biography
By the end of the summer of '06, Joe "Pajamas" Chiofalo was finished with his latest batch of songs and set off to find a producer that shared his musical taste and sensibility to help record them. His search ended when he and producer / guitarist Stephen Butler had a nice long chat after the two played a Mary Lee's Corvette gig together at NYC's the Cutting Room. Of course keys and guitars do not a record make, so Steve got in touch with long time friends Fran Smith Jr., bass player for The Hooters, and studio drummer Greg DiDonato, and the first phase of the package was in place. The guys were great. Everyone hit it off real well and they all had a hand in arranging some of the tunes. Within a couple of weeks they had recorded basics for five of the ten tunes that would soon make up "ORANGE & BLACK". We all know working with new players is one of the cool things about making records. Every now and then you get lucky and the stars re-align, paths re-cross, and you get to work with some of them again. A few years back Joe co- wrote and recorded the anthem for the local arena football team, the New York City Hawks. With Joe on keyboards, Jimi Bones on guitar, Kurt Stevens on bass, Jean Violet on vox, and Aaron Brooks on drums ..., they thumped and pumped away LIVE at Madison Square Garden treating the disillusioned crowds to some awesome classic rock covers. Most of the time drawing more attention to the band then the lame Hawks. Sure the team sucked but the cheerleaders were fun to look at, new friends were made, and old friendships kicked up a notch. It was clear that if the fates and schedules allowed, the boys would somehow, someday work together again. And sure enough, this would come to pass in various places, on various projects, and in various combinations. This time it would be Aaron's turn to re-hook with Joe. On a far too bright and sunny Saturday morning, with mind and body still ringing from last night's gig at NYC's Red Lion, Aaron found his way to the awaiting car and crawled in. With his gear checked and Aaron aboard, the gang headed south to Steve's studio. Over the next couple of weeks, in and around very busy schedules, the next four songs were recorded. Steve and Joe agreed that ten songs would be a good count for the CD so on a cold January afternoon the two of them recorded the kind of casual tenth and final track, "Step out of the Nightmare".... bloody symbolic. "Baldwin Drive" is an eclectic collaboration of seasoned players brought together by the cosmos to present to the world "Orange & Black"..., the new record from Joe "Pajamas" Chiofalo. Released on Zip Records late '08.
