover photo), that things are going well and that the premiere should happen sometime this Fall.

I had initially planned to simply switch out the original title, logo and trailer, but then thought it would be more informative to simply add any changes to show the progress as this project evolves: