Buzzo

By D.E. Bentley – 

There was a steady and pleasant flow of folks blowin’ in from Geneseo street-side to absorb the warmth, and comfort, of Buzzo’s Music Store on a recent windy March morning. Whether looking for new strings or your first guitar, a new guitar to add to your expanding collection (or somewhere to surplus one too many), a tune up for a string instrument that has been collecting dust, some parade music for the Main Street parade, Billy Joel’s Piano Man (or some other classic vinyl must have) Buzzo’s, on Main Street in Geneseo, NY, seems to be the place to go.

I can’t tell you quite what drew me to Buzzo’s Music, but there was no denying the draw, and once I was inside, Holy s…t, it felt just like home. A big part of what makes the store feel cozy, and oh so nice, is the eclectic selection of string instruments that hang in neat rows along the wall. They circle into a cozy back corner on the left, where they are set up on stands for easy access (you just have to touch) and then back to the right, leading up to a little sound room where you can plug it in and try it out-with a nod from the management. Add to that an errant wind or percussion instrument and rows of vinyl, classy classic vinyl, and you can start to imagine what it is like to take that big step inside.

The owner extraordinaire of Buzzo’s Music is Al Bruno, “The Big B,” AKA Buzzo, born (drumroll, make that trumpet revelry) the same day, the same year as Billy Joel, May 9, 1949 – rumor has it they were “switched at birth.” For Bruno, that coincidence in birth dates is just another connection, and connections are what Al Bruno’s music making is all about. Be it jazz, bop, blues or rock, what Bruno is most known for, aside from being one hell of a nice guy who, admittedly, has dropped more than a few cuss words in his musical career to date, is his musical magic – which, luckily, continues on, primarily in the form of surprise performances or various local open mics.

You can catch Al Bruno on a number of nights in Geneseo and Rochester. Monday night you can find him on stage, 7:30 PM, at The Idle Hour for the first hour of open mic, hosted by Tim Bucci (followed by an eclectic line up of other local musical greats at 8:30). He also plays trumpet and does vocals with Bucci’s band, Barley Mob. Tuesday you can find him up on stage at Kelly’s Saloon from 9-10 PM. On Sundays, Bruno travels to West Ridge Road in Rochester for an hour of playtime at The California Brew Haus, where he squeezes in a set the second hour of The Super Sunday Soul Jam, hosted by Mitty Moore (Music starts at 5, Bruno plays at 6). If you time it right, you can catch an occasional appearance of Buzzo’s All Stars, including each summer, the Saturday after July 4th at the Geneseo village park on main street.

Musical nights out are nothing new for Bruno. Everywhere you look in Buzzo’s Music there are layers of memories that have accumulated over the years, forty-seven years, or thereabouts. When things run that far back, with a lifetime of music history sandwiched in between, it takes some time to boogie ones way through the past and into the present.

The story of Al Bruno the musician, and by extension the story of Buzzo’s Music Store, begins with Kings Park High School band in Suffolk County, NY, where Bruno played trumpet and served as the band’s president. Bruno’s desire to study music is what led him to Geneseo in 1967: he came, he wrestled, he studied music, he played music, and more music, and more music and, thankfully for anyone who has drifted down main street and into the store, he stayed.

Bruno’s main passion is music, and it didn’t take him long to find a niche in the Geneseo music scene. Within a year of Bruno’s arrival at SUNY Geneseo, the Al Bruno Quintet was gathering in the Century Records Rochester recording studio to record the master tape for Al Bruno Quintet: Volume One, featuring a selection of jazz and Latin covers and original compositions. Recorded in a single afternoon and released in 1968, the LP featured Al Bruno (Trumpet, Flugelhorn), Ron Rubadeau (Bass), Tom Rubadeau (Drums), Dave DeLoria (Guitar), and Douglas Catanzariti (Piano); with engineering by Robert Saine and William Dengler and liner notes by Russell Rand.

By 1970, Bruno’s quintet had morphed into a quartet, featuring Gary Holt, Mike O’Malley, Pete Morticelli and, of course, Al Bruno. Another partner, Harry Piedmont, later bought into the partnership. It was these musicians that opened the first Buzzo’s Music location in November of 1970, in an “L” shaped $50 a month space above Scherline’s Department Store (now Notebook Tec) in downtown Geneseo. Combining earnings from their musical mischief making, the four partners contributed $500 each toward their dream of a downtown space for musicians, and music enthusiasts. With this collaborative spirit and a handshake agreement, Buzzo’s, “Big B” legacy was born.

