Traveling
soloist playing Poway Library May 15
José A. López
Published 05/05/2010 -
4:36 p.m.ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Many musicians may say
they live on the road, but unless they’re Dean Ratzman, chances are that they’re only speaking metaphorically.
For the past five years,
Ratzman and his wife, Valli, have been without a fixed address as he performs his one-man show, “Swingin’ with
Dean” at senior centers, libraries and other venues throughout the country.
Ratzman, who recently played
shows at the Remington Club and at Casa de Las Campanas in Rancho Bernardo, will perform at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 15, 2010,
at the Poway Library, 13137 Poway Road.
The 58-year-old lives and
travels to the shows in his motor home, a 27' Four Winds C-Class, that he and his wife drive throughout the country. He performs
between 20 to 35 shows a month (often two in a day). Last year he had 266 gigs (he had 322 in 2008). His website (www.ratzpack.net) shows a similar schedule for this year and the beginning of next.
The couple used to live
in San Diego for about 20 years when, according to Ratzman, the landlord at their Pacific Beach apartment told them they would
have to move into a smaller apartment while theirs was being remodeled, and pay more rent when they moved back. They said
"No, we don't have to do that".
After seeing that he could
book two week’s worth of gigs at senior venues quickly, he realized he could make a living as a traveling musician,
he said.
“I told Valli, ‘We
can do this if you’re on the phone booking gigs ... we can both live on the income,’” Ratzman said. “We
started checking out RVs online ... and we decided, let’s do this. Let’s move out of the apartment and use our
money to spend on fuel for the gigs.”
Ratzman said his wife warmed
up to the idea after initially being wary of the thought of leaving her full-time job for a life on the road. Now, she books
the shows and he plays, said Ratzman, who added that his wife has been able to book twice the number of shows he originally
thought she could.
The performer — whose
repertoire includes songs from the ‘40s to the ‘80s ('40s - '60s for seniors) — said adjusting to the ambulant
life didn’t require a “downward adjustment,” just different thinking. “In our situation ... We’re
on the road hitting our jobs as we go. It’s kind of nice, you’re never really backtracking like you do when you’re
commuting to work.”
The couple have a garage/music
studio in the Northwest and are up there every summer, and another storage unit in Southern CA. They spend a couple of months
in the spring and also the fall in San Diego visiting a grown daughter who lives in the SDSU area, and a son who lives in
Santee.
The rest of the time they’re
on the road, said Ratzman, who added that they try to schedule their touring around places they would like to visit, or friends
and family they would like to see.
During the shows, Ratzman
plays trumpet, trombone, a Korg keyboard (or Yamaha) and sings. He accompanies himself with his own real drumming recorded
onto MiniDisc, (no drum machine or computer tracks). He says he looks forward to the drumming sessions every summer in Port
Angeles, WA., with his Pearl drum set.
Ratzman,
who attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, has vast experience being on the road.
In the ‘70s he was
on the road touring with a Seattle-based Top 40's cover band named “Carnival” that toured the U.S. and Canada.
“That was at the height of the disco era and we were playing the best clubs. We were opening new clubs around the Southeast
for the Big Daddy's/ Flanigan's chain."
Ratzman says
he was hired over the phone in Seattle, to join "Carnival". An agent with the Wm. Stephan Agency had seen him play trumpet
with a Seattle group, "Roadshow" at an outdoor Pike's Place Market rock fair and thought he would fit well with "Carnival".
"Roadshow" was one of the top bands with the Unicam Agency playing a lot of BS&T and Chicago Transit Authority.
"It was a
very interesting scene," describes Ratzman. Bruce, the leader of "Carnival" told Dean to meet him and the band at the "Love
Affair" night club in Vancouver, B.C., where "Carnival" was performing." Well, the band was 'hot', a four piece rhythm section
with organ and sax and trumpet. I was just hoping I could live up to Bruce's expectations. Plus, the song list was a little
daunting with a multitude of 'funk' from Tower of Power and Kool and the Gang."
Ratzman said, As I was
milling around a scant audience, Monday nights usually being a bit slow, I was noticing a few other guys interested in the
band too, not really looking like patrons, but more like musicians. A few of us started talking while the the band was playing,
and we discovered we are all up for a part in the apparent "re-making" of "Carnival". The band we were witnessing was heading
to Boise with a new agent, and Bruce wanted to continue the "Carnival" name and the current song list around the Seattle area
with new guys. I knew we were all wondering if we could pull this off. In the days to follow, we got to know each other and
rehearsed and discovered we were all coming from different musical arenas, but were also enjoying the mix. We each had significant
track records in Northwest bands, and the end result was a great rhythm section plus 3 horns that were top notch, and everybody
sang.
In San Diego, Dean
played trumpet with the "Mar Dels", the most prominent oldies cover band in San Diego. He also owned his own bands in
the 80's, "Dean and the Persuaders" and "The Ravells" a Motown showband, both based in San Diego.
When you see Dean perform
as a solo, you will notice an osmosis of modern musical history that he has been a part of throughout the years.
His
repertoire will include great American hits from the ‘40s - ‘60s, along with a few originals, during his Poway
library show.
For
reference on the internet: Google Dean Ratzman, Broadjam.com, and Ratzpack.net.
