Tom DiNardo grew up in Germantown, went to Germantown Friends School and later became one of the region’s most prolific music writers. He also lived in Mt. Airy for a few years after graduating from Tufts University with a degree in electrical engineering, then moved back to Germantown, where he has stayed for 45 years.
Although DiNardo has worked in engineering for years, his real passion has been interviewing and getting to know many of the country’s most talented and acclaimed musicians, particularly in the classical music and operatic fields. Over the years, he has written thousands of articles as a freelance journalist about symphonies, chamber music groups, ballet and dance companies, jazz and pop artists, and more. Most of his articles appeared in the late Philadelphia Evening Bulletin and the Philadelphia Daily News.
“Since my intention in the interviews was to discover the personal motivations in their performing lives, the ones who were the most forthcoming were best,” DiNardo said in an interview. “This was aided by the fact that I didn’t do reviews, so they knew from my questions that I was sincerely interested in them. Luckily, there were many. … I am proud to say that every single Philadelphia Orchestra music director and musician told me things that were personal and genuine.”
DiNardo’s countless compelling stories are contained in two exceptional books, “Performers Tell Their Stories: 40 Years Inside the Arts” and “Listening to Musicians: 40 Years of the Philadelphia Orchestra” (Jaygayle Music Books, 2016).
But his most recent work, “The Philadelphia Music Book,” is a collection of 65 mini-biographies (only about 350 words each), with most of them about jazz and classical musicians. It’s practically an encyclopedia with more than 300 biographies and stories about Philadelphia area musical artists who have gained national and international recognition. To some readers, the term “coffee table book” has become one of disparagement, which is a shame because it is an unadulterated pleasure to drink in several of these delicious bios of Philly icons at a single sitting.
“The Philadelphia Music Book,” now in its second edition and published by Camino Books, was created and edited by Larry Magid, whose 60-year career in the music/entertainment business began in 1962. Magid opened the legendary Electric Factory, where icons such as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix , Elton John and The Who performed. Magid also co-produced Live Aid in 1985, still the world’s largest charity music event.
“When Larry contacted me about contributing to the book,” DiNardo said, “I was so excited. I spent all summer and fall working on it. The hard part is condensing the life of a musician into 300 to 350 words. I want to give the musicians the respect they deserve. For the jazz musicians I wrote about, I listened to every record of theirs.”
Even more gratifying is to read about some of the many boldface musicians from Northwest Philadelphia, most of whom I also had the pleasure of interviewing over the years such as Lola Falana of Germantown, singer/dancer/movie star; Leslie Odom of East Oak Lane, “Hamilton” star; Santigold, of Mt. Airy, singer/songwriter and daughter of Ron White, advisor to former Mayor John Street; Kurt Vile, of Mt. Airy (his real name), a hugely popular indie rocker; Arthur Tracy, of Germantown, a Central High grad who became one of the Great Depression era’s most successful radio and recording stars (he died in 1997 at age 98); Hugh Panaro, of East Oak Lane, Broadway co-star of “Les Miserables;” Rufus Harley, of Germantown, the world’s most acclaimed jazz bagpipe player (maybe the only one); Florence LaRue, of Glenside, an original member of the Fifth Dimension, which amassed 14 gold and platinum records and won six Grammys; Eric Owens, of Mt. Airy, a Metropolitan Opera star; Grover Washington, of West Mt. Airy, the nation’s leading proponent of “Smooth Jazz;” Teddy Pendergrass, who lived on the same block of West Allens Lane as Grover Washington, an R&B star with a treasure trove of gold and platinum albums; the Dixie Hummingbirds, the most successful gospel music group ever (The Rev. Joe Williams, pastor of the Mt. Airy United Fellowship Church, was a member); and Vincent Persichetti, of Roxborough, whose classical music compositions were performed by orchestras all over the world.
“I was very lucky in my career,” DiNardo said, “because the Daily News let me interview anyone I wanted to. They did not give me assignments. I just picked people I admired. For this book I suggested a few, but Larry mostly assigned them. I rewrote them over and over, but Larry deserves a lot of credit. Later in life he wanted to do something big, and with this book he did.”
For more information, visit caminobooks.com. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.