And the band plays on......

The Castro side of the family must have music in their veins. Starting with Uncle Tony and his castanets and ukalele. Mike also played a little uke and even thought he was a drummer at some of the parties. Through the years some of the nephews were also amateurs musicians , as Mike and Bob played the piano and I think Sal Jr. played some accordion. So much for amateurs, the family had quite a number of musicians that went professional. Uncle Manuel played accordion and had his own band and was quite a crooner. He played weekend gigs (jobs) and parades, weddings, and of course the annual Portugeese Holy Ghost. If you ever heard Tennessee Waltz being sung you immediately knew it was Uncle Bill's band you were listening to, who also did casual gigs and clubs as well as any other gig that came up. Bill eventually became an agent for the Musicians Union. Uncle Bill played the drums.

The student band was playing at the San Leandro High School Senior Assembly and the teen-age girls could not see the drummer of the band, so they screamed and screamed until a couple of guys moved the piano over so that they could see Cousin Tony playing the drums. Tony went on making his living with his band and his drums and followed Uncle Manuel in his crooning. The accordion seemed popular in our family. Cousin Johnnie followed Uncle Manuel and had his own band and for a time made his living with his squeeze box. Where as Uncle Manuel learned on his own and as he put it, "I play a lot of songs by ear," Johnnie studied music and is an accomplished musician. He too, made his living for a time performing full time. Following in his father's foot steps, Cousin Manuel also played the accordion and added piano to his accomplishments and played mainly casuals in clubs. Uncle Bill on the drums, and Cousin Tony on the drums and finally Gilbert Trujillo (Margaret Castro Trujillo's son) on the drums. He too played mainly in casual bands. One more drummer, Cousin Donnie Rodriguez(Uncle Tony's grandson, which is Cousin Tony's nephew, which is Margaret Castro Dambley's son) who had his own band and made a living playing full time for quite awhile, and is now a Manager of a chain of Music Stores.

I am sure there are other cousins and second cousins and so on who play or have played an instrument. Even my daughter Susan played in the high school band and marched in their parades and was considered quite a good floutist.

Of all the musicians, except for a short period of time, Cousin Tony is the only professional who spent his life making a living as a full time entertainer and even now occasionly has a gig in Palm Springs where he lives. On a quiet night memories flood into my mind and I hear the sounds........and the band plays on.