After 50 Years Of Performances,

The Kenny Lee Band Is Still Golden

By Shannon Hicks

The Kenny Lee Band, formed in September 1955, may have lost its namesake last December, but members Stan Schoonmaker, Rick Fenton, Keith Repko, and Joe Piazza still have a lot of music to perform. As the band continues its golden anniversary celebration this season, shows continue to be booked across the region and Mr Schoonmaker, who lives in Newtown with his wife Connie, makes sure the band is kept busy on a regular basis.

Early rehearsals of the original lineup saw the band trying to formulate a style. Members quickly decided to perform a variety of music instead of specializing in one category. While at the time their selections may have been called contemporary, today the band is celebrated for its performances of what are now recognized as classic songs from the 1940s, 50s, and 60s.

In continuing to reach across generations, the band now also performs music made popular by The Righteous Brothers, a Big Band medley, a medley of 50s rock songs, and songs that reach into the 1970s.

The band played a 50th reunion show earlier this month, but it wasn’t for themselves. The Kenny Lee Band was the featured performer during the 50th reunion celebration for Danbury High School’s Class of 1955. The band has also been hired to do a 50th anniversary party for a Bethel couple.

Just last month Charter Communications offered a two-part special about the band.

“It’s been a busy month for us,” Mr Schoonmaker said recently. Mr Schoonmaker has been the drummer for The Kenny Lee Band since its inception.

Rick Fenton, a Danbury resident who handles guitar and vocals, has been a member of The Kenny Lee Band for about 30 years; Keith Repko of Danbury, the band’s keyboardist, has been involved for 28 years; and Joe Piazza, who plays sax, clarinet, and flute and lives in Mt Kisco, N.Y., is the “rookie” of the band. He has been a member for 15 years.

In addition to these regular members, The Kenny Lee Band has several musicians who can be called on to fill in for a sick or vacationing regular member, or just to join a performance as a special guest. Among these players are the sax players Carmen Leggio and Will Michael, the bassist Joe Piera, the keyboardists Dennis Nazzaro and Wayne Gunthier, and the trumpet player John DaSilva.

Kenny Lee was, said Mr Schoonmaker, “a great guy.” Mr Lee had had polio as a child, and it left him unable to walk for the rest of his life. He used crutches and braces for most of his life, and had been in recent years relying on a wheelchair.

Nevertheless, says Mr Schoonmaker, “he would do anything. He went bowling, played baseball, and even tried to play football.”

When Mr Lee, the band’s trumpet player, passed away last December, three of the four band members served as his pallbearers. Shortly after the passing of their friend and fellow musician, the remaining members of The Kenny Lee Band decided not to change the name of their band.

“We really plan to carry on, with the name and performances,” Mr Schoonmaker said. “Kenny would have wanted this. I think if the tables were turned he would have wanted the band to go on.”

Half a century ago, Mr Lee and Mr Schoonmaker began playing regularly at Mac’s Halfway House in Danbury.

Mr Schoonmaker had already been playing the drums for nearly ten years at that point. His instructor was Eddie Kane, who started Kane’s Music Store in Danbury.

The original lineup, along with Mr Lee on trumpet and Mr Schoonmaker on drums, included guitar player Jim Newton and accordion player Bob Gereg.

“Back in those days a lot of bands had accordion players,” explained Mr Schoonmaker. “Many places let their pianos go out of tune, and no one had electric keyboards yet, so we relied on accordion players.”

In the past the band played 75 to 80 shows a year, many times playing a full slate of gigs on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. These days the schedule is a little lighter.

“We may do one or two shows a month,” Mr Schoonmaker said, but that doesn’t include a Danbury Senior Center Dance Party the band offers each month. “That event gives us a lot of exposure.”

In 1985 The Kenny Lee Band was hired to play the music for the City of Danbury’s 300th anniversary gala.

“That job was a real plum,” Mr Schoonmaker recalled. “We thought we were hot stuff when we got that job.”

Gigs have also included events at Candlewood Shores, Sacred Heart Church’s Diamond Jubilee, a New Year’s Eve show at The Boulders on Lake Waramaug in New Preston, the 20th anniversary celebration for St Marguerite Parish in Brookfield, and many of the private parties for Newtown resident and dancer Ginnie Lathrop, including Mrs Lathrop’s 90th birthday bash in November 2004.

The band was hired for the first and second annual Prime Timers Dinner Dance, events that were held at Ridgewood Country Club in Ridgefield as fundraisers for Danbury Senior Center.

The Kenny Lee Band also played for Danbury High School’s Class of 1947 class reunion.

“That was funny — it was my high school class we were playing for,” Mr Schoonmaker said.

As has been the case for many years, the summer of 2005 saw a lot of work for The Kenny Lee Band. There were shows in the community concert series at Southbury Green (the band celebrated the opening of the 2005 summer season with a performance on June 2) and Bethel’s gazebo in front of the town’s municipal building. The band did not perform this year at Ashlar of Newtown and Lockwood Lodge at Ashlar, but it has been featured regularly in previous seasons.

“We do a lot of outdoors shows, and a lot depends on the wind,” Mr Schoonmaker said. “We’ve learned to always bring a lot of clothespins with us,” he added with a laugh.

Indoor shows can be equally challenging.

“A lot of the halls, the acoustics can be very funny. They give you funny echo effects sometimes,” he said.

The band has also performed regularly at The Homesteads at Newtown. There were no summer concerts this year, as the assisted living facility was changing owners. Mr Schoonmaker says he hopes the band will be invited back once the facility’s new owners have their schedules back on track by next summer.

While it has landed a number of bookings in regular concert series, the band does not rely on past successes to continue its bookings. Mr Schoonmaker participated in “Retired & Loving It,” a special one-day show at The Stony Hill Inn in Bethel in July that brought together people who may have retired from their full-time careers but continue to offer goods and services in the region. Mr Schoonmaker set up a table to promote The Kenny Lee Band.

“I saw a lot of people I hadn’t seen in a long time, and met a few new folks,” Mr Schoonmaker said. “It was a lot of fun, and probably good for the band.”

Next weekend the band will be in Danbury. The Kenny Lee Band will be the featured performers for the Danbury Jaycees’ Annual Harvest Festival, taking place on November 6 at The Amber Room.

Fifty years is a long time for anything in the business world. In the music world it’s all but unheard of for a band to still be together after five decades. For those who enjoy musicians performing music of a golden era, it sounds like The Kenny Lee Band will still be around for the time being.