![]() ![]() Nevertheless, Russ Russo, the Riviera drummer agreed to teach tom from that point forward.īy the time was in Fort Lee High School, music and art were coming together. Obviously a bad habit picked up by a kid teaching himself how to play without lessons. His hands moved like a right handed person, but his feet played the bass and high hat like a left handed person. The drummer at the Riviera quickly observed that Tom had been playing the drums backwards. It was through the Riviera connection that Tom received his first drum lessons. ![]() Of course he did not know how to play the drums, but that was just an incidental obstacle to overcome. When the Fort Lee Police athletic league decided to start a talent show, ten-year-old Tom took his Uncle George’s drums from his mothers closet and joined the band. with the Will Masten trio, Jimmy Durante and the list goes on and on. His Dad would often take Tom down to the Riviera on Tuesday nights (the slow night) and allow him to sit in the spotlight booth and watch the shows. Tom’s Dad worked for the Fort Lee Police Department on permanent assignment at the famed night club called Bill Miller’s Riviera, The Riviera was situated about 150 yards north of the George Washington bridge perched on the edge of the Palisades. Tom’s family on his mothers side excelled in music, his grandmother was a concert pianist, his uncle George was a drummer and his Mother was an excellent singer from the Big Band era. He clearly recalls how excited he would get on rainy days when the kids would not be allowed to go to the playground during lunch time but instead, due to the rain, would be issued some thick drawing paper with a brown tint to it and were allowed to stay indoors and draw anything they wanted. Since the first grade in elementary school PS # 3 in Coytesville, NJ, which is now the north end of Fort Lee, Tom has been fascinated with drawing and color. ![]()
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