The Combonaires were formed in 1957 by Joe Wojtysiak on accordion, and included Sal Danna on drums, and Tim Nadrowski on tenor sax and clarinet. A short time later, Charlie Prietz joined the group on alto sax. In June 1958, John Moscato joined the group on guitar and, in October 1958, Ray Kmoch joined the band on bass.
Sal attended Patterson Park High School, Tim attended St. Joseph High School, Ray attended Baltimore City College and, Joe, John, and Charlie attended Baltimore Polytechnic Institute.
The early focus of the group was to play for various East Baltimore and Dundalk Catholic Youth organizations including Holy Rosary, Our Lady of Fatima, St. Michael’s, St. Rita’s, and St. Patrick’s to name a few. Teen Centers included Hamilton Rec Center, and Glen Burnie Armory. The band also played for weddings, sororities, fraternities, and various other affairs. During that period the band made several appearances on local radio and television.
Disc jockey Jack Gale heard the band and had the Combonaires record two records of their own (“Wicked” b/w “Hey Mrs. Jones”) and (“Topaz” with the flip side being an instrumental version of “In the Still of the Night”). The records were published by Jalo Music.
The band was also the backup band for several local singers and groups that made records under Jack Gale’s label. During this period the band played at the USO Club, and entertained children at the Kernan Children’s Hospital in a show with nationally known female recording artist the Poni-Tails. The band once backed up Freddie ‘Boom-Boom’ Cannon and Bobbie Rydell when they were on tour and stopped to promote their records at an event at St. Leo’s Church in Baltimore.
Battles of the Bands were popular at the time and were promoted by Lou Karpouzie at Unity Hall, and Jerry Manowski at the Polish Home Hall. Bands included the Van Dykes, Admirals, Swingtones, Rhythm-Aires, Crystals, and of course the Combonaires.
Another Poly student, Gary Loomis (tenor sax ex-Galaxies) later joined the group. Gary brought his friend Marty Thompson (ex-Galaxies, Del Vinos, Arcades) who joined as the lead singer, and to round out the desired sound, trombonist Don Bartosz from Patterson Park High School joined the Combonaires.
The Surf Club became a band favorite nightclub where Marty Thompson entertained the customers with a variety of songs from artists like Ray Charles, and Johnny Mathis. His impressive vocal range allowed him to perform a wide variety of songs like “Mother-In-Law,” “Shop Around,” and “My Prayer,” to great renditions of John Mathis’ “Misty” and “Heavenly.” Marty recalled the Combonaires as “a group of quality musicians… a full sounding band that simply didn’t make mistakes.”
For about six months in 1962, while Joe completed basic training with the Air National Guard, the band temporarily folded. Marty got an offer to join the Crystals. Next, John, Sal, Ray, and Tim were joined by saxophonist Ike Clayton and called themselves the Valiants while playing at several local nightclubs including Zebelean’s, and the Impala. Even though they were booked steady, they folded within the year when they found the nightclub circuit was not to their liking.
In 1964, five of the original Combonaires; Joe, Sal, Tim, Ray, and John, re-grouped as the Jesters. They were very popular for weddings, bull-roasts, Saturday night parties, and the like. Joe left the group at the end of 1968 and was replaced by Butch Easton on keyboards and vocals. John Moscato became the new leader. Tom Ressin joined the band on bass in 1970, and in 1977 Tony Valenti took over on keyboards.
The Jesters continued playing until the end of 1979.
Gary Loomis went on to join Tommy Vann’s Echoes. Marty Thompson worked with U.S. Male… Clayton later with Three-Of-A-Kind Plus One… Easton later with Endless Express, Three-Of-A-Kind…
Record releases by the Combonaires:
1958 Rescue 31044 Topaz / In the Still of The Night
1959 Dart 1010 Hey Mrs. Jones / Wicked
