Columnist Jerry Fink: Life is a song for pianist Teti, grateful to be alive

Friday, June 29, 2001 | 9:16 a.m.

Jerry Fink's lounge column appears on Fridays. Reach him at 259-4058 or jerry@ lasvegassun.com.

Since receiving a heart and double-lung transplant in 1997, tears well up easily in the eyes of pianist Ronald Teti, better known by his professional name, Ronnie Trent.

His fragile emotions are partially a side effect of 32 pills he takes every day to stay alive, and partially the result of a deeply felt gratitude for all of those who played a role in saving his life.

Today the 64-year-old native of South Philadelphia plays background music Friday and Saturday evenings at La Scala restaurant in Mark I Towers.

If not for a lot of caring people, Teti would not be alive today to play the music that has been at the heart of his life since he was a teenager growing up with Frankie Avalon and others who went on to become well-known entertainers.

"I work because I love it, not because I have to," Teti said.

He and and his wife, Betty, live in a mobile-home park not far from the Strip.

The couple were married in 1957 and became a professional act, called Just the Two of Us, in 1972. They were living on the East Coast then, playing nightclubs in several states in and around New England.

In 1974 they were encouraged to bring their successful act to Las Vegas.

"It was a disaster," Teti said. "We couldn't get a gig to save our lives."

While they looked for musical work, she became a waitress and he became a cook. Eventually they found a niche playing at local clubs and private parties.

But just as their fortunes seemed to be taking a turn for the better, in 1988 Teti developed emphysema and heart disease.

"I had stopped smoking in 1986," Teti said. "Then I started tiring out really easily. I didn't have the breath I needed to sing."

But he was strong enough to work cruise ships. He and his wife moved to Florida in 1989 and performed steadily on ships and at country clubs for three years.

Then on a cruise to South America he caught a virus that enlarged his heart and made it difficult to pump blood through his diseased lungs.

In 1991 the Tetis returned to Las Vegas, where their four adult children live. He grew steadily weaker until he reached the point that he had to stop and rest every few steps when walking from the living room to the bedroom.

Several physicians told him his case was hopeless. One did not. Dr. Leo Spaccavento, a local cardiologist, sent Teti to the hospital at the University of California at San Diego in 1996.

Teti was given a pager and put on a waiting list for a transplant. When a donor became available the pager would sound and Teti would have two hours to get from Las Vegas to the San Diego.

For 15 months he steadily grew worse. The only thing that kept him going each day, he said, was his music. Every morning he would rise, make his way to his computer room and put instrumental music into his computer -- a process he has mastered called "sequencing."

"It was what I lived for every day," he said.

While he inched closer to death, musician friends -- led by pianist Bruce Zarka (currently at Bellagio's Baccarat Bar) -- held a benefit to raise money to pay for the emergency flight to San Diego when the time arrive and for other expenses.

The fund-raiser was televised and a local businessman, Neil Baron, saw it and offered the use of his private jet. A year later on May 17, 1997, the pager sounded and 42 minutes later Teti was in the operating room. Eleven hours later he had a new set of lungs and a new heart and 10 days later he walked out of the hospital.

Whenever Teti thinks about the doctors who saved his life and the musicians who came to his aid, his eyes become misty.

"What can you say when people pull together to save your life?" he said. "God bless them. The rest of the world should be like these people.

"I'm just a run-of-the-mill entertainer. I'm not looking for any publicity for myself. I'm happy doing my two nights at La Scala. I just want to let people know that being an organ donor is very important.

"It only takes one person to change the world."

Yes, and Teti had a whole team.

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