By Brian Zanzonico
One of the most respected and highly sought-after lead alto saxophone players in New York during the post-Big Band era, Alfano played with Tito Puente, Frank Sinatra, Tommy Dorsey and many of the most notable bandleaders of the day.
³He was very much in demand,² said longtime friend Gene 'B.G.' Rapetti, of Elmont, who plays tenor sax. ³You put a sheet of music in front of him and he'd play it like he wrote it.²
Even well into his 70s, Alfano regularly performed with local bands. After playing a gig on July 28, he returned to his North Valley Stream home late in the evening, made himself a snack and eased into his favorite chair in front of the TV. He dozed off and never woke up, dying peacefully in his sleep. The father of local Assemblyman Tom Alfano, who represents Elmont and Franklin Square, was 77. He leaves behind wife, Gloria, daughter Penny, son, Tom, and four grandchildren.
³Dad loved his work,² the assemblyman said. ³He worked often and supported us, he took care of our education. One time, he told some law school buddies of mine he felt like he never worked a day in his life because he loved it so much.²
Cosmo Campagnola met the Brooklyn-born Alfano in the late 1940s, while he was in the army and Alfano was set to graduate Aviation High School in Long Island City. A tenor saxophone player, Campagnola and Alfano were introduced by famed jazz music teacher, Joe Napolitan. After high school, Alfano convinced a group of saxophone players to volunteer for the army during the Korean War, Campagnola said. Alfano told recruiters the group would enlist on one condition ‹ that they stay together. The army obliged, and Alfano served from 1948 - 1950 and played in the First Army Band. Toward the end, he was stationed on Governor's Island.
At the time, Louis Prima needed a lead alto sax player to play a series of dates at the Steel Pier in Manhattan. Alfano auditioned for Prima and won the job. The problem was, Alfano still had two weeks left in the army before his discharge. He reluctantly told Prima he couldn¹t make it.
After his discharge, Alfano caught on with the Johnny Long Band, touring for a year before getting married. Campagnola said Long held Alfano in such high regard, he told the newlywed to bring his young bride with them on the road and offered to pay for her expenses. But Alfano declined, opting to play locally.
³We were like gypsies,² Rapetti said. ³I thought nothing of going to California, here, there. Then you get married. Tony didn't want to travel so he went to work at the Plaza.²
Alfano played for years in house bands in the famed Persian Room of the Plaza Hotel, at the Westchester Premiere Theatre and later the Rainbow Room. He freelanced on the side, cutting records for bandleaders like Puente, and filling in when needed. He earned a reputation as a talented, hardworking, multifaceted musician, playing the tenor saxophone, flute, clarinet, baritone and piccolo in addition to alto sax.
³If you needed somebody to take command, he was the guy to do it,² said Campagnola, who lives four blocks from the Alfano home in North Valley Stream.
Jerry Sanfino, 87, of Little Neck, met Alfano on the club circuit when Alfano was breaking in. Sanfino also played alto sax and, being 10 years older than Alfano, acted as a mentor to him. Taking notice of Alfano's talent early on, Sanfino ‹ dubbed by former Rainbow Room house bandleader Joe Cabot as Alfano's Œrabbi¹‹ often recommended the young man to bandleaders in need of a lead alto sax player.
³You couldn't just send anybody, you had to send somebody who could play,² Sanfino said. ³I knew he was good and that people would accept him.²
Alfano became so well-known that he was selected to teach Robert DeNiro how to develop the mannerisms of a sax player for the 1977 film ³New York, New York.²
³For two weeks, Robert DeNiro sat beside my father and mimicked everything he did ‹ how he held the sax, where he placed his fingers,² the assemblyman said.
In recent years, Alfano taught music at Chaminade High School and currently Kellenberg Memorial High School, while remaining active with a number of local bands.
Cabot, a Rockland County resident who knew Alfano for more than 30 years, said he found comfort in the fact that Alfano was able to deliver his swan song in the form of one final show.
³It's a terrible thing for the family, but if you have to go, that's the way to go,² Cabot said.
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