This morning marked the passing of a great family friend, Tommy Donfrio. He will be forever in our hearts and truly missed. I am very glad that we all got a chance to see him this past sunday and talk with him and share some memories. To my surprise he was the same Tommy, smiling, laughing and telling jokes the whole time. He talked about how he couldn't wait to sing with the band again as soon as he could get his voice stronger. I pulled his bio from my dad's band website -
Cheap Sax:Tommy Donfrio, Vocals, Drums
Long before he ever laid a stick on a snare drum, there was the simple `tap-tap-tap` of a young boy's fingers on the wooden church pew. Trying to add a beat to the drone of a gospel hymn played on a sleepy organ at Sunday mass, little Tommy Donfrio annoyed churchgoers with a rhythmic fingertip-and-knuckles mini-percussion. He didn't know at the time that it would be the beginning of a life-long love affair with music.
Tom Donfrio, a.k.a Tommy Dee (after all this is rock'n'roll) got his first set of drums at age 13. It was an old and battered Kent set that his Uncle Tony from Rochester New York tried to sell, but after several mocking laughs and giggles from prospective buyers, decided heroically to donate the set to his anxious nephew.
Tommy's first band, The Rejects, played their first gig to a throng of at least ten teenagers at a 13th birthday party. His musical career was off and running. The band played many local parties, backyard barbeques and soon thereafter even got to play on a local TV show. "Engineer Bill's Shake Shop."
The `Rejects` eventually lived up to their name and Tommy moved on. The bubble-gum got even stickier when he and current Cheap Sax keyboard player Rick Avenatti hooked up with an all-girl band called The Jaggz. They hopscotched around town performing at teen center dances, USO shows, and Battle of the Bands Spectaculars. It was during this period that Tommy developed sensitivity. In other words, he always let the girls have their way. He also discovered that a wonderful by-product of playing rock and roll was having a lot of girls around. If the music wasn't up to his expectations, he could always take comfort in the environment. Even so, when his friends began to refer to the group as "The Powderpuffs," Tommy knew it was time to exit.
It was on to Montebello High School where Tommy had the good fortune to back up rock'n'roll legends The Coasters and The Drifters. Tommy's excitement was hard to contain, but his overuse of the word "groovy" wasn't conducive to R&B and soon again he found himself to be a drummer without a gig, until 1971, when Tommy co-founded the country-rock band Pequod. That same year they recorded their first album and promoted it by playing local clubs and a cable TV show.
There was a virtual drought in the L.A. music scene in 1973 when Tommy latched on to a Japanese Pop Rock band called Free Flight. Tommy's best memory of this band was that for the first in his life he felt tall. In 1976 Tommy was once again reunited with Rick Avenatti and current Cheap Sax guitarist, Doug Macoll in a group called Higher Ground. The band's biggest claim to fame was a four month stay in Hawaii. Oahu clubs and military bases were the band's bread and butter for their tour. Unfortunately the group was saddled with a rowdy reputation by Military Police (MP's) during their stay. It seemed whenever they played a base, the brig was filled by morning. Go figure.
By 1980 there was a New Wave of music washing over LA, and Tommy's creative juices were flowing. He and Doug left Higher Ground, and along with current sax player, Gary Pluchino, formed The Rev, one of the hottest (and best-kept) secrets on the LA music scene. Perhaps due to an excess of testosterone, the group evolved into The Balding Brothers, and they enjoyed six years of playing local clubs and opening for acts like The Del Tones, Billy and the Beaters and Al Kooper. It was during this time that Tommy met Jeff Cool, current lead vocalist for Cheap Sax. In 1990 Cheap Sax was born and has endured and flourished to the present day.
Tommy is married to his number one fan, Amy. To their own bewilderment and amazement they have raised a lovely daughter, Lindsey, who's pent-up anger and hostility has manifested itself in creative musical talents of her own. Along with Jeff's and Gary's daughters Lindsey will often front the band singing a lovely ballad or noteworthy rock and roll classic.
When he's not pounding out great sounds from his vintage 1969 Ludwig psychedelic red drum set or his Roland electronic drums, Tommy Dee will Jekyll and Hyde himself into Mr. Donfrio, the Director of HR for Montebello Schools. Tommy has been mentoring kids for most of his adult life. So if you're having trouble with your kid's test-scores. see the drummer.
Tommy's musical resume is long, but not as long as his musical memory. If you were to ask him about his favorite moments performing, he would list a host of unforgettable snapshots in time, and somewhere near the top of that list would be the simple "tap-tap-tap" of a little boy in church trying to create a better beat for all of us.
R.I.P Tommy.
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