Although it may seem like old-school crooner David Patrone has been part of the local music scene forever, in truth he’s only been wowing audiences since 1999. In that time however, Patrone has become known as one of the hardest-working musicians in town. It’s not uncommon for him to have two or three shows a day in combos ranging from a piano duo to a 17-piece big band. A day off is a rare thing indeed.
Joining a long list of musicians – such as Scotty Moore and The Everly Brothers “” who were brought to San Diego to serve in the Marines, Patrone arrived in San Diego from the east coast during 1996. “I started the [music] in 1999, while I was still in the Corps,” Patrone explained. “I had been sitting in with bands on harp and singing some blues tunes. Everyone called me "Willy B" back then, the nickname I had been given in the Corps.” Patrone formed a succession of short-lived bands, including rockabilly combo The Stilettos and The Dirty Bourbon Big Band. “I started playing jazz standards with a quartet in early 2000 at Bourbon Street on Friday nights. I soon got called by Ingrid Croce to play her club,” he recalled. “When she said her name, I didn’t believe it was her. I asked her to let me call her back so I could verify the phone number.” Patrone still laughs at the memory.
Since 2000, Patrone has been a regular at Croce’s, a booking which continues to this day. In fact, you can find him at the nightspot every Thursday night in December. It’s all the culmination of a lifelong love of music, even if his genre of choice has shifted a little over time. “I didn’t really actively listen to Sinatra or Ella until I was about 22,” he said. “I was born loving the classics: I’m an active listening fan of baroque classical music and have been since I can remember.”
He points to his first car as an indicator of his eclectic tastes. “When I bought my first car, I had a Best of Beethoven tape, Nat King Cole Christmas album, Best of the Blues, House of Pain, Bob Marley, Jimmy Buffett, James Taylor and REM on regular rotation,” he mused.
Eventually however, Patrone became jaded with his listening choices. “On a whim of curiosity, I got a Sinatra CD, the Reprise best-of single CD. Something in that music just made me love music again,” he enthused.
“Sinatra was doing all those complicated tunes with so much emotion. The arrangements and musicians behind him had so much skill and the arrangements were so intricate that it was like it was the first time I’d ever heard music.”
He became obsessed with the sounds of Big Band and the classic crooners of that era. “I did some investigating and soon discovered Mel Torme, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Etta James, Duke Ellington, Louis Prima, Cab Calloway. It was like a journey or carnival of discovery.” He tried to share his love of the music with his friends, though he wasn’t always successful. “Imagine trying to get a bunch of my Marine buddies to listen to that stuff,” he laughed.
He’s incredulous that anyone might not consider vocal jazz classics as valid as today’s music. “These songs still resonate because the lyrics, the melodies, the performers who did them, they are all great,” Patrone stated. “Some people try to say that it was like a simpler time, but I totally disagree. These songs are not simple and they address everything that modern music addresses. Anyone who thinks this stuff is antiquated or simple or sophomoric isn’t really listening.”
Future plans for Patrone include recording an album of original compositions as well as playing further afield, though he intends to keep San Diego as his home base.
“I like the local jazz community for a number of reasons,” he remarked. “We are growing and creating our own pocket of happenings, plus we have a host of seasoned, famous and experienced jazz musicians here in our community who still play and mentor and influence.”
Patrone pauses to reflect on his adopted hometown. “San Diego’s jazz scene is running in parallel to San Diego as a city. It’s growing and suffering in many of the same ways, with both rough edges and brilliant facets. You gotta have both, or it ain’t real. And I’m very privileged to be a part of it,” he said.