For drummer, it's all about the big band sound

Also a fan of contemporary swing, the band leader and his orchestra perform at dances around the area.

By LOGAN NEILL, Times Staff Writer
Published September 14, 2007

As The Frankie Dee New York Orchestra gets into full-swing at the VFW post 10209 in Spring Hill, Rose Bouleris (left) and Alex B. Soskicki, 80, get into the big band's groove.
	[Danny Ghitis | Times]

SPRING HILL - As a professional band leader and musician for more than five decades, Frankie Dee firmly believes that there are no shortcuts when it comes to doing things the right way.

Sure, he could probably knock off a credible version Harry James' classic You Made Me Love You with a five-piece group. He could even glide through a pretty nice version of Glenn Miller's In the Mood using just a trio of players.

But for Dee, an ardent big-band purist, nothing beats the real thing.

"Big band music has a style all its own," said the 71-year-old Dee. "And you really can't get it unless you have the instruments. You need the brass, the saxophones and the rhythm section to make it work the way it should."

Though the big band era is fading into memory, it's still living a good life through Dee his abbreviation for DiBartolo. With himself on drums, he and his 20-piece New York Orchestra perform regularly at dances in Pasco, Hillsborough and Hernando counties, including dances on the third Sunday of each month at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10209 in Spring Hill.

For Dee, it's an honor to be promoting the style of music that has meant so much to him.

"I love it just as much now as when I was a kid," Dee said from his Spring Hill home. "To be able to perform with the same-size band as the music was originally written for is a great thrill for me. And the people we play for seem to love it just as much as we do."

Dee got his start as a drummer playing in a dance combo in Bronx show clubs and ballrooms in the mid 1950s. Eventually, he graduated to larger ensembles and more prestigious Manhattan venues, such as Tavern on the Green and the Waldorf Astoria, and the Glen Island Casino in New Rochelle, N.Y. For a time, he worked with famed big band radio personality William B. Williams.

Shortly after retiring to Spring Hill three years ago, Dee went to work assembling an ensemble he hoped would do justice to the music he loved.

Said Dee: "I met a guy in a music store who said he knew a couple of guys who wanted to play. It just sort of spread from there. We've had the same personnel since we started."

The group gathers weekly to rehearse a repertoire that includes more than 600 classic music arrangements that Dee has collected through the years. Although he considers himself more a fan of the contemporary swing sound - those created by the likes of Count Basie and Duke Ellington - he doesn't mind sticking to big band classics.

"I would love to play more Basie, but the beat is a bit more difficult to dance to," Dee said. "We don't mind playing what people want to hear, though. They're the ones paying us."

Logan Neill can be reached at lneill@sptimes.com or (352)848-1435.

If you go

Frankie Dee and the New York Orchestra

What: Big band dance music

When:2 to 5 p.m. on the third Sunday of each month

Where: Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10209, at 15166 Spring Hill Drive, Spring Hill

Admission: $9

Information: Call 596-9468

[Last modified September 13, 2007, 19:34:12]