[Dixielandjazz] Manhattan Rythm Kings was Don Butterfield Obit & Brian Nalepka

[Steve Barbone]

East Coast Tubist extraordinaire, and list mate John McLearnan knew Tuba
Virtuoso Don Butterfield. He reminded me that Butterfield's step son, Brian
Nalepka is a founding member of The Manhattan Rhythm Kings. So I thought
there might be some folks interested in who MRK are and what they do.

Well, they started out like Wiggins and Elazar recommend. As a street band
on the sidewalks of New York City. Here is the rest of the story:

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

Manhattan Rhythm Kings

Known for their polished performances of American popular music from the
'20s, '30s and '40s, the Manhattan Rhythm Kings, (Hal Shane, Marc Kessler
and Brian Nalepka), have gained a large and enthusiastic following across
the country. While frequently compared with such musical greats as the Mills
Brothers and Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Boys, the trio has established a unique
character of its own with a combination of close harmony singing, virtuosic
instrumental work, and spectacular tap dancing. The Rhythm Kings started
performing together on the sidewalks of New York in 1980. From there, these
song and dance men graduated to playing some of the Big Apple's top
nightspots.

It was their sparkling combination of song and dance that first attracted
the attention of Broadway's Tommy Tune. In 1984 Mr. Tune asked the trio to
help him assemble an act based on songs written by Fred Astaire. Their
collaboration continues today and the act has performed together in venues
as diverse as Carnegie Hall and Atlantic City's Trump Plaza, and a tour of
the former Soviet Union, where they commanded standing ovations in Moscow,
Tiblisi, and St. Petersburg. The King's are favorites at symphony pops
concerts and have performed with over 75 orchestras, including the Boston
Pops, the Pittsburgh Symphony, and the orchestras of Baltimore, Detroit,
St.Louis, Cincinnati, Seattle, Indianapolis, Dallas and Atlanta, among
others.

The Rhythm Kings have made numerous appearances on television, most notably
"Evening at Pops" with John Williams, Tommy Tune and the Boston Pops, as
well as the Emmy-award winning "Celebrating Gershwin" with conductor Michael
Tilson-Thomas. In addition, they've starred in their own special for
Nebraska Public Television, and were featured with Andrew Litton and the
Dallas Symphony on their PBS special. Other TV credits include "The 1992
Tony Awards", the "Today Show", "CBS, This Morning", the 1992 "Kennedy
Center Honors Awards", "Entertainment Tonight", "As the World Turns", as
well as several appearances on the "The Charles Grodin Show".

The Manhattan Rhythm Kings have shared the stage with Bob Hope, George
Burns, Leonard Bernstein, Judy Collins, Bette Midler and Gregory Hines. They
also appeared at Radio City Music Hall with the Rockettes as part of Peter
Allen's Easter Spectacular.

In 1992 the Rhythm Kings were back on Broadway, this time indoors, at the
Shubert Theatre. They were featured as Moose, Sam and Mingo, a trio of
crooning bumpkins in the "new" Gershwin musical "Crazy for You", winner of
three Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Choreography.

This past year the Kings kept a busy concert schedule, performing concerts
with orchestras in St. Louis, South Bend, Buffalo, Savannah, and San Jose,
to name a few. The group also performed concerts at Lincoln Center, the 92nd
St. Y.M.H.A., the University of Alaska, and were special guests at Beverly
Sill's 70th Birthday Celebration. The King's concert in Stowe, Vermont
marked the 50th state the group has performed in.

Going into their twenty-first season, the Manhattan Rhythm Kings look
forward to more symphony pops dates with orchestras in Atlanta, Houston,
Tacoma, Costa Mesa (CA), Portland (ME), Boca Raton, Asheville, Wichita, and
for the fifth time, the St. Louis Symphony. With over one hundred up-coming
concerts, both on their own and with their pal Tommy Tune, this promises to
be the "King's" busiest season ever!