Hector Garrido, 78, has been making music most of his life and the keyboardist for Music Mixx performed at two of The Villages’ most historic opening and closing nights.
“I was the last one to play at Church on the Square and I was the first one to play at the Sharon,” Garrido said. “So you might say, I’m the last and the first.”
For Music Mixx, there seems to be no end in sight for the six-piece group’s Saturday night performance at Hacienda Hills Country Club. Dave Czohara, trumpet; singer Michelle Dioguardo, Bruce Miller, drums; Al Cheatham, bass; Joe Marino, sax and Garrido – have been playing that gig four years.
Over at La Hacienda, Music Mixx is as much a part of Saturday night as prime rib and lobster tails.
“We just fit in here,” Czohara said. “We started one night about four years ago and they asked us back the next week. We’re still coming back.” Also, Music Mixx will perform July 21 at noon in the Savannah Center as part of the musical lunch series.
You can see a clip of the band performing at Villages-News.com Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TheVillagesNews?ref=hl
Music Mixx, as the name implies, offers a variety of sounds from the ’40s through the ’70s. Michelle Dioguardo-Ehret, lead singer, has the pipes to make it work and she is accompanied by skilled, veteran players who earned their chops playing everything from rock and roll to marches for the U.S. Army Band.
“It’s a diverse group but we all get along,” Dioguardo-Ehret said. “We’ve all been in different bands and done different things. But we’re all about music, because music is our lives.”
It was that way for her as a kid growing up in Long Island. She flipped for Elvis and put up a poster of the King above her bed. Then she learned to sing, “Love Me Tender.”
“That was the first song I ever did and I still love Elvis,” Dioguardo-Ehret said. “I just kept going from there.” She played in a number of bands in New York and wanted to continue in The Villages.
“When I moved here I was looking for a band,” she said. “Then I saw these guys were looking for a singer and we just got together.”
It was a perfect fit.
“We needed somone who could sing a variety of songs,” Czohara said. “We all know what we can do and when we got together, it was just a matter of making everyone fit. That’s why it works.”
Like other members of the band, Czohara has an impressive resume. He has performed with Danny Thomas, Les Brown and Whitney Houston.
Drummer Bruce Miller has performed with the Mamas and Papas, Three Dog Night, Little Richard, the Rascals and other rock acts.
Playing with the Mamas and Papas, “was a tumultuous time,” Miller said. “Mama Cass (Elliot) was great, a wonderful person and singer.” But, he added, John Phillips, the songwriter and leader of the group, had major drug problems and singer Denny Doherty had issues with alcohol. Elliot, Phillips and Doherty are deceased.
“They all made incredible music and I wish they were still alive,” Miller said.
Miller says the public doesn’t quite give drummers the respect they deserve. Ever since the drummers kept getting blown up in “Spinal Tap,” it seems the guys playing the skins, “are probably the most underrated musicians,” Miller said.
“We’re never given enough credit – even Ringo (Starr) with the Beatles. He is an awesome musician and he played a big role with the Beatles and deserves more credit.”
Miller, meanwhile, is enjoying his time with Music Mixx.
“It’s a way to keep playing, and it’s fun to play all kinds of music from different times,” he said. “Everyone in this band is a seasoned musician and can really play. We’ve been together a few years and really know each other. And we’re dedicated to music.”
Joe Marino is 83 but can still wail on the alto sax.
“You’re never too old to learn and I’m learning a lot with this band,” Marino said. He played with the U.S. Army Band and now spends his Saturdays at La Hacienda playing everything from Glenn Miller to Donna Summer.
“We know what the people want to hear,” Marino said. “This is our regular gig and the people come every week.”
Among the La Hacienda regulars are Mary Ann and Hank Meyer.
“We come because of the music they play,” Mary Ann said. “It makes you want to get up and get out and go dancing on a Saturday night.”