Featuring Dominic Valenti. Seen performing at Calvert Hall dances.
Donald Lehnhoff remembers …
In the summer of 1959, 4 young musicians (Chuck Frohlich, Dwight Miller, Buzz Sappington, myself) from Parkville Jr. High School set out to form a band. These guys were horn players – not a guitar, keyboard or bass among them – so rock ‘n roll was not the way to go. Chuck’s parents found us a coach, to teach us how to be working musicians, and that coach was Italian trumpet player, Dominic Valenti. He met with us in Frohlich’s basement weekly and had us buy “fake books.” He taught us how to play tunes from lead sheets, how to improvise harmony and solos, and how to present ourselves on the bandstand. It was the start of The Poker Chips, and the lessons he taught us carried us through 5 years to high school graduation as a very successful local band, playing dance music (standards) for adults and young people, Dixieland for shows, and appearances on local and even national TV (Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour). For myself, those lessons informed my professional playing throughout my life, and are with me today with a Dixieland band in Minneapolis, MN, and participation in a variety of college and community bands in the Central Lakes region of Minnesota where I now live. Dominic was the best, and I’ll never forget him.