It is a rarity to see small businesses endure, especially in today’s volatile corporate climate. What is even more amazing is that Buzzo’s Music, and Al Bruno, made it through the first few challenging years. In June of 1971, less than a year after the music store opened its doors, a serious motorcycle accident in Bethel, NY left Bruno suspended in a world of uncertainty. For five weeks he was semi-conscious, with brain stem injury, and he stayed in the hospital for a total of four months. For another three months, he remained at his parents as he slowly emerged from darkness and continued on the long road to recovery.

Half a year after Bruno returned to Geneseo, Bruno and his partners found and moved into their permanent location at 106 Main Street, where they remain today. Soon after the move, a fire swept through the Scherline’s Department Store and destroyed their former location. The fire was contained to the one building, and the new Buzzo’s was spared. As Bruno put it, “it was an emotional week.”

For Bruno, running the store and making music is a necessary part of his existence. Through the years he has continued to collaborate with many different musicians, and has been the front man for a number of different Buzzo-themed bands: Buzzo’s Brothers, Buzzo’s Cousins and the like. The only theme exceptions were in the 80’s, when the bands were Al Bruno’s Quartet and a fun three-month run with a group called the Jazz Wanderers; “a really fun time,“ Bruno recalled with a chuckle.

Due to the diverse directions the many collaborators and collaborations took, it was, at times, challenging to follow Bruno’s discussion. Bruno had continued with his jazz quartet after returning to Geneseo following the accident, although the members were somewhat fluid. Dave DeLoria stepped back in to replace Pete Morticelli, and, in 1972, Gary Holt left and went on tour and was replaced by Vinnie Sepleski, “Skinny Vinne.”

Bruno’s musical styles have also changed over the years, as has the size of his bands. A later expansion of the Al Bruno Quartet was the consequence of a booking agent’s request, “ you gotta have a girl.” That’s when Marcy Downey, who Bruno first met when he was orientation advisor at Geneseo, was pulled into the mix. What started as an easy listening group, playing the hotels and weddings, morphed later into Buzzo’s Bandits; it also marked a change in genre.

From 1972-73, Buzzo’s Bandits, by then a nine piece band with vocals, trumpet, trombone, three guitars and two drum sets, started playing their “original, bizarre” brand of rock and roll. “I used to curse a bit on stage,” admitted Bruno, and more than once the band had been told that they “couldn’t use that kind of language here.” It should, thus, come as no surprise that the band played, among other places, at biker bars. Despite their unique blend of raunchy – Bruno shared some lyrics with me, not to be repeated here – the band developed a following and released an album in 1972.

By the 1980s, he was exploring country swing with Eddie Gagliardy and then morphed into a period of bebop, with Jim Herkimer on Guitar. Even with those who are no longer here, vivid and lasting memories remain: like Bruno’s recollection of Eddie Gagliardy’s performances at the Livonia hotel in the 1970s: despite having long hair and playing in a country bar (at a time when longhairs took some grief), “Eddie avoided the harassment because he was like a god” to his fans.

What is most memorable about Al Bruno and Buzzo’s Music is the magic that happens when someone, anyone – like me for example – comes into the store. I could see this magic with everyone who walked in during the times I have been there. I met a guitarist friend of Bruno’s during one of my visits; “he comes in all the time,” shared Bruno later. JC from Wellsville came in and fondled a couple guitars that had appeared among the lineup since his last visit. He settled into the back studio space and tried out his favorite picks.

As with all musicians, at least all those I have ever met, connections dominated the conversation. One connection was that both Bruno and JC had had the pleasure of stepping up on stage to perform with the funk band Parliament, during different performances.

Many things have changed since 1967 when Al Bruno, just a youngster, traveled to Geneseo to study music. Some of the many people who he shared musical magic with are no longer alive, others have moved elsewhere. Al Bruno remains as the iconic representative of Buzzo’s Music, and Geneseo (the Village of Geneseo declared Buzzo Day – May 23, 2004 – thirty-three and one-third years after the store first opened).

Through the years, Buzzo has maintained ties with all of the early members of the Al Bruno Quartet. When he and I met up in March, he had recently sat down to dinner with these old friends. Long time friends also form the core staff at Buzzo’s. I had the pleasure of chatting with both Ellie Phillips and Gary Holt – Holt also owns and operates Holt Studio in Mount Morris, NY.

After giving me over two hours of his time, and that good feeling you get inside when you hang out with good people, Bruno offered to pay for my parking ticket. That, my friends, is just who he is. For Al Bruno, music isn’t about making money or making a name – although he has made a name, inadvertently and well deserved – it’s about being able to play two trumpets at once. Just kidding, although that is a skill the man possesses. It’s about doing what you enjoy, living your life the way you want to live it, and doing the best damn job you can, whether it’s wrestling, trumpet, singing (with feeling) or just taking the time to make someone, everyone, feel like the someone special that they are.