CARLFILBERT
Carl Filbert, a noted bassist and vocalist from Niagara Falls New York, has been a professional entertainer and musician his entire adult life. Influenced by Dick Clark’s American Band Stand and The Beatles, and after making an impression on musician Dr. Edward D’Anna, a 2018 Legacy Inductee, Carl started playing and
singing when he was six years old. He soon traded in his accordion for a bass and an electric guitar.

He played with many basement and school bands including the orchestra and jazz bands directed by 2017
Legacy Inductee, Harold Schotz. Out of high school, Carl decided to become ‘professional’ and formed his own band called Heat Wave with fellow musicians Rich DelZoppo, fellow-inductee Frank Geracitano, Marie Navarroli, Peggy Williams and Frank Fracassi. They competed in a local Battle of the Bands contest, won and then performed in a national contest in New York City that was televised on a show, similar to today’s American Idol, called The Sound of Youth, hosted by the legendary Duke Ellington.

Carl’s music career spring boarded from there. With his friend Bob Volkman, a recording artist and composer, as well as a fellow inductee, they began a local talent show called “The Filbert and Volkman Talent Search” which in turn gave a major career jump to the Buffalo-born, singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco. The talent search ran consecutively from 1987-1991.

Carl has been an essential member of a long, almost endless, list of bands with other talented musicians from Niagara Falls. These included Everyday People, Magenta, Infinity, TaTa Swan; with fellow inductees Mark Dixon, Jack Gavin, Perry Novak and Marcangelo Perricelli, Slam, Black Widow, The FunZone; a party band with fellow inductee Jim Jeckovich with a remarkable ten- year stint, Filbert and Volkman; one of the most successful lounge duos in Western New York and Southern Ontario for nine years, The Carl Filbert Band; a top-notch professional event band for over 27 years, and also his own solo projects.

From1988-1990, Carl was a contributing reporter and columnist for the Niagara Gazette with a weekly column providing insights into the local music scene and feature stories of local performers who were successful on a national level. He was vice president of the Niagara Falls Musicians Association Local 106. His community service has extended from working with the United Way, NiaCap, Niagara Council of the Arts, Niagara Falls Rotary Club, and the Pine Avenue Business Association encouraging live music to be a part of community events.

He has organized numerous concerts and events in the Niagara Falls music scene and has been honored with many awards and citations for his efforts. Carl was given a gala retirement sendoff party last summer and now resides in New Jersey with his wife, Patsy. He still performs as a solo artist playing with backing tracks he composes in his own home studio, and occasionally reunites with fellow Niagara Falls musicians for special reunion events. It is a pleasure to welcome Carl Filbert as a member of the Niagara Falls Music Hall of Fame Class of 2018.