The Doobie Brothers Tribute Band Performs Debut Concert and Benefits Music Scholarship

Earlier this month in the auditorium, the group, Minute By Minute:  A Tribute To the Music of Michael McDonald and The Doobie Brothers, held their premiere concert. In addition to it being the official launch of this new local act, it was also a benefit with proceeds going to the high school's Tri-M Music Honor Society college scholarship for seniors.  

The successful concert event was organized by the members of Tri-M, which is the equivalent of the National Honor Society for elite musicians. Over 250 adults and children of all ages were in attendance.

Nick Ambrosino and Diane Marketta, Minute by Minute's keyboard player and vocalist respectively, are the parents of Tri-M vice president, Clarinetist Brianna Ambrosino.

"Everyone is a music person in my family. I'm excited. I'm so proud of them. Everyone's up and dancing; I think it's really cool," said Brianna.

The response to the concert was phenomenal. There were people lined up outside the door to purchase tickets. Members of Tri-M diligently worked to get the word out about the event, by putting up flyers in local places and encouraging friends and family to attend.

"The older generation, as soon as they hear The Doobie Brothers and Michael McDonald, a lot of people in the community are really gung ho," said Adriana Burtoff, student teacher to Tri-M advisor, Mike Carroll.

Tri-M president, Will Rosati, a string bass player, got to showcase that he is equally adept on the electric guitar, when he joined Minute by Minute in their second set, during a standout performance of the song "China Grove."

Minute by Minute was formed in late spring of 2011 by band members Larry Lippman, a teacher in the Smithtown School District, and Sachem's own Bill Gerrity. The impressive guitarist and vocalist is a music teacher at . 

Lippman and Gerrity have been performing together in the Long Island-based funk band, Funky In The Middle, for the past decade. The pair decided to pursue the daunting and rewarding task of putting together a group of highly-trained musicians, who also happen to be close friends outside of the music world. The band's members all share a love and respect for each other, as well as for the timeless tracks of The Doobie Brothers and Michael McDonald, which they faithfully render with tenderness, precision and zeal.

"It's one of those everybody wins situations, where we get to raise money for scholarships for some of our students and enjoy some really great music," said Carroll.

After the show Gerrity said, "It was great. It's kind of like my hometown built-in crowd." Raising money for scholarships to be given to Sachem's senior musicians is a cause close to the music teacher's heart. "Most of them were my students at one point in time," he added.

Minute by Minute's auspicious debut performance certainly served as an inspiration to the young musicians in attendance, which is something the group's members, who are all either teachers or music educators, take very seriously. They relish the chance to give back, and pay it forward, as often as they can.

Lippman said, "The main focus is to raise money for musicians of the future, like they did for us coming up."