The Ben Grisafi Big Band

The Ben Grisafi Big Band: Talk of the Town / But Beautiful / Swing, Sweet & Sentimental

by Jack Bowers
October 1, 2001

In Juke Box Saturday Night, his book that embodies “memories of the Big Band Era and beyond,” author Richard Grudens includes chapters on bandleaders Artie Shaw, Les Brown, Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton, Red Norvo, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Harry James — and Ben Grisafi. Ben who? That’s Ben G–r–i–s–a–f–i, who, at an age when most men have swapped their neckties and briefcases for pipe and slippers, leads a talented and reasonably successful big band in Long Island, New ...