Hey, they look familiar: Timeless Jazz, first winners of Morristown talent show, aim to defend crown in crowded field

Morristown's Got Talent 2012 poster
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If you can’t remember what it’s like to be young, alive and boundlessly happy, watch this clip of Timeless Jazz winning the first Morristown’s Got Talent! contest in 2008.

Bandleader Gus Bacas, a middle-schooler at the time, never will forget that giddy feeling. Just to make sure, the saxophonist and his bandmates aim to defend their crown at the Mayo Performing Arts Center on Feb. 29.

“I’m a senior, and a bunch of us are seniors,” Gus said. “We’d like to leave our mark on the way out, and encourage the personnel who remain to keep going.”

Morristown's Got Talent 2012 posterTheir first hurdle comes on Saturday, Dec. 17. A mind-boggling 97 acts will audition for 16 slots in the fifth anniversary show, which will be emceed by local comedian John Mruz.

“This is absolutely the largest group we’ve ever had” for auditions, said Kim Pistner of the Morris Educational Foundation, which raised nearly $40,000 from last year’s talent show to fund programs in the Morris School District. “We’ve got quite a few bands and several dance groups. We’re going to be there (the high school) for a long time.”

“We’re committed to be there all night if we have to be,” added Debbie Sontupe, chairperson of the Foundation.

BROTHER VS. BROTHER

The field includes several veterans of past talent competitions. Singer Danny Dones hopes the third time is the charm; his new jazz/blues band, Top Hat, boasts another strong contender from last year, Joey Gatto, who has traded his beat-boxing microphone for a piano.

As if Saturday’s MGT audition isn’t enough pressure, Top Hat will lug its gear from Morristown High School to Greenberry’s for a 6 pm “Battle of the Bands” tryout for First Night Morris County.

Danny, a Morristown High School senior who has acted in many theatrical productions, said he could not resist one more crack at Morristown’s Got Talent!

“I’ve had a good experience with it the last couple of years,” he said, recounting his performances of Coldplay’s The Scientist and the Eagles’ Desperado. “It’s my last year before college, so I figured I’d do this one last time.”

And guess what: His older brother, David Dones, is auditioning, too, with a rock band. David hopes the third time is his charm as well; he has tried out twice without luck. Going up against his kid brother does not faze him at all.

“I love it. I’m all about competition,” said David, on track to graduate this year from the County College of Morris with a degree in music recording. “If we both made it that would be really cool, because (Danny’s) really good.”

Imperfect Paradise, a young rock trio from Morris Plains, is trying out again. And the second-place finisher from two years ago, Boys Night Out, has become two groups, Amor and Art of Play. Both are auditioning.

MGT rules say winners must wait a year before coming back, Debbie Sontupe said.

Timeless Jazz winning performance in 2008:

THE ‘CLOUD NINE EFFECT’

When the $1,000 winners’ check was trotted out in ’08, Gus Bacas and his ecstatic young ensemble practically cartwheeled off the stage of the Community Theatre (as the Mayo was then known). Timeless Jazz had performed Fats Waller’s Ain’t Misbehavin’,  with eighth-grader Isabel Rogers belting out the vocals with polish and poise.

Isabel, now an MHS senior, is back– with a summer of classical voice training at the Boston Conservatory under her belt.

If she and Gus look comfortable together on stage, it’s because they have spent plenty of time there. Gus was the beast to Isabel’s “Belle” in Beauty and the Beast at the Frelinghuysen Middle School.

Older members of the 2008 band have moved on--John Nally, Nathaniel Hoshal and Frank Verga.

But Danny Reardon is returning, now as an All-State trumpet player. Ryan Gallagher also is an original member. Newcomers Ben Burgess played bass in the All-State Orchestra last spring and pianist Charlie Savage joined Gus in a North Jersey regional jazz band. Stephen Ferm is an accomplished drummer and Gus’ kid brother, MHS freshman Peter Bacas, proved he is ready for the spotlight earlier this year, surprising everyone by parading through the crowd at the proposed Morristown EcoCenter for his sax solo.

“I thought, ‘Wow, Pete, that’s a little weird. But it’s pretty cool,'” recalled Gus, who is proud of his band’s ability to improvise.

Growing Up With Timeless Jazz.Please click icon below for captions.

Everyone has come a long way since that big night at the first MGT.

“We were pretty tight and clean the last time. This time there will be a much tighter sound overall. Close your eyes and I hope it will sound like a bunch of professionals,” said Gus, who credits his horn prowess to piano lessons that taught him music theory…and to his supportive parents, John and Sophia Bacas, whose Morris Township basement always is available for band rehearsals.

Between rehearsals, Gus has interned at the Mayo, worked as a lifeguard, and studied hard with a notion of someday becoming a cardiologist or anesthesiologist. Still, he clearly enjoys performing. Ice cream socials, Little League parties and a host of other gigs–including, we are honored to say, parades and festivals with MorristownGreen.com–followed the MGT victory.

Gus spent his share of the winnings–$100–mostly on reeds for his sax. Looking back, he said, the giant cardboard check is the first thing he remembers from that night. But a second memory continues to drive him.

“After I got over the Cloud Nine effect, it was like, ‘Hey, if we put in the work, we can achieve almost anything we want,'” he said. “It affirmed all the hard work we did in the previous months. We’re going into this with the same attitude.”

MORE ABOUT THE 2012 TALENT SHOW

MORE ABOUT THE 2011 TALENT SHOW

Timeless Jazz 2012: Front row L-R: Danny Reardon, Isabel Rogers and Ryan Gallagher; back row L-R: Stephen Ferm, Peter Bacas, Gus Bacas, Charlie Savage and Ben Burgess. Photo by John Bacas.
Timeless Jazz 2012: Front row L-R: Danny Reardon, Isabel Rogers and Ryan Gallagher; back row L-R: Stephen Ferm, Peter Bacas, Gus Bacas, Charlie Savage and Ben Burgess. Photo by John Bacas.

Danny Dones from the 2011 talent show:


Joey Gatto from the 2011 talent show:

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