Feb. 2, 1979 Gusto Nightlife story: The Bona Vista

One of Buffalo’s landmark music clubs in its twilight days.

Feb. 2, 1979 Gusto nightlife story

The Bona Vista

          “Back in those days, I used to hang out at the Bona Vista almost every night,” the caller remarks. For this former Buffalonian, a singer who’s gone on to work in the record business in New York City, the little club on Hertel Avenue just west of Parkside was the center of the local musical universe. “Tell me,” the voice on the phone says, “is it still like it used to be?”

          Throughout the ‘70s, the Bona Vista has been home base for some of Buffalo’s most inventive bands. It was one bar that didn’t succumb to the shift to big sound systems and disco deejays. Instead, it inherited the musical legend that used to surround Aliotta’s down the street. The Bona came to support a raft of white blues-rockers, a subculture that began seeing its fortunes sink with the fall of Joe Cocker.

          For some of the hottest veteran players in town, the Bona was a sanctuary, a place where they could test out their latest brainstorms. It might have been the jazz-rock inventions of guitarist John Weitz or keyboardman Jimmy Calire, both alumni of the city’s most successful ‘60s band, The Raven. It might have been the early Spyro Gyra. It might have been blues in half a dozen shades, from acoustic folk to electric raunch. Occasionally, a blues great from Chicago would be engaged for the weekend. Sometimes big-name performers would drop by for a little late-night fun and fellowship. Bonnie Raitt made it a regular post-concert stop.

          Altogether, it was a cozy set-up. The bands held forth from the floor right next to the bar, taking up the center of the long, narrow room. They never drew big money or big crowds. One reason was that legal capacity is a tight 204, with no possibility of letting out the walls. But the musical freedom was boundless.

          Drop in on a weekend and it’s as if nothing has changed. It’s a buck at the door. The prices at the bar are constant. Draft beer is 55 cents domestic, 60 cents Canadian. Bottled Canadian ale goes for 85 cents, while a shot of whiskey is $1.25. The kitchen serves up sandwiches, cheese plates, jumbo French fries and chicken wings, which tend to be on the mild side.

          Drink in hand, the next element of settling in for a good night of good music at the Bona is finding a good vantage point from which to watch the band. On busy nights, the crowd clusters at the junction of the bar, the band and the rest rooms in the center of the place.

          In that event, the best bet is a table or standing place in the rear, either downstairs or up on the back balcony where the electronic games are. Early arrivals take up the tables in the raised area across from the bar. A few college-aged dancers usually enliven the small dance area. Occasionally a septuagenarian regular named Curt will kick up a few amusing steps too.

          Fridays usually feature gravelly-voiced Billy Brite and his band. Saturdays, there’s a crew that’s as essential a fixture at the Bona as the space heater that hangs over their heads – Shakin’ Smith and His Blues Band. Smith is the prototypical blues brother. Beige hat, sunglasses, harmonica, lots of old standards. His band backs him up with some hot guitar and harmonica. Smith does Wednesdays too. The Argyle Street Band unfurls its tasty brand of country-rock on Thursdays.

          “Shakin’ Smith’s been here about seven years,” says Frank Sperrazza, the owner. “It’s like a tradition with him on Saturday night. Last week it was a little slow, but some Saturdays they do fantastic. Most of the musicians I’ve talked to, they enjoy playing here. It’s a comfortable place to play and other musicians come in and listen to them.”

          Sperrazza inaugurated the cozy musical comradery when he took over bookings for his father, who carved the club out of an old storefront 10 years ago. A policy of booking big, better-known rock bands didn’t work out, so Sperazza settled on smaller groups and styles he liked best.

          Bands hold down a nightly slot in the weekly rotation and that changes only if they get another gig elsewhere, fail to draw a steady crowd, want too much money or break up. Usually another crew of regulars stand ready to move in whenever there’s an opening. These days the openings have dwindled down a bit. Live music has been cut back to four nights a week, though Sperrazza says he’d like to go back to five.

          The newest passion at the Bona can be seen on the off-nights. Sunday midnight, for instance. The sound system is playing Boz Scaggs’ “Loan Me a Dime,” half a dozen patrons are back at the electronic games and the foosball table and the chief bartender, John Santamauro, is confounding guitarist Ralph J. Parker on the backgammon board.

          “Johnny Doubles, that’s what I call him,” grumbles Parker, who lives in an apartment behind the club.

          “We’ve become fools for this game,” Santamauro says.

          And so the newest passion became the newest attraction this week. Tuesday night saw the first in a series of weekly backgammon tournaments run by concert and backgammon promoter Jerry Nathan. Players paid $5 to enter in hopes of winning a $100 prize.

          “We picked it up from Jerry Nathan,” Sperrazza remarks. “Ralph is the connection. He knows Ralph and Ralph used to go to the backgammon games at the Deli Place on Main Street. We found we all have a common denominator in backgammon. This game, a lot of people think you just move the pieces, but there’s a lot more to it than that.”

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IN THE PHOTO: A rather fuzzy shot of Shakin' Smith at the Bona Vista. From left, Joe Zappo, Phil Smith, Rob Schurer, Clark Finn and Shakin' Smith, courtesy of Joe Zappo.

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FOOTNOTE: A Gusto story by yours truly in 1989 noted that the Bona Vista did not survive long into the '80s: "The folk-rockers and blues-rockers, after a brief run at the former Schuper House on Niagara Street, found a new home in Nietzsche's on Allen Street."