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“Gallery” was formed from another original project. Eddie and I had been working with Norb Bush on drums doing some originals in my garage studio. We met Bruce Klein at an impromptu jam session in North Miami and invited him over to play lead on our originals songs. As raw as Bruce was, he added some very interesting guitar melodies to our compositions. Unfortunately, Norb left the group to play with a full-time cover band. He had lost his job and needed the money. I suggested we call Jim Token, to sit in until we found a permanent replacement.
With Jim, we went ahead and started picking up some cover tunes and the next thing we knew we were started playing a couple of gigs. When Tom Gumino joined the band, We had been looking for a keyboard player to do our originals. Now that we were also doing some covers we had an easier time finding musicians.
Tom was fairly serious and had been working with Kenny Ahern in a previous project, so he was very focused on getting parts as precise as possible. Tom also did not shy away from demanding keyboard parts. We added Boston’s “Long Time" and "Smokin." Bruce was also open to adventurous parts and we added "Yours is no Disgrace" and “Starship Trooper" from Yes. We also mixed in some Steely Dan tunes and we actually started developing a fairly solid sound. We played quite frequently around town.
We got into a rotation performing at 27 Birds in the Grove, Champion Bar on Bird Road, and Rollo’s in the South Miami area as well as the Irish House on Miami Beach. We developed a fairly dedicated following and usually has good crowd for every gig. Our originals were always well received. We were not a "dancing" band and being in the disco age, we not able to get into any of the top-notch clubs, but we had a blast performing at the smaller venues.
Jim Token had long been known for his “wild” drum solos and for destroying his drums at the end. The members of the band, having experienced this numerous times, would actually clear the stage of any items that could be broken or projected into the crowd as Jim began his solo. I remember one night at 27 Birds, when Jim did what was probably his most famous drum solo! The solo started like most of the others for a few minutes, but then Jim stood up on his bass drums all the while continuing to play the cymbals with his sticks. He then, unexpectedly, dove from his drums, head-first, into the crowd and everyone scattered to the walls and the bar. His momentum carried him into a “forward Roll” and when he came up he was right in front of the main bar across the room. Amazingly, he never stopped playing! With his sticks hitting everything he could find, glasses, beer bottles, salt/pepper shakers and bar stools, he made his way down the bar to the first wall. He continued to play, hitting pictures and any other décor that was hanging on the walls. After about2-3 minutes of running around the place hitting everything, he eventually made his way back to the stage. Once seated back at his drums, he tossed his sticks and began playing with his hands. He cut his knuckles on the cymbals and blood began to fly from his hands as he played. The crowd was going nuts! He ended it by destroying his drum kit as he walked through it into the crowd. The whole place went crazy! We talked about that one for years.
Tom, Eddie and I started wanting a little more out of the music and began looking for more capable musicians. Eventually the band broke up.
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