By Bob Giaquinto
At the May 24 meeting of the Greenwich Retired Men’s Association Tom Healy treated the RMA membership and friends to an extremely enjoyable concert. Among the many highlights was the “Rhinestone Cowboy” duet of Tony Cocchi and Joe Mancinelli, with Jeff Junker on trombone and the Melody Men in the background. There was an outstanding solo by Jerry Schwendeman singing “Cabaret” a la Liza Minnelli. Jerry also shared his exceptional dance moves with us.
Merry Melody Men Leader Tom Healy gave us a noteworthy solo, singing Matt Monro’s 1961 hit “My Kind of Girl” accompanied by the Melody Men and Jeff Junker on trombone. Another solo was Tad Larrabee’s stirring “The Impossible Dream,” from the 1965 musical “Man of La Mancha.”
A very special treat was the RMA’s own piano man Bob Morgan singing and playing the piano like Billy Joel in his wonderful performance of “Piano Man.” Of course, this would not be “Piano Man” without the remarkable Mike Hayden on harmonica. Bob, a former major label record producer, worked with Bobby Vinton years ago and so apropos the Melody Men offered a medley of their hits together. In addition, Bob accompanied all songs during the concert.
Don Conway was awesome singing the Irish standard “Danny Boy.” All the Melody Men were great. The Melody Men appear each spring and fall in retirement homes throughout the area, and I suggest sharing the video of this show with everyone, but especially with those who might be lifted up by seeing this upbeat show.
The full program was as follows.
“Oklahoma!” (ensemble)
“My Kind of Girl” (Healy)
“On the Street Where You Live” and “Standing on the Corner” (ensemble)
“Rhinestone Cowboy” (Mancinelli and Cocchi)
Burt Bacharach medley (ensemble)
“Cabaret” (Schwendeman)
“The Impossible Dream” (Larrabee)
Bobby Vinton medley (ensemble)
“Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral” and “Danny Boy” (Conway)
“Singing in the Rain” (Healy and Schwendeman)
“Piano Man” (Morgan and Hayden)
“Sweet Caroline” (ensemble)
“There Is Nothing Like a Dame” (ensemble)
“I Want to Be Happy” (ensemble)
Members of the Melody Men are Tom Healy, Bob Morgan, Tony Cocchi, Joe Mancinelli, Michael Ambrosino, Jim Butler, Don Conway, Jim Dean, Bill Fakundiny, Russ Harden, Mike Hayden, Bill Howland, Peter Junius, Jeff Junker, Tad Larrabee, Bill McKiegan, Tom Moroney, Erf Porter, Jerry Schwendeman, Jack Sweger and Jack Weir.
To see the full presentation, go to https://greenwichrma.org, cursor to “Speakers” and click on “Speaker Videos.”
The RMA’s upcoming presentation, “Inflation and the Fed, What Does It Mean for the Economy and Financial Markets?,” by Larry Kantor, is scheduled for 11 AM on Wednesday, June 7th. According to Kantor, forecasts for a US recession are rampant following the greatest policy tightening in over 40 years. But it hasn’t happened yet and – absent an unexpected catastrophic event – is unlikely to occur anytime soon. The COVID experience – which generated unprecedented monetary and fiscal stimulus and an historic labor shortage – has cushioned the economy, preventing a collapse. The end result is an extended period of sluggish growth instead of a traditional recession. Inflation peaked last summer and should continue to decline, but not enough to reach the Fed’s target of 2% anytime soon. As a result, the Fed is likely to remain on hold for an extended period instead of cutting rates this year as the markets are pricing in. The period of ultra-low inflation and interest rates is over, and we will need to get used to it.
Please join us to hear Larry Kantor, who will draw on his many years as a senior leader in the financial industry to tackle the critical economic issues of the day. Larry has appeared on seven previous occasions before the RMA and has received widespread praise for his clear, concise, and comprehensible views on national issues from an economist’s perspective. Larry is currently an operating partner at Atlas Merchant Capital, a private equity firm. He was a 2016 advanced Leadership Institute fellow at Harvard University following his retirement as managing director and global head of research at Barclays, where he was responsible for global research, including economics, equities, interest rates, foreign exchange, emerging markets, credit, and commodities. He was also a member of the investment bank executive committee and made numerous media appearances, including CNBC, Bloomberg TV and radio, and “The Nightly Business Report.” Prior to working at Barclays, Larry held several positions of increasing responsibility in academia, at the Federal Reserve Board and in the financial industry. Larry received his PhD and MA in Economics from Ohio State University.
To stream the presentation by Mr. Kantor at 11 AM on Wednesday, June 7th, click on https://bit.ly/30IBj21. This presentation will also be available on local public access TV channels, Verizon FIOS channel 24 and Optimum (Cablevision) channel 79.
Note: The views expressed in these presentations are those of the speakers. They are not intended to represent the views of the RMA or its members.
RMA speaker presentations are presented as a community service at no cost to in-person or Zoom attendees, regardless of gender. The RMA urges all eligible individuals to consider becoming a member of our great organization, and thereby enjoy all the available fellowship, volunteer, and community service opportunities which the RMA offers to its members. For further information, go to https://greenwichrma.org/, or contact our membership chairman (mailto:members@greenwichrma.org).
