Pete Tonti Band … Phamily, Phriends, & Phun

Pete Tonti Band @ Delvetto’s Pizzeria, Neptune, NJ

In 2020 I made a New Year’s resolution to write at least a few words on every show I saw. I almost made good on that promise, overdelivering with more than *a few* words on 58 out of 62 shows. Perhaps I didn’t meet my goal, but there were good reasons for not writing about show #’s 51 and 59. I fell short on #’s 61 and 62 for different reasons, largely due to the fact that I’m an all or none kind of guy and since I already missed a few, I fell ill with a case of the fuck its. Even worse, I omitted those reviews at the expense of a few friends and I’d like to make good on those right now.

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December 20, 2020 – Pete Tonti Trio with special guest Mike Jaskewicz 

My first live music in four full weeks, this was a special afternoon with some of the area’s finest – and my favorite – local musicians. Pete is about the nicest guy you’ll ever meet and a helluva guitar player taboot. A little background … I met Pete Tonti on Valentine’s Day 2020 when he joined the Englishtown Project on stage at the Stone Pony. I remember it was super loud and I was reviewing that show for Asbury Vibes so I wanted to get Pete’s name right for the article but couldn’t hear him over the music and actually asked him to type his name into the notes of my phone. Fast forward a few months to September, we were waist deep in COVID, the Stone Pony reduced to nothing more than an empty stage and a fond memory (hopefully a very temporary condition). Pete and I had hung in the audience at a bunch of local shows, mostly Cosmic, and I ultimately helped him get a little gig at a friend’s house. Mike Jaskewicz was playing a solo show at my house the very same day and we both put the full court press on Pete to show up for a little duo action. Pete obliged, because that’s who he is, and guested on a third set with Mike that will live forever in the record books of #Marckomitoville. Pete played his way into my heart that night and I’ll be a friend and a fan forever more.

I still hadn’t seen Pete play with his own band, though that was soon to change as Pete stepped into the recently vacated Sunday afternoon gig in the tent at Delvetto’s. The fact that Mike Jaskewicz, lead guitarist and singer for Cosmic who recently released his own album Crooked Tree, was sitting in was just icing on the cake.

Rounding out Pete’s trio are Brian Abrecht, another guitarist whom I’ve shared many a dance with over the last couple of months but also had never seen play, and Bob Scholz, bassist who I’d seen only once before but never with an instrument. {Bob sat in on vocals with Cosmic for a Shakedown > Another Brick in the Wall > Shakedown medley that was just otherworldly on many levels.} I’m not sure what my expectations were of these two young men but kudos to them both for overachieving. 

Three acoustic guitarists, all of whom can absolutely wail, passing solos around like a baton while Scholz anchored the band with the next level thump of his teal green, five string electric bass. Pete and Mike may have been known quantities but Abrecht and Scholz caught me completely off guard. Since the band is named the Pete Tonti Band, I kind of figured that Brian Abrecht was kind of second chair. Wrong again. Brian is another great human who really knows his way around a guitar and it’s my absolute pleasure to show up for him after having seen him show up for so many others in months past. As far as the low notes go, bass is my well established spirit animal and this kid thumps with the best of ‘em. Though I’m sure he works his ass off, the rumbling notes just roll off his fingers like he was birthed from the belly of a bass rig and I’ve been unable to take my eyes and ears off of him for three consecutive shows now. These guys give off a friends first vibe that really warms up the music, just a few buddies playing in a stress-free, no pressure environment and you could tell that Jaskewicz, special guest and father figure of the group, was having a blast letting the young guys take the reins. 

Okay, I’ve been saving the best for last since, well, it is the Pete Tonti band. Just twenty-three years old, the eponymous PTB band showcases his overwhelming talent, leadership skills, and family values in equal proportion. Over the last number of weeks, one of my favorite parts has been watching Mr. and Mrs. Tonti show up with the same unconditional love – and van full of portable heaters! – that gave Pete the confidence to take chances and flourish as a young musician finding his way. As a father with young children, I can see so clearly that Pete was raised to always feel safe, secure, and loved and upon that foundation was able to unapologetically follow his dreams without fear of failure. More young musicians, and children in general, need to be raised in the type of environment that gives them the freedom and encouragement to follow their passions. Anyway, I see this all so clearly when Pete plays and I have no desire to unsee it since it fills my heart with great joy. Maybe it has nothing to do with music, but then again, it’s just as likely that it has everything to do with music. 

Pete can flat out play. And his easy manner and aforementioned family values create a homelike feeling on stage that allow for his bandmates to take chances and shine. Now I’m no musician but if I were, this is a dude I’d want to play with. I’m positively enamored with this young man and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for him.

