This is Avenue Groove:
Laura Noonan - Lead Vocals
Ever since she can remember, Laura has been singing. Whether it was by herself, along with the television, a record, or a radio, Laura has loved the art of music. While keeping a focus on popular music, Laura explored many different vocal styles and characteristics early on. She performed in different venues, including choruses and high school musicals. Her classical training in college allowed her to incorporate demanding techniques into even the most far-reaching styles.
While singing with the Chubby Clark Band for seven years, she received many calls to fill in for other local bands like Steppin’ Out and Times Square. For the past few years, she has substituted for Locomotion and sat in on a few gigs with Rob Zappulla and his many talented jazz musicians.
Laura has chosen a full-time career as a middle school music teacher. She directs band and chorus and teaches music theory and history classes. Teaching children about music and its performance is one way to honor her own middle school music teacher who encouraged her to further her singing and perform in her first talent show.
When she’s not singing or teaching music, Laura can be found teaching karate at Butch Marino’s Shorin-Ryu Karate Institutes in New Britain, CT. She has been involved with the martial arts since 1984. Most of her teaching style, performance preparation and even her vocal strength have come from this training. She looks forward to influencing many students in both arts.
Stephen King – Keyboards / Lead Vocals
Stephen began his musical career studying classical piano and trumpet. One brass instrument lead to another and by high school he had branched to the baritone horn, tuba and sousaphone. Stephen minored in music at CCSU.
Stephen has always been a rocker at heart and throughout the 70's and early 80's spent most of his playing time with local area rock bands covering everything from ASIA to Zappa.
The mid 80's took Stephen in a new direction to Center Stage recording studio in Bristol Connecticut. Stephen found a new niche as keyboard player for the popular top 40 and wedding band Foolish Pleasure. It was at Center Stage where Stephen met his soon to be business partner, current bass player and ultimate lifelong friend Peter DeFazio.
Stephen went on to perform with Connecticut based horn band Locomotion in the early 90's where he met up with former Locomotion drummer Nick Foligno. Stephen is the founder of Avenue Groove.
Nick Foligno – Drums / Lead Vocals
Nick Foligno comes from a family of musicians including seven drummers. He began playing drums at ten years old and two years later was playing parties with his first band. He studied voice with Jacqueline Jarrett and is unique for being one of the few drummers who can also take on a roll as a lead singer.
Nick has performed at weddings, parties, festivals and clubs throughout New England for over 30 years. He founded the band Moment’s Notice in 1980 that went on to become one of the area’s most sought after wedding and party bands. Due to his ability to play all styles of music, Nick is sought after by many bands to fill in. Nick has performed with many popular area bands including Coalition, Moondance, Locomotion, The Mastertones, Chubby Clark, Razzmatazz, The Stardust Dance Band and Full Circle.
Peter DeFazio – Bass Guitar / Lead Vocals
Peter started playing guitar when he was 8 years old. When an opportunity came along to play bass with an established top 40 band in 1976, he ran out and bought a bass, auditioned and got the gig. He has been playing bass ever since.
Peter has been fortunate enough to have played with the likes of Revised & Co., Foolish Pleasure & Prime Time. It was in the late 80’s when he began the slap/funk style of playing . He was a founding member of Inner City Groove, which went on to perform major venues, opened for the likes of Spyro Gyra, Joan Jett and others. Inner City Groove released the single “Love Can’t Wait Tonight” on Skyline Records and received local and regional airplay.
Having taken a few years off from playing, he formed his own business, Innovative Communications, a Computer Consulting Firm and a state of the art digital Recording Studio which he still operates to this day.
Eric Della Vecchia – Saxophone / Vocals
Eric began playing saxophone in the 4th grade. His first musical influence was his father Louis who would listen to a multitude of jazz and R&B. When Eric was very young, his uncle, Brien Sandstrom, was a bassist in a local funk and R&B group, Coallition. Some of Eric's early musical influences were Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Earth Wind and Fire, Michael Jackson and The Beatles. As luck would have it, once Eric entered Bristol Eastern High School, he had the pleasure of studying under George Sovak and Richard Theriault, who both were well respected local jazz saxophonists as well as his middle school and high school band directors respectively.
Eric then entered CCSU as a saxophone performance major under the guidance of Dr. Scott Plugge, whom he had been studying with beginning during his senior year of high school. After two years of study at CCSU, Eric followed Dr. Plugge to Huntsville, TX to continue his studies of both classical and jazz saxophone. Throughout his college career, Eric performed in many of the university ensembles as well as the Elements Saxophone Quartet.
Eric's first serious outing as a professional saxophonist began in the group Stanley Maxwell. Over the past 13 years Stanley Maxwell performed up and down the East coast (and Oklahoma) in the "jam band" scene playing many music festivals sharing the stage with such groups as The Disco Biscuits, The Roots, Dweezil Zappa, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey and Fred Wesley to name a few.
In addition to being the newest member of Avenue Groove (filling the shoes of one of his best friends, Anthony Manzi), Eric also teaches saxophone at Downright Music and Art in Collinsville, CT. Many of his students have gone on to perform in the Northern Region and All-State Festival bands. Collinsville has also been an influence in Eric's development as a performing musician by giving him the opportunity to play out up to five nights a week in various organized and impromptu groups given its concentration of musicians and artists. When Eric is not playing, working or practicing, he enjoys spending time with the loves of his life, his daughter, Haven and his girlfriend, Lisa.
Mark Cote – Guitar
Since first picking up the guitar with the help and encouragement from his older brother, Wayne, Mark’s been able to tap into many styles of music, starting in the 70's playing the rock favorites of the era plus many originals with Esquire Revue.
Always looking for new outlets and styles, Mark studied with Jazz guitarist Tony Purrone while attending Housatonic Community College in the 70‘s.
In the mid 80's Mark moved to Las Vegas and performed with Jamie Redmon and Fascination and other bands from the Vegas area playing classic rock and top 40 hits.
Moving back to CT in the late 80’s Mark performed with The Andy Nichols orchestra playing Big Band Classics by Arty Shaw and Glenn Miller etc. Around that same time he met Stephen King and played rock classics and originals with the band called Easy Street.
Always looking for a new challenge Mark played and recorded country music with Wildcard and Desert Rain and recorded for Sweetheart Records recording artist Carrie Ashton on her CD,
”The Rest of My Life".
He’s performed with 50's artists The Tempos who recorded the hit "See you In September", played live interactive acoustic children’s music with Randy Quin and is currently playing with a 3 piece rock and country band 3 Of A Kind.
Mark is currently studying Jazz guitar with Tony Lombardozzi, guitar instructor at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT