Family Over Fortune For The Musical Manzis, But Not Without Dreams
The Manzi Family Band in a Longmeadow, Massachusetts, basement, rehearsing for their July 14, 2018, show at the Majestic Theater in West Springfield, Massachusetts. Photo by Jill Kaufman for NEPR
Getting ready for a rare appearance, the Manzi Family Band was in full rehearsal on a recent summer afternoon in a basement in Longmeadow, Massachusetts.
Seven members of the Manzi family practiced for hours, tuning and retuning their guitars, with harmonicas and percussion instruments nearby — sometimes misplaced, and voices well warmed up.
Among the millennial generation, all sharing the Manzi last name, Ray is in college, Jake is a local musician, Angelo and Lucas are in business and Laura is a school speech pathologist.
One baby boomer is John, who works in the Springfield Public Schools finance department. He’s also fairly well known as a musician around the local bar and country club scene, playing sometimes with his nephews or one of his own kids.
Frank Manzi is John’s slightly younger brother. He teaches construction and carpentry at Putnam High School in Springfield.
Both of them, without any intention early on, led their kids into playing music. And the brothers grew up, in Springfield’s Forest Park neighborhood, hearing their parents sing songs brought with them from Italy, after immigrating to the U.S. in the 1950s.
Taking a break from rehearsal, Frank and John began to sing one of those songs — in Italian, with no instruments. Their kids watched as the brothers forgot the words and everyone started to laugh.
Still, Laura was impressed.