Columnist Jerry Fink: Dynamic Darro can be found all around town

Friday, March 29, 2002 | 10:02 a.m.

Jerry Fink's lounge column appears on Fridays. Reach him at jerry@lasvegassun.com at (702) 259-4058.

I recently dropped by the House of Blues Foundation Room at Mandalay Bay, where Cigar Smoker magazine was having a social gathering. Playing background music for the affair was Joe Darro on keyboard.

A few days later I checked out Grant Griffin's benefit concert for the Las Vegas Opera Association Guild at The Orleans. Who was performing at the after-concert party? Joe Darro on keyboard.

A few days after that I dropped by Nora's Cuisine on open-mike night to listen to Giovanni Mauro sing in the restaurant's lounge. Backing up Mauro on keyboard was ... Joe Darro.

Joe Darro must be one of the busiest musicians in Las Vegas, and rightfully so. He's a go-to guy when an event calls for a solid entertainer who performs almost any genre of music with equal ease.

Darro is a class act in a class of entertainers that forms the glue that holds the Las Vegas entertainment world together. It's an adhesive made up of top-flight musicians who can be counted on to perform at a moment's notice at any venue.

I most recently caught up with the 66-year-old keyboardist at the Plaza's second-floor Center Stage restaurant, where he has been playing dinner music for the past year.

"I actually opened the plaza in 1970," Darro said. "I played in a lounge downstairs. And here I am again. I guess I've come full circle, but I keep moving up. In another 20 years, I'll be on the third floor."

Darro, a native of Albany, N.Y., has been singing and playing piano professionally since age 16. In 1960 he toured with Bobby Sherwood, who made a name for himself as a big-band leader in the 1940s.

Sherwood was Darro's mentor.

"Bobby did a little bit of everything," Darro said. "He was a great teacher."

Sherwood's band settled in Nevada in the early '60s, working at casinos in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and Reno.

Darro has worked with almost every top name in the business and became friends with most of them. They included such legends as Sammy Davis Jr., Shecky Greene, Pat Henry, Louis Prima, the Mary Kay Trio, Jack Jones, Debbie Reynolds and a host of others.

One of Darro's closest friends was jazz vocalist Joe Williams, who died in 1999.

"I talked to him when he was in the hospital, four days before he died," Darro said.

Times have changed since Darro settled in Las Vegas in 1962. Not only are old friends dying, but the entertainment world is not the same.

"Back then there was live music 24 hours a day," Darro recalled. "Every hotel in town had live music."

The marquees were emblazoned with the names of the greatest musicians in the world: Harry James and his orchestra, Billy Eckstine, Della Reese and Prima.

Las Vegas was a musician's idea of heaven. But now, much of the music is on tape. Darro has to hustle for his gigs. You might run into him at a wedding or bar mitzvah or political gathering.

However, Darro said that lately business has picked up.

"It seems to me that a lot of smaller places -- restaurants and nightclubs -- are putting in live music," Darro said. "I haven't had too many steady gigs, but I've been busy."

He's at the Plaza 5-9 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.

In December, Darro started his gig at Nora's, performing from 10 p.m.-1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

He's off on Sundays and Mondays, but that is about to change. On April 8 he begins a Monday-night gig at the Mayflower restaurant at South Decatur Boulevard and West Sahara Avenue. From 8:30-11:30 p.m., he and a drummer will back-up performers during an open-mike night.

"I'll get hold of some buddies -- Bill Acosta, Dennis Bono, Grant Griffin, Clint Holmes -- and hopefully we'll draw a lot of people," Darro said.

Darro still has a large circle of friends in the entertainment world.

"We help each other out," Darro said. "Some are older friends, some are new guys. They're all very talented. If I can't do a gig, I recommend one of them, and they do the same."

He's performed at a few unusual gigs since hitting town.

"Years ago I got a call for my band to perform at a Christmas Eve party at the Dunes," Darro said. "We're dressed in tuxedos and this group of people comes in with spiked hair painted purple -- they were from Rolling Stone magazine. They were expecting us to play slam, punk music I guess. We played some rock 'n' roll, but that was it."

Even for Darro, there are limitations.

Lounging around

Pardon my slip-per. Saxophonist Tommy Alvarado recently made a CD he titled "Comfortable Shoes." Coincidentally, that's the title of a musical written in 1996 by Clint Holmes. The production is set to open in Chicago this fall. Alvarado says he is changing the name of his CD to "Inner Soul." You can hear Alvarado, who has toured with Joe Cocker and Frankie Valli, Sunday evenings at the Blue Note Las Vegas, where he leads the club's jam sessions. You also can catch him Monday through April 6 at Mandalay Bay's Island Lounge. Monday he will perform 9 p.m.-2 a.m., and the rest of the week it will be 5-9:45 p.m.

Karaoke is not my favorite form of entertainment, but Thai Room II (far Las Vegas Boulevard South) has a couple of DJs who take the quasi-canned music to a higher level. Caz Solomon and Rheda K. Solo should be performing onstage somewhere, which they did in Spain for five years before settling in Las Vegas. They're at the restaurant 8 p.m.-1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 7 p.m.-midnight Sundays.

Poppermost, a '60s and '70s-style pop/rock band, will be performing at the Lord's House -- or at least on the Lord's Patio -- April 27. The site of the courtyard party is Christ Episcopal Church (corner of Maryland Parkway and St. Louis Avenue). Patio Nites (a nonreligious event) begins at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free. Donations are accepted. Bring a picnic dinner.

The Royal Crown Revue, a jazz and swing band, will be in the Palms' Palapa Lounge tonight and Saturday. Shows are at 8, 9:30 and 11 p.m. Admission is free.

The Fremont Street Experience hosts its sixth annual Mardi Gras Celebration April 19-20. Entertainment at the free, two-day event will include Lisa Haley & The Zydekats, Louisiana Sue, Crawdaddy-O, Chubby Carrier & The Bayou Swamp Band and Buckwheat Zydeco. For more information call 678-5777.

Catch jazz guitarist Raj Rathor 7-10 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays at the Jazzed Cafe on West Sahara Avenue.