Bob Fanelli at Cheltenham Center for the Arts

Bob Fanelli was born and raised in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, home of famous musicians and bandleaders Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. He has played music since be was 12 years old. Throughout high school he played with big bands in central Pennsylvania. During summers he did USO tours and traveled around the Northeast and Midwest with the Gabe Garland Orchestra.
He received his Masters Degree in Music Education from West Chester University, where he started a group with fellow students called “The Teachers”. They played around the area and were background singers at Cameo Parkway Records and ABC Paramount....

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Bob Fanelli was born and raised in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, home of famous musicians and bandleaders Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. He has played music since be was 12 years old. Throughout high school he played with big bands in central Pennsylvania. During summers he did USO tours and traveled around the Northeast and Midwest with the Gabe Garland Orchestra.
He received his Masters Degree in Music Education from West Chester University, where he started a group with fellow students called “The Teachers”. They played around the area and were background singers at Cameo Parkway Records and ABC Paramount.

Bob and his fellow “Teachers” taught instrumental music in public schools outside Philadelphia. “The Teachers” left their teaching jobs and spent over a year playing hot spots around the US and the Caribbean. The “Teachers” also appeared on The Tonight Show and the Mike Douglas Show.

Bob left the road to begin a 30-year career with a large heath care company while he continued to play all kinds of music at clubs, weddings, etc. around Philadelphia, many times supporting name acts.
His jazz albums include: “Heads and Tales,” “Stories,” “Jazz Saxophone Classics,” “Bob Fanelli Plays & Sings Great Standards,” and “Mood Swings.”

Jazz Bridge, an award-winning nonprofit dedicated to assisting Greater Philadelphia Metro area jazz and blues musicians and vocalists in times of crisis, sponsors these neighborhood concerts throughout the region to keep the sound of Philadelphia alive.

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