We Three - the humble beginnings
1965 – 1970
In 1965, rock ‘n roll was the rage in the USA. I played the accordion which was not a rock and roll instrument. My father and mother, who were great dancers, danced to the big bands. In the Pittsburgh area, dance halls were the Twin Coaches, Westview Park, Kennywood Park, The Vogue Terrace, etc. My father encouraged me to learn the repertoire of the big bands rather than the rock and roll music of the day. He told me that if I wanted to make money, I should play the big band repertoire.
I took his advice and, in the summer of 1965, WE THREE was born. I was fourteen years old at the time. I choose my classmates from West Mifflin South High School: The group was comprised of the late Vince Dimsa, tenor sax and clarinet, the late Gary Cannon, drums, and myself, Vito DiSalvo, electric accordion (the Cordovox).
Oddly, the first name of the group was not WE THREE, but rather, The Standards. Approximately, two years after The Standards were in business, I decided to change the name to WE THREE. WE THREE remained the band’s name for the next 47 years until 2014 when the band officially retired.
The first performance (gig) of We Three was a pro bono performance. Gary Cannon’s dad, Ed Cannon, was also a drummer but more importantly, he was the service manager for Cochran Pontiac in Braddock, PA. He asked us if we wanted to perform for the opening of the 1966 Pontiacs. We all agreed as it was a way to get the band out into the public, but for me, being a bit of a car aficionado, excited to see the new Pontiacs. – especially the 1966 GTO, and the Bonnieville 2+2.
We arrived at Cochran Pontiac early to set up the band for the gig. Unfortunately for me, we were told to set up in the mechanics garage where they had other new models. As we were playing a song, a gentleman came up to me and asked me if we played for weddings, and I said “Absolutely”, and handed him a card. That gig was our first paid gig which was in 1965. We earned $45.00/ four hour /night. Which yielded each band member $15.00. It is important to note that the minimum wage at that time was $1.60 per hour so we were well ahead of the game.
This was the humble beginnings of a band that performed for 49 years with its beginnings in the West Mifflin, Clairton, Duquesne area then expanding to the Pittsburgh area then expanding to the tri state areas of PA/Ohio/ West Virginia areas and finally expanding to the entire east coast and western plains to Milwaukee, WI.
We Three - 1970 - 1990
After graduating from high school in 1969, Vince Dimsa headed to attend West Virginia University to study civil engineering. At that time, I decided to hire another sax player, Terry Harr, to replace Vince. Terry Harr was a classmate of mine at the Duquesne University School of Music. I also had a change of drummers at about the same time. I hired Nick Gimiliano to play drums. Nick
was a student at the University of Pittsburgh Department of Music.
The three of us remained together until my departure to graduate school at the University of Miami in 1974. Incredibly, both Nick and Terry shortly thereafter, followed me to Miami and we started the band up in Miami.
I returned to Pittsburgh in late 1976; Nick and Terry remained in Miami. Though it was almost three years that I was away, it was as if I had never left. I still received calls for WE THREE to perform at parties and weddings. It was now time to put together the next iteration of WE THREE. Also in August of 1976 I accepted a fulltime substitute position to teach music in the West Mifflin Area School District. In April, 1977, I accepted a permanent teaching position in the school district.
In August, 1976, I hired Ken DelVecchio, Nick Gimiliano’s first cousin, as We THREE’S new drummer. Ken DelVecchio remained with the group for the next sixteen years. In 1976 I also hired Paul Hoce, a fine tenor sax player I had met while in Miami, who made his living as a plumber. Paul, who lived in Hialeah, Florida had recently moved back to Parkersburg, West Virginia. Jobs were becoming plentiful and the two-hour trek to Pittsburgh for Paul was getting tough. So, I decided to hire Dale Hertrick, who was doing his student teaching under me at West Mifflin. Dale left the group a year later to tour with the Guy Lombardo Orchestra.
When he left, I hired John Orsini as our saxophonist. As a bonus, John was a wonderful vocalist. WE THREE had their first vocalist with the group. John left the group after four years to start his own band. With John’s departure, I then hired another Duquesne University classmate and fraternity brother (Alpha Phi Delta) Greg Grenek to play sax. The year was 1984, and Greg remained with the band for the next 30 years. He played soprano, tenor, and alto saxophones and flute. In addition, he became a strong lead vocalist with the band.
