PHIL BALBI (trumpet) — He sang, he played, he just about did it all and he was one of the band’s favorite people. When he wasn’t executing a dazzling jazz solo, he was belting out a tune like “Mack the Knife” or crooning with “The Dreamers”, the band’s former vocal quartet.

Phil joined the Gateway City Big Band in 1980. He got his start in Bayonne, New Jersey, at the age of 15, taking community lessons for 15 cents a week. He went on the road when he was 18, playing in the Eddie Rogers band. It was a hotel band that played one-night engagements at hotels all over the east coast, and as far away as Chicago. To pick up extra money, Phil was also the bus driver and male vocalist. “It was weird,” Phil said. “I would drive all night while the guys slept. Then I would play the next day on two hours sleep. You have to be a certain kind of person to live that life. You’re on the road 50 weeks a year. It’s a rough life.”

Phil realized the musician’s lot wasn’t for him and he returned to his love of engineering, moving to the St. Louis area to work for ACF Industries. He was married to his wife, Jo, for 40 years at the time of her death. They had two daughters and a son.

Phil’s rich vocals added a special touch to tunes like “I Can’t Get Started” and his love of music showed in everything he did. Phil retired from the band and passed away in 1999.

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