Where were we? Oh yeah, December 27, 2020. A “Franklin’s Tower” soundcheck let me know that I was going to outdance my expectations and the “Sugaree” that followed drove that point home with an emphatic hell yes! “That’s What Love Will Make You Do” from Jerry Garcia’s catalog followed by Joe Cocker’s “Feelin’ Alright” and the show was cookin’ hard in the early going. A few originals followed with “What Am I”, a Mike Jaskewicz tune that Brian and Bob seemed to learn on the fly and then one from Tonti’s catalog with smokin’ bluegrass vibes called “Fault and Fire”. “Friend of the Devil” and “Me and My Uncle” forced Old Man River to take a break before a ridiculous medley of “One Way Out” > “Call Me the Breeze” > “One Way Out” with Scholz leading the way on bass and vocals. “We got the gears rolling now,” he cried before “Chalkdust Torture” and a three-exclamation point “Jack Straw closed the set. 

A short duo set of originals with Pete and Mike followed the break, flashing me back to that magical night in my backyard a few months prior. These two have chemistry and respect for one another and I hope they’re still working on the project they promised because it’s gonna be straight fire. The trio then returned in full for my favorite Tonti original, “Feeling Upside Down”. The whole favorite concept is bound to change as I see more and more of Pete but I remember this one, too, from that late September night in my yard when Pete gently suggested, “Mind if we try one of mine now?” and proceeded to blow us all away. Same kickass song, same killer result, this time with Abrecht and Scholz coloring the mix.

“It’s All Over Now”, “Deal”, and my first ever acoustic rendition of Jimi Hendrix’s  “Red House” all preceded a blazing “Althea” that had Scholz’ original fingerprints all over it. Speaking of first-evers, how about the “Shakedown Street” > “Cissy Strut” combo that closed the set – yowza! “After Midnight” triumphantly filled the encore slot.

It’s easy to fall into the winter doldrums – especially after a spell without music, my favorite soul food – but a morning spent sledding with my family and an afternoon dancing with friends while the sun’s rays poured through a heated tent was just what the doctor ordered. Music heals, friends. Never forget it.

11,970 steps that were as welcome and unexpected as Delvetto’s otherworldly meatball parm.

December 27, 2020 – Pete Tonti Quartet (Trio plus drummer Jon Crow)

I took no notes and remember next to nothing about this show. I may have a video or two … ah yes … a Hot Tease of Goose before things got underway in earnest. They dangled it, played it without committing, like happy without the ending, these guys just refuse to play Goose when I’m present. All good, I’ll get mine. What else do I remember? It’s slowly coming back thanks to the video memories. Oh boy, how’s this for a set closing medley … Killing in the Name Of (no video, damn!) > Another Brick In the Wall > Shakedown > Brick > Shakedown > Bathtub Gin > In Memory of Elizabeth Reed!!!!  What in the actual fuck?!?! Nearly twenty ridiculous minutes of acoustic rock and roll with some serious badassery on the 5-string (especially mid Liz Reed around 12:50) and there was nothing better than that to tide me over till 2021 as I went home at halftime, leaving this to stand up as my last live song(s) of the year.

Show #62 brought with it my last steps of 2020 … 8,747 and an annual total of 885,056. 

2021 couldn’t come soon enough.

January 18, 2021 – Pete Tonti Trio w/ guest Josh Rivera (acoustic guitar)

Three consecutive shows spread out over a month’s worth of weekends, picking up right where I left off with Pete Tonti as the centerpiece of three consecutive entries on my spreadsheet and my first live notes of the calendar year. Another super fun set, another skilled guest with guitarist Josh Rivera in the mix, and plenty of tasty covers including a “Me & My Uncle” jam sandwich on Umphrey’s McGee’s “In the Kitchen” bread (ya just don’t see too many bands covering UM these days or, well, um, ever). It usually means good times when Scholz takes the vocal lead, this time for another PTB signature medley of “One Way Out” > “Call Me The Breeze” > “One Way Out” > “Mr. Charlie.” Whoop. Now these dudes know I love Goose and they’ve sprinkled a few covers throughout recent sets, but always after I leave or on days I miss. Well, today I straight up begged and the boys delivered  with “Yeti”. Thank you, sir, may I have another??? Pete Tonti Band ftw.  

I left at halftime to watch football at home on the couch with my son who in turn left me to go watch football with his friends. Fear you not, he’s days away from being a teenager so everything’s just exactly as it should be.

4,112 steps, a pretty low number but just grateful to be on the board in 2021.

The Pete Tonti Band will be playing every Sunday from 2 – 6 in the heated tent at Delvetto’s. There’s another gig at The Lanes at Sea Girt on January 29  and one at Bar Anticipation in Belmar on February 4. (Advance ticket sales only for 2/4).