Encore - the music continues

All three men were taking music lessons by age 10. All three men retired to Florida, but one is a part-time resident. All three men remember where they were during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Two of the three men were lawyers, two continued with their music throughout their day careers and all three play together now as Encore.
Encore is made up of Bob Miller, Stu Saltman and Tony Zecchino. Joining the group on occasion are Jim Hutchison and Jack Cunningham.
There was a time in Miller’s life he did nothing with his music. From his day as an Army officer and the 25 years he was a lawyer in Michigan, he didn’t do much with the piano.
Always around music as a child, Miller started taking lesson when he was eight. He continued playing the piano, both classical and pop music through his college days.
Enrolled in the ROTC program in college, gave him the opportunity to join the Army as an officer. He was in jump school during the Cuban Missile Crisis. After the service he returned to Detroit for law school.
They moved to Jupiter in 1996 after Miller retired.
In Florida, Miller decided to try a career in real estate. Touring a home one day he noticed a beautiful baby grand piano. Turned out the piano was actually a Yamaha Clavinova, a keyboard.
The owner told him about a woman nearby that taught keyboard. Miller signed up for a class. A top student, he later started teaching seniors to play the keyboard and organ.
Since moving to Stone Creek in 2006, Miller has played the keyboard for “Senior Moments,” a group of musicians from Stone Creek.
In October he started Encore. Now the group plays regularly at the Stone Creek Grille.
Stu Saltman started playing the saxophone professionally at age 11. His saxophone teacher had a family band that played at ethnic clubs, churches and synagogues.
“We played polkas. It was nothing very exciting but I got paid,” he said.
Saltman started taking music lesson when he was 10. He learned to play the clarinet and saxophone.
Later, he became an attorney, still continuing to play dance band gigs at night. Restaurants and hotels in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Ohio were familiar places for Saltman.
A source of irritation for Saltman during those years playing in hotels was the inability of management to turn off the always present background music in their buildings when the band was playing.
Ironically it was the interruption of background music that told Saltman about the Cuban Missile Crisis.
“I was sitting at a bar in Boston, waiting to meet my father, when the music stopped for the President to speak. He was talking about the Cuban Missile Crisis, they were using a radio station for the music,” he said.
Like Miller when retirement time came along he moved to South Florida, too, settling with his wife, Sandi, in Boynton Beach. When the area got too crowded, the couple relocated to Stone Creek.
Saltman now plays the saxophone, clarinet, or shakes maracas, if they blend well with the music, with Miller and other members of Encore. The saxophone still remains his favorite instrument to play.
For six months of the year Tony Zecchino, of Ocala Palms, is a member of the band. He is the drummer.
Hearing through a friend about Miller’s band — because of an article in the West Marion Messenger — Zecchino, in his home state of New York, called Miller about the band.
They met for lunch and the rest is history.
“It was love at first sight,” quipped Miller. Similar comments in nature are bantered around during weekly practice sessions. They even joke about their “unfan.” The “unfan” is the Miller’s family dog. When the practice session starts the dog slips out his pooch door into the backyard and he won’t come back inside until the weekly practice is over.
Zecchino is used to practice. He started playing the drums when he was eight. He started playing drums for different groups while still in high school. After high school he joined the Navy and served during the Cuban Missile Crisis. During his Navy days he auditioned for the Navy Band and was accepted. The invitation to join the band also meant reupping with the Navy for another two years, so he didn’t. He still carries a few regrets on that decision.
Zecchino opted to return to his home state of New York and went to work for Eastman Kodak, retiring after 30 years in 1991. Along the way he has played with many bands and for many different occasions. Over the years workshops, such as what was offered at John Fisher College, has helped Zecchino honed his drumming skills.
The public has the opportunity to hear how Saltman, Miller and Zecchino put their talents together when they play at Stone Creek Grille. Their music includes songs from Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, The Platters, Beetles and Rolling Stones and is a mix of rock n’ roll, disco, Latin and easy listening.
Encore will play at Temple Beth Shalom for their Purim Masquerade Ball on March 26.
During the dinner hour, they play quietly in the background, said Saltman. When it is time to get the crowd on their feet a few traditional dance favorites — Hava Nagila and Tzena, Tenza, Tenza, is bound to get people onto the dance floor.
Although a play list is always planned before each show the men always aim to have audience participation on the dance floor. Songs are flipped around as needed to keep people dancing the night away.
And for those without a desire to dance, Encore will still give you reason to tap your feet – even if you have two left feet.
 

Bob Miller

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Stu Saltman

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Tony Zecchino

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