In 1979 I was suffering with severe lower back pain. WE THREE had a gig at the Overhead Smash, an indoor hand ball court, located in Irwin, with a bar and restaurant upstairs (with no elevator). Since my sister Judy and (late) brother-in-law Tom, lived in North Huntingdon, I called Tom to see if he would be willing to help me get my equipment upstairs. At that moment another WE THREE Star was born. Our first ROADIE! From that gig on until the last gig WE THREE played, we always had a roadie/s to haul and set up our equipment. Tom remained our roadie until I moved from West Mifflin to South Park in 1988. I then hired my cousin, Paul Ioandi, to become our roadie. In 1989, while recording our second album (Eh Cumpari) at Aircraft Studio in Dormont, I met and worked with recording engineer Ed “Duke” Dukstein. Oddly, though from Bethel Park, Ed attended the University of Miami as a record engineer major. This is the school I did my graduate work in music theory and composition. A ‘small world’ moment!!
One day between sessions I took Ed to lunch and asked him if he would be interested in running sound for my group’s live shows? Surprisingly he emphatically said yes and WE THREE had yet another Star born… our first sound engineer. During the years prior to Ed Dukstein and shortly after we had several of my former West Mifflin students who worked for WE THREE either as a roadie or sound engineer or both. These included; Matt Welch, Jeff Turlik, Tom Neidzella and Dennis Sandusky. Dennis was the roadie and assistant sound engineer for the group for ten years under Ed Dukstein.
In 1990, my dear friend Ernie Pontiere, who was on tour as a vocalist with The Lettermen, left the group and returned to Pittsburgh to find a teaching position as well as a performing gig. I instantly hired him as a fourth member of WE THREE.
We were now known as Vito DiSalvo & WE THREE. Ernie remained a vital part of the group for twenty years until his voice caused him problems and he had to retire from singing.
The next several years were some of WE THREE’S best years with Ernie, Greg, Nick, Duke, Dennis and yours truly.
We Three 1990 - 2005
In 1992 Nick Gimiliano returned from Miami and I made the decision to re-hire Nick, who then remained with the group until 1995 when he left to go with Pure Gold. I encouraged Nick to go with Pure Gold because they were doing Do-Wop Shows on PBS, which would be another avenue of income for him. I then hired Dennis Hoffmann, who was a friend of my son, Vito. Dennis was an outstanding drummer and percussionist at South Park High School and because of his great instincts for understanding various types of dance music, I had no reservation hiring him as the next drummer for the group.
Amidst the recording of WE THREE’s fifth album Buona Festa, in 1997, I hired yet another addition to WE THREE a terrific guitar player, Jamie Wright. Jamie was both a rock and roll guitarist and an accomplished vocalist who was eager to learn the American and Italian songbook. WE THREE was now five members strong – Dennis Hoffman, Ernie Pontiere, Greg Grenek, Jamie Wright and myself. This attracted much attention from the media, when we would be performing for major Italian Festivals with promo pictures showing five guys, and a group called WE THREE!!
In 1998, Dennis completed his music degree at Duquesne University, he then joined the US Air Force Band in Washington, DC as a percussionist and drummer.
After Dennis Hoffmann left the group to join the Air Force Band, I hired Tony Cortese who performed in former groups with Jamie Wright. After a short run with the group, Tony left and I hired jazz drummer Billy Kuhn. Though Billy is a great jazz drummer with a reputation as one of the very best in the Pittsburgh region, dance music requires a different style of drumming.
Ray Defade played with our group a few times in the past in a substitution role. Ray was perfect for the group but was still working with “The Gathering Field” who was working to re-kindle their touring status. When that attempt did not seem to get too far, Ray finally agreed to come with We Three full time and remained with the group for the next seven years.
With Ray’s departure from the gig, I hired what would be the last and final drummer for We Three, Brandon Barnes. Brandon, a former student of mine from West Mifflin Schools, was not only a terrific drummer, but was also a proficient percussionist.
In 2001 I recruited my dear friend, Tom Cossie, who was a marketing guru with several major record labels, to help market our latest album “Con Amore” (With love). The album was scheduled to be released over the Labor Day weekend. Each year over the Labor Day weekend We Three was a regular performer for the Pittsburgh Italian Festa at Station Square. Thousands of people visited the Festa over the four-day weekend.
