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May 29, 2009
by Christine Yeres
Don Dupont, Sr. has always had various jazz band irons in the fire; he couldn’t live without them. Kids and their parents know him for the jazz bands he made happen through New Castle’s Recreation Department. About ten years ago he decided to put out the call to local grownups who had retired their instruments but might want to make a comeback.
Now called “The Chappaqua Dance Band,” the group includes accomplished adult and high school musicians as well as returnees to the performance world. They play, explained Dupont, “real, legitimate meringue, tangos, samba, swing, country, waltz, salsa, foxtrot, cha-cha, jitterbug – the works!” And you can do more than hear them this Sunday, May 31, at Teddy’s Lounge at the Holiday Inn in Mt. Kisco from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. You can dance to them.
“We’re charging $10 at the door for a great time,” Dupont Sr. enthused. “Some fans of ours have taken a table for ten. Come with friends, your kids, or on your own. Some of my students are coming with their folks. We’re a great band – and instead of going to the gym, we can give you a complete workout this Sunday.”
With the Duponts, music runs in the family
Dupont, Sr., a musical fixture in New Castle, grew up in Chappaqua when Bell was its only school, K-12. After touring with big band leaders Glen Miller and Guy Lombardo, then settling down in Washington, D.C. from 1961 – 1963 for a stint with the U.S. Army Band, Dupont took up traveling again with big bands for several years.
In the late 60’s, he returned to Chappaqua for good. With his father, also a trombonist, he drove every Sunday into New York City to play live for The Ed Sullivan Show until Sullivan died in 1971. By that time, Dupont had started teaching instrumental music in the elementary schools here in Chappaqua. Thirty-eight years later – in 2007 – he retired, though he still teaches privately and runs his bands. Following in the Dupont musical foot-tapping tradition, his son is the vocal music teacher at Roaring Brook Elementary School. Both Don Dupont, Jr. and his sister, Michele Eames, will perform as vocalists for The Chappaqua Dance Band this Sunday.
The members of The Chappaqua Dance Band are:
Director:
Don DuPont, Sr.
Vocalists:Don DuPont Jr.
Michele DuPont Eames
Trumpet:
Tim Kane
Michael Ward
Dru Welburn
Alto Sax:
Jordon Metzger
Athena Kihara
Chris Chung
Tenor Sax:
Chris Hall
Allan Pollock
Baritone Sax:
Mitchell Guido
Trombone:
Elliot Semel
Danny Kane
Piano:
Adam Romoff
Bass:
Justin Krim
Percussion:
John Clay
The Holiday Inn Mt. Kisco is located at 1 Holiday Inn Drive, at exit 37 of the Saw Mill River Parkway. See the flyer.
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