Forum photos courtesy of Goodheart
Ending on a high note at an outdoor gig, John Mandelino (l) and Clem Buonocore (r) have apparently found their groove in the music industry.
By Patricia Adams
What do you get when you cross two middle aged guys with a guitar, a set of drums, hopes, dreams, some original songs and what some might call –fate?
The answer is relatively simple: the newly released CD, “Perfectly Imperfect”, by the Goodheart Band.
What is not so simple, however, was the road to get there. For Clem Buonocore– the Italian last name translates to Goodheart–, guitarist and vocalist, it began fooling around on the guitar with brother Pat in their basement. But soon, the music got shelved. Lost in the wake of work and raising a family. The vocals, the song writing, the guitar playing would have to wait for another day. They were not a part of everyday, real life, but the yearning to get back to them never left.
And then it happened.
In 2014, Clem brought his guitar along to a family 4th of July party where he jammed with his nephew. Shortly after he went to jam with his brother Pat again and the drummer at the session was John Mandelino. Playing since he was 5, chosen to represent the US in a band concert for Who’s Who in American Musicians, Mandelino was playing in Bubbling Brown Sugar on Broadway at 19. Along the way, Mandelino toured the US and Europe with the Nobleman Orchestra and then with punk bands.
He played a lot of music and made a lot of friends. But the difficulties of breaking into the professional world of music left him unfulfilled and he too shelved his aspirations and opened an auto body shop.
The two guys, both with their dreams on hold met the jam session and got together and jammed twice afterward. They “hit it off”, but again life always seemed to get in the way and the jamming stopped for awhile.
But Buonocore never stopped writing and after doing a one man show in Whitestone in 2015 he called his brother Pat and asked for Mandelino’s number.
He had booked a gig at The End Zone, a local place on Long Island, and decided to call and ask John to join him. The reaction to the duo was well beyond enthusiastic and served as fuel for the fire that was burning in both men.
For Buonocore, the writing always continued and the dream to get into a recording studio never stopped. He wanted to do the music he wanted to do, and Mandelino was an eager subscriber to the theory that became a mutual dream. The Goodheart Band.
With a newly developed style of guitar play, the duo created a sound that is almost impossible to identify as a two man band. Audiences from Vegas to the tip of Long Island have offered electrifying reviews.
But audiences were not the only ones taking notice.
The band has come very far, very fast, recently playing a gig at the storied My Father’s Place in Roslyn where Michael “Eppy” Epstein presented an unmatched and unforgettable realm of talent in rock, jazz, fusion, country, punk, soul, reggae, folk, and comedy for years. And in gigging there, Goodheart joined the ranks of former aspiring artists including Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith, Billy Joel, Charlie Daniels, Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Tom Petty, and many more.
At the end of the year they landed a recording slot at the Cove City Studio of music producer, multi-instrumentalist Richie Cannata, most notable for playing saxophone in Billy Joel’s band. Where they cut their new CD, Perfectly Imperfect joined by Jeff Ganz, bass player for Rita Moreno, Melanie, The Village People, Marvin Hamlisch, Cleo Laine, Liza Minelli, Clint Holmes, Andy Williams, Ben Vereen and a host of others.
And so it seems that the two guys who started “a little late” at 57-years-old have shown that dreams don’t die when you keep them alive with determination and love of the art. All “good ears” are on the Goodheart Band, who have seemingly captured the attention of audiences and music professionals alike. Catch them at My Father’s Place on June 7th.
If you’d like to keep up with the crowd and updated on upcoming shows find them on Facebook.com/goodheartband.