Unfortunately for us 9/11 happened that year just days after the festa ended and the attention of the country, and the world for that matter, was on the attack on America. No one was
interested in buying new albums at that time. This project, which I had invested the most amount of money thus far in a recording project was a bust!!
The “Con Amore” album featured not only our new Vocalist /Guitarist Jamie Wright but also our lead singer Ernie Pontiere and his wife Lisa Pontiere. Ernie and Lisa sang an original song that I penned for the album titled “Con Amore”. They also sang the duet “Con te partiro” on the album.
During the next ten years WE THREE was at its peak playing nearly a hundred gigs each year with Vito playing an additional twenty-five to thirty solo gigs per year. Also, in the early 2000’S, Vito started We Three Unplugged which consisted of Greg, Jamie and Vito.
Typically, We Three Unplugged would play small parties when strolling around table to table was appropriate. Additionally, this acoustic group played many times at D’Imperios restaurant in Monroeville. Sometimes as many as four nights per week.
D’Imperios was a home for Vito as he played solo accordion there for many years on Friday nights; assuming of course WE THREE did not have a gig.
As time went on Ernie Pontier began having issues with his voice. He told me that it was time to hang his hat up. I then started a search for other singers who also played an instrument. I found Devon Lippmman who was a young music teacher in the Norwin school district. Devon played trombone well and sang reasonably well. Knowing I had Jamie singing with the band I was comfortable hiring Devon.
Also in the early 90’s while playing solo accordion at D’Imperio’s Restaurant. I had the pleasure of meeting John Bigante, who was the head waiter at the restaurant. John was from Gamberale, Italy, not very far from the town where my paternal grandparents were from, Castel del “Giudici. John’s baritone voice was strong and exciting. He knew the entire repertoire of Italian music both the popular and folk music as well as the classic Neapolitan songbook. Needless to say, we hit it off very well.
In 1996 we recorded an album with John Bigante and We Three. The album was titled “Champagne” and featured John’s voice exclusively. A few years later. In 2000, we recorded another album with John titled “The Best of Naples” or in Italian; “Successi Napoletani.”
Subsequently, John and I performed together for many years with just accordion and voice strolling tables for many parties, weddings and other events; many of which, WE THREE took over to provide the dance music.
In 2005 We Three recorded their first all American song album. The double CD album titled “We Can Dance” featured the song, “We Can Dance” which I had written for Ernie Pontiere in the mid-eighties when he was pursuing a record deal in LA. The players for the “We Can Dance” album were: Jamie Wright, guitars and vocals; Ray Defade, drums; Greg Grenek, Saxophones, vocals, percussion; Devon Lippmann, trombone, vocals, percussion.
WE THREE - The Final Years 2005-2014
In 2005 & 2006 WE THREE performed at the Milwaukee Festa Italiana along with MHM Productions Recording Artist Matt Morgan. This was one of the nation’s largest Italian festivals with nearly 200,000 attendees passing through the gates over the four-day Annual July Festa.
In May, 2006, MHM Productions produced a show with Matt Morgan and Vito DiSalvo and We Three which was filmed for a PBS special and a DVD which would become part of the group’s merchandizing content.
In 2007, I was hired by Patrizio Buanne as his Music Director. Knowing I would be soon touring the USA and the world, I asked Greg Grenek to take over the leadership role of WE THREE. I also hired at this time, piano/keyboard player, Rob Roehn and bass player and long-time friend of both Greg and I, Ken Kovach.
In 2009, after Jamie Wright left the band, I hired vocalist, Christina Aloe. Christina was with the group a short time and then I hired vocalist, Daniela Pasquini. Daniela remained the lead vocalist with the group until its last performance. Daniela would also be the featured vocalist on what would become WE THREE’S final album, “We Three, The Next Generation.”
I was also now in need of a guitarist/vocalist. Our sound engineer, Tim Milko asked me if he could audition for that position. I said of course, he did, and I hired Tim as our new guitarist.
Tim brought in the son of Ed Dukstein, Tim, to help with the sound. Though Tim [Milko] was now on stage with the group in a playing capacity, he remained the chief sound engineer for the group.
During the next several years the number of gigs started to dwindle and for a couple of reasons: first, all of the corporate Christmas parties we did year after year, all went away, mostly as the drinking laws became stricter. Also, besides the liability issues, as the parties became more expensive for the companies, they gave their employees the choice of either a party or a bonus check; you know the answer to that question. The other thing that impacted the number of gigs for live bands in general was the strong entrance of DJs. We outlasted most bands because of having an ethnic element to our group. The ethnic groups [people] were the last to give up their live music.
