OGDEN -- Carl "Sandy" Santoro celebrated his 85th birthday jamming with members of the East Street Band at his home.
Their photos line the walls and he is quick to brag about the musicians he has chosen to be a part of the band -- people who have played with the likes of Sonny and Cher, Neil Diamond and the Utah Symphony, and those who have a special way of making an audience happy.
Although talented, Santoro says he is no musical legend. In fact, he didn't start playing until he was in his 60s, and he chose the drums because he doesn't read music well.
Born in Ohio to Italian immigrants, Santoro came to Ogden after serving in the Navy during World War II. He married a local girl, got a degree in business administration from Weber State College and went on to become a manager for Marriott. He has four children and describes himself as a "handsome, vertically challenged Italian."
When courting his second wife, Santoro mentioned he would like to be in a band and later found a drum set under the Christmas tree. He took four lessons before his instructor moved.
He then taught himself to play by listening to other drummers. A friend who was playing in a band at the Hilton hotel asked him if he would like to come on stage and give it a try. He did and fell in love with it.
"I felt kind of stupid about it, but it was a threesome and I didn't have a chance to make many mistakes. I thought 'that's wonderful.' When I would go out, if there was a band playing, I told them I was a drummer and they'd invite me to play," he said.
His first chance at a gig came when someone from First Security Bank asked him to put a Dixieland band together for a celebration it was having in Twin Falls, Idaho.
"I found six guys. I picked good musicians, thank goodness. The next thing you know the front page said we were the outstanding band of the celebration," he said.
Santoro said he got calls "here and there" asking the band to perform and finally decided to do some marketing. He found a six-month gig playing three nights a week on "The Jordan Queen," a Cincinnati-type riverboat on a pond in Salt Lake City. Since then, he has recruited more than 60 musicians and picks and chooses from among them to suit the gig. He always has drums, piano and a bass guitar but may also invite vocalists or those who play brass instruments.
Santoro says he plays with top-notch musicians but wants them to remember their priority is to please the audience.
"When we play a gig, I remind them we're not playing for musicians, we're playing for the public. My number one goal is to make them happy. There have been a dozen musicians I've fired for not paying attention to that. We're not in it to be stars, we're a good band to make people happy ... we've had a lot of fun in the music business," he said.
Santoro's age doesn't slow him down and neither did a bout with cancer 20 years ago. When diagnosed with colon cancer, Santoro told the doctors they would have to wait to operate.
"I told the doctors I'm too busy to be operated on this week, and we'll have to wait three weeks. They went goofy, but there was nothing they could do about it," he remembers.
When the appointed time came, Santoro had part of his colon removed, and there has been no recurrence. He said the music business has slowed down, but he still averages two gigs a week.
Santoro donates his time to the Bountiful and Washington Terrace senior centers and serves as the music director for the World War II speaker series at the Salt Lake City library, but generally will not perform for free.
"I don't like doing freebies for profit-making people. I don't need the income, but I wouldn't do it for nothing," he said.
Santoro said he has various fee tiers based on what a client expects, but he wants a minimum of $125 per player for a three-hour performance. He said he always makes sure to have enough money in the bank to pay his players the night of the gig.
"I deliver what I promise, and I share equally with the fellows."
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