New Haven Independent

DeAngelo was one of several performers who wowed a packed house at the Atwater Senior Center in Fair Haven Friday morning. A crowd of 100 seniors gathered in the gymnasium for the Agency on Aging of South Central Connecticut’s second annual Senior Cultural Festival on Friday morning.

The performers, including 89-year-old DeAngelo, were seniors also, showing off a variety of artistic gifts. There was piano playing, singing, dancing, and a full band offering music from Puerto Rico.

DeAngelo, a crowd favorite, sang five songs: Just A Gigolo, Pepino The Italian Mouse, Roll Out The Barrel/She’s Too Fat For Me, Yankee Doodle, and When I Fall In Love. (Click play above to hear a sample.) The crowd clapped and sang along throughout.

“I’ve been playing music all my life,” said DeAngelo after his performance. “Tuba, banjo, mandolin, ukelele. The whole spiel.”

DeAngelo, a New Haven native, said he used to play tuba with a marching band before football games at Yale. Later he played Dixieland music in a variety of bands. “I was in Charlie Salerno and the Clamdiggers,” DeAngelo said. “He played banjo. I played Tuba.”

DeAngelo worked as a roofer and “tinner” with his father, installing gutters. Then he drove an oil truck.

These days DeAngelo lives off Blatchley Avenue in an apartment upstairs from his 93-year-old sister. He still plays music regularly at senior centers. “I play at 12 convalescent homes,” he said. “If they have a party or something.”

“I got a book. It’s got 150 songs that I can sing,” DeAngelo said. He pulled out a little notebook. It was filled with song titles and chord changes written in marker and outfitted with velcro strips to fix it to the top of the guitar. “Then I turn the book around and I do the Italian songs.”

After his first set, DeAngelo was called back up to lead the audience in three singalong numbers: Give Me A Little Kiss, Will Ya Huh?, Bye Bye Blackbird, Besame Mucho, and America, The Beautiful — prompting one couple to stand dance and bongo players to join in.

Spontaneous dancing also broke out when Puerto Rican seniors Los Melodicos took the stage. Click play to watch.