Brooklyn & Beyond

Vini Lopez / Photo by John Cavanaugh

Asbury Park, NJ icon and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Vini “Mad Dog” Lopez told Brooklyn Roads that his visit t o the Barclays Center was not his first one. He had been to at least one of Murray the K’s famed Brooklyn Fox Theatre rock and roll shows back in the 1960’s.  The “Mad Dog” nickname was bestowed on him by Clive Davis back in 1971, in the Dr. Zoom & The Sonic Boom days. That legendary group included the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny , Steve Van Zandt, Gary Tallent , Johnny Wasdorp, David Sancious and fellow drummer  Bobby Williams , along with horn players Bobby Feigenbaum and  Albee Tellone, backed by a ten member male and female chorus.

On his induction with the other E Street Band members, Vini Lopez said “that was pretty incredible…we got there the day before and we’re all in a hotel and there was a party at this club, The Monkey Club, for all the inductees the night before …. we didn’t get back to the hotel  until about 3 am “. He went to tell us that on the day of the induction ceremony (April 10, 2014) “we had a 9:30 am sound check in Brooklyn …our sound check lasted until ,like noon …then we had to go back to the hotel to get changed and had to be back again by 5:00 pm …… ..another thing I remember is Max (E Street drummer Max Weinberg) had two drum sets…one was a little higher than the other one , so when it came time to get on the drums, I went to the lower one and Max wouldn’t let me…  Max told me “no, no, this one’s yours”, pointing to the higher one…so Max took care of me pretty good”.

Joe D’Urso/ Michael Lanning Photo by Al Pereira

Joe D’Urso is one of the best kept music secrets to ever come out of Rockland County, NY, located just north of New York City and not known as a musical mecca.  During his formative years, he worked at Premiere Talent for Frank Barsalona and Barry Bell, which only fueled his fierce passion for Bruce Springsteen’s Jersey Shore music sound.  His American roots music band, The Stone Caravan, have been making their unique, gritty brand of music, both in the studio and on the road, across North American and Europe for a quarter century. Joe has also become adept at organizing concerts and music festivals across the globe, including the Rockland- Bergen Music Festival and is a Board Member of The Light of Day Foundation and is tireless in his musical pursuits.

Earlier this year, Joe D’Urso and Trans-Siberian Orchestra alumnus Michael Lanning came to Brooklyn’s Prospect Range for an acoustic evening of roots music. Highlights included D’Urso’s  “As The Rain Falls in Dublin” , which  he wrote in Dublin while touring the UK with his Stone Caravan band and  Michael Lanning’s  “Your Kid  Is Buggin’ Me”.

For those not in the know,  local music promoter Don Duggan , whose  Brooklyn Music Shop  hosted a number of great music events , including Jorma Kaukonen,  Joan Osborne and David Bromberg,  has created an intimate and organic  music environment . In an age when concert ticket prices are in the stratosphere, the “house” concerts at Prospect Range cost an average of $ 15 and the forty seat room is a natural setting for both musical and spoken stories.