Local lawmakers keep on rockin’

When Councilman Ed Ambrosino (R-North Valley Stream) first read William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” play as a teenager, Caesar’s famous line, “Cry, ‘Havoc!’ and let slip the dogs of war” — a signal given to the English military forces to direct soldiers to fight — stuck with him. He thought about those words often several years thereafter, and when he was elected as a Town of Hempstead Councilman in 2003, the quote took on a new meaning for him: it became representative of the sacrifices made by American soldiers.

When Ambrosino and Nassau County Legislator Vincent Muscarella, former Legislator John Ciotti and Department of Planning and Economic Development Deputy Commissioner Jonathan Crist decided to start a nonprofit rock and R&B band in 2009 — an idea they’d discussed since the 1990s — it didn’t take long for Ambrosino to suggest a name.

“Dogs of War,” a six-member group covering mainly 1960s and ’70s rock and R&B, includes Patrick Owens, a legislative assistant for town Councilman Gary Hudes of Levittown, on bass and back-up vocals; Steve Orlando, a West Hempstead photographer and business owner, on lead guitar; Ciotti, who plays drums and sings back-up vocals; Crist, on lead vocals and harmonica; Muscarella, on rhythm guitar and back-up vocals; and Ambrosino, on piano, guitar and back-up vocals.

The band — whose members had played on their own, off and on, for years, but hadn’t performed live or seriously practiced in decades — began practicing in the winter of 2010, at several local studios, including two studios in Elmont and New York City owned by Ambrosino’s brother, Mark. Mark, a professional musician, who has toured with famous artists such as Whitney Houston, Ray Charles and Neil Young, has filled in for members of the band, from time to time, during practices and recording sessions.