That being said, I knew we had a problem in as early as the late nineties; when a wedding couple requested their special song for their first dance: for many years and until this time, the group simply learned the song and we would play it for the wedding couple. However now the couple wanted to hear the song sung by the original artist, which meant playing the original recording of the song. I saw this as the beginning of the end…
The young wedding couples soon wanted exclusively DJs for their wedding receptions. Their parents however weren’t so eager to give up the idea of live music. Our guitarist/sound engineer, Tim Milko had started doing some DJ work which quickly turned into a good business for him. So, I suggested to all parties involved to have We Three play for the cocktail hour, dinner hour, and a bit of dance music; then have the DJ take over for the remainder of the event. This worked well for a few more years and kept the group alive a bit longer.
After the career we had, I didn’t feel it was viable to keep the group active for 20 or so gigs per year so in 2014, and with a heavy heart, I called for the end of booking WE THREE.
On occasion, I would still perform a few festas and even some private parties using some of the former members of WE THREE and this continued for the next several years. But these gigs were few and far between.
WE THREE had a great run for forty-nine years and were considered one of the premiere dance bands in the Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia Tri-State Area.
The Vital Role of Lana DiSalvo and our Ancillary Team
In the early eighties, when WE THREE became more in demand, the use of contracts to prevent conflicts and define specific terms became increasingly important. My wife, Lana, became the agent for WE THREE and the administrator for our business. Although her degrees were in the field of education, she grasped the music business in terms of booking our band quickly and thoroughly. Lana became my partner in this business, and continues to this day to handle the business side of everything I do in the music industry.
Lana was a wedding planner for thousands of weddings before the term even existed. She worked closely with brides and grooms and parents of brides and grooms to set realistic expectations so that on their special day they could enjoy their guests and allow all of the organizational details up to the band, photographer, and caterer.
In November 1995, we decided to have our first dinner dance in honor of WE THREE ‘s 30th Anniversary. Lana planned the entire event – booking the hall, working with a caterer, designing centerpieces, and tickets, and coming up with door prizes etc. The event boasted an attendance of 450 people. Almost immediately after the event, people were asking for the next dinner dance. Although we had no intentions of doing a second such event, the response was so overwhelming, that we began having four to five dinner dances each year for the next fifteen years. Lana had a dedicated team of workers with her: my sister Tina, and husband Scott Deutsch were always on hand, on the day of the event to help Lana set up the tables at the hall, and our wonderful neighbors Rich and Karen Stetar were the ticket takers and accountants at the door for each and every dance.
Also in the early eighties, Italian festivals became increasing popular. WE THREE was now being considered a formidable Italian dance band west of the Mississippi and a favorite at major Italian festivals.
WE THREE was boasting a stage presence of up to seven instrumental/vocal members onstage, along with two sound engineers, not to mention special guest vocalists. The ancillary team now consisted of an entourage of merchandise sellers, promo staff, stage handlers and transporters. Judy and Tom Sturm, my sister and brother-in-law, in addition to Karen and Rich Stetar, headed the merchandise teams and transportation. Dave and Gloria Sikora along with other friends and relatives were on hand at all events to help with sales and where help was needed. The staff was selling not only cassettes, DVDs and CDs, t- shirts, sweatshirts, and hats, but also pictures and framed prints of pictures I had taken of Tuscany, Venice, and the Amalfi coast during the family’s trips to Italy.
It’s important to mention that the very first merchandise team consisted of my son, Vito Carmen, and my daughter, Gina Ann. We were at the Italian Festival in Uniontown. That year, the festival was held at the Fayette County Fairgrounds. My son was 10 and my daughter was 8. Vito, being an entrepreneur even then, began climbing the bleachers selling cassettes out of a basket (it would be three more years before CDs were launched in the US) like a hotdog vendor, with his sister in toe, helping to carry the merchandise.
Below are samples of the fliers Lana designed and distributed for the dinner dances and festivals:
WE THREE
Valentine Dinner Dance Saturday, February 9, 2008
WHERE: BROUGHTON FIREMEN’S SOCIAL HALL
1030 COCHRANS MILL ROAD
SOUTH PARK, PA 15236
TIME: DOORS OPEN AT 7:00 PM
BUFFET DINNER AT 7:30 PM
DANCING BEGINS APPROXIMATELY
AT 8:30 PM
UNTIL 12:00 MIDNIGHT
B.Y.O.B.
