It's with great sadness that Angelo passed away today. He ran truly one of the all time great joints in the history of Milwaukee. He had been in ill health the last few years and sold the legendary piano bar in July which is being re-opened in March under the same name because the place is truly legendary.
Angelo was a great character. A local guy who played the trumpet in high school and played it in his joint every night. It was a small place holding around 30 people and anybody could sing. Tom Jones visited the place once when he was in town and Angelo proudly hung the photo of those two together on the wall by the piano. It's a small bar just down the street from us that Krissy and I visited often. Wonderful singers passed through that place. A lot of locals but also Broadway type singers in town performing a show. The place had a reputation for first class singing.
Angelo could always be spotted at his usual place at the end of the bar chomping on a cigar. I ran into him once at a racetrack out of state at the Breeders Cup. For some reason Angelo had two last names. I saw him about a year ago and asked him if he was going to sing but he said he wasn't feeling well. He packed a ton of fun in his 79 years on this earth.
Back in the 80's Angelo beat the Feds on a gambling charge. That's hard to do! He was a Milwaukee legend who shall be missed. I can't wait until the new joint opens for a small toast in your memory. Goodbye Angelo.
Later
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