Voice and veil: Barone sings Sinatra tribute; creates glass masterpieces
From the Fall issue of 7Bends of the Shenandoah Valley magazine…
On August 15, Charles Barone and members of the Just Jazzin’ Orchestra traveled from Harrisonburg, Virginia by motor coach to New Jersey to appear at Sinatra Park in Hoboken to perform “The Swing Along With Me Concert” – a musical tribute to Frank Sinatra.
It was a magnificent day along the Hudson River – with the New York skyline as the backdrop. The evening became even more beautiful as the colored lights of the city shone down upon the water, and lit up the night sky. Only one week earlier, the same spot had been the command center for the airplane and helicopter collision covered extensively by CNN, Fox News, and other TV and online news outlets.
Over 1,000 people came out to enjoy the concert, and hear Charles Barone, a Shenandoah Valley resident, sing. He performed 21 vocals and four instrumental songs, including: “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “Come Fly With Me,” “My Way,” and of course: “New York, New York.” Sinatra enthusiasts found Charles’ talent to be more than they imagined. One woman, Mary, remarked: “The tribute to Sinatra was wonderful in itself, but it was great to hear Charles Barone mighty voice again”.
Charles was born and raised in the Jersey City and Hoboken areas of New Jersey, so the concert was a homecoming of sorts for him. Though, for the last 15 years, he’s been living in Virginia. In addition to his musical talents, Charles has been creating stained glass masterpieces one by one for more than 35 years. And, masterpieces they are.
Before making the drive back to Virginia, Charles treated the band to a special trip to the Historic Justice Brennan Court House in Jersey City. Built in 1910, it’s a national landmark, and one of the best buildings in the country to see Charles’ stained glass and mural restorations up close and personal. It’s hard to get a sense of just how large and intricate the “Lady Liberty” stained glass window is. It stands 16 feet tall by 10 feet wide. And, the center stained glass dome of the Court House, painstakingly restored by Charles, towers over 100 feet from the ground floor, and measures over 20 feet in diameter. Charles’ restoration work for this building is recognized on the National Congressional Record.
See and hear for yourself. Barone and the members of the Just Jazzin’ Orchestra, along with the “Remember When Group,” continue to perform throughout the East Coast. Barone’s small stained glass studio near Basye, Virginia, on Route 263 on the way out to Bryce Resort, is another treasure worth exploring. For more information, email: rwp@shentel.net, or call (540) 856-2088.
