What separates Brass Transit from the Chicago tribute field is not the song selection — the hits are the hits — but the credentials assembled behind them. The Toronto eight-piece, founded in 2008 by trumpeter Tony Carlucci, draws its membership from musicians whose professional credits span Aretha Franklin, Frankie Valli, Sam & Dave, The Drifters, Ben E. King, Martha Reeves, Little Anthony & The Imperials, and The Mamas & The Papas. These are not weekend cover acts applying their spare time to a familiar catalog. They are session-level professionals who chose, as a deliberate discipline, to reconstruct one of the most ornate horn-driven bodies of work American rock produced — and who hold every arrangement to what Carlucci has described as a “needle drop” standard: if it does not match the original recording, note for note, horn chart by horn chart, it does not go on stage.
About the Show
Brass Transit brings “The Musical Legacy of Chicago” to The Showroom at Turning Stone Resort Casino on Friday, October 23, at 8 p.m. The evening is built around Chicago’s golden age, 1969 to 1976 — “25 or 6 to 4,” “Saturday in the Park,” “Beginnings,” “Make Me Smile,” “Hard to Say I’m Sorry,” “If You Leave Me Now,” and “You’re the Inspiration” among the touchstones. What Carlucci once imagined as a casual Toronto bar project grew into a North American touring act after a soundman filmed their second gig and posted the footage to YouTube, generating unexpected traction and professional opportunities the band has sustained ever since. The full lineup: Ian Jutsun on lead vocals, Carlucci on trumpet, alongside Silvio Simone, Paul DeLong, Don Breithaupt, Doug Gibson, Phil Poppa, and Jay Speziale.
Presenting organizations on this touring circuit have been direct in their assessments. The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance called it “among the best concerts we have ever presented”; a Mississauga Symphony crowd delivered five standing ovations. A date at the McAninch Arts Center in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, sold out. No supporting acts have been announced for the Verona show.
Venue & Logistics
The Showroom at Turning Stone Resort Casino places this show in central New York, at Verona’s major resort complex on Patrick Road. For audiences coming from Syracuse, Utica, or across the Mohawk Valley, Turning Stone is a known quantity on the regional calendar — and the Showroom is a room with the production depth to let an eight-piece ensemble, world-class horns and full rhythm section among them, register at full scale.
Tickets
No ticket price was available from sources at the time of publication. Tickets are available via Ticketmaster. Get Tickets