BEER AND SET-UPS
WILL BE PROVIDED
YOU ARE WELCOMED TO
BRING YOUR OWN SNACKS
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND
HOT BUFFET DINNER
CATERED BY
PASTA TOO
$37.50 PER PERSON
$75.00 PER COUPLE
ADVANCE RESERVATIONS ONLY
NO TICKETS WILL BE SOLD
AT THE DOOR!!
NO RESERVATIONS WITHOUT PAYMENT.
NO REFUNDS* – SEATING AND DINNERS
ARE PURCHASED AND PAID IN ADVANCE BY
MHM PRODUCTIONS LLC.
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
UNTIL FEBRUARY 3
OR UNTIL THRY ARE SOLD OUT
FOR TICKETS CALL LANA DISALVO: (412)
653-4838
OUT OF (412) AREA CODE CALL:
1-800-733-4838
VISA/MASTERCARD ORDERS
ACCEPTED BY PHONE
OR
MAIL CHECK TO:
MHM PRODUCTIONS LLC
2075 RIDGE ROAD
South Park, Pennsylvania 15129-8804
Make Check Payable To:
MHM PRODUCTIONS LLC
WE THREE with Vito DiSalvo
CHRISTMAS DINNER DANCE
Saturday, December 12, 2009
WHERE: BROUGHTON FIREMEN’S SOCIAL HALL
1030 COCHRANS MILL ROAD
SOUTH PARK, PA
TIME: DOORS OPEN AT 7:00 PM
BUFFET DINNER AT 7:30 PM
DANCING BEGINS AT 8:30 PM
UNTIL 12:00 MIDNIGHT
YOU ARE WELCOMED TO
BRING YOUR OWN SNACKS
Back by popular demand…..
HOT BUFFET DINNER
CATERED BY SALVATORE’S CATERERS
CHICKEN ROMANO
PASTA FARFALLE WITH CHOICE OF
MARINARA OR ALFREDO SAUCE
ROAST BEEF AND MUSHROOM GRAVY
GARLIC MASHED POTATOES
GREEN BEAN ALMONDINE
GARDEN FRESH TOSSED SALAD WITH
BALSAMIC OR RANCH DRESSINGS
ROLLS, BUTTER
COFFEE TEA
DESSERT
$40.00 PER PERSON
ADVANCE RESERVATIONS ONLY
NO TICKETS WILL BE SOLD
AT THE DOOR!!
NO RESERVATIONS WITHOUT PAYMENT.
NO REFUNDS* – SEATING AND DINNERS
ARE PURCHASED AND PAID IN ADVANCE BY
MHM PRODUCTIONS LLC
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
UNTIL DECEMBER 7
(OR UNTIL TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT)
B.Y.O.B.
BEER AND SET-UPS
WILL BE PROVIDED
FOR TICKETS CALL LANA DISALVO:
(412) 653-4838
OUT OF (412) AREA CODE CALL:
1-800-733-4838
VISA/MASTERCARD ORDERS
ACCEPTED BY PHONE
OR
MAIL CHECK TO:
MHM PRODUCTIONS LLC
2075 RIDGE ROAD
South Park, Pennsylvania 15129-8804
Make Check Payable To:
MHM Productions LLC
Public Performance Schedule
• Saturday, August 21, 2010 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Vito DiSalvo & Daniela Pasquini
Buncher Company Parking Lot
1300 Smallman Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Fundraiser Senator John Heinz
History Center Italian Exhibit
• Saturday, August 28, 2010 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Sunday, August 29, 1020 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
WE THREE with Daniela Pasquini
• Sunday September 12, 2010
Matt Morgan and Vito DiSalvo
Allegheny Valley Concert Association
An afternoon of Musical Theatre
and Opera
Friday, September 24 2010 8:00 PM – 10:30 PM
Mt. Pleasant Glass & Ethnic Festival – Celebrating 24 years
(GPS Address) 1 South Diamond Street Mt. Pleasant, PA 15666
WE THREE with Daniela Pasquini
• Saturday, October 9, 2010 7:30 PM – 11:30 PM
Churchill Valley Country Club • Beulah Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15235
ITALIAN NIGHT with WE THREE for information and tickets please contact club manager 412-243-7600.
