This Glen Rock band teacher is like Mr. Holland, and with his own movie, too

Pets bond with their owners. Siblings bond with each other. But there's no bond quite like the one between a great teacher and his students. Unless it's the bond between musician and musician.

Those are the bonds that filmmaker Barry Rubinow explores in his 2022 documentary "Banded Together: The Boys from Glen Rock High."

It was already screened at the Montclair Film Festival. But it will be getting a special homecoming salute on Thursday, March 30, at 7 p.m. at the Glen Rock High School auditorium, under the auspices of the Arts Council of Glen Rock. A showing of the movie will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker and many of the participants.

"The response from the town has just been overwhelming," said Rubinow, class of 1974, who had been thinking for 50 years about the tight bond between Mr. Sielski, Glen Rock's school band instructor, and a bunch of precociously talented kids he mentored in the early 1970s who went on to become top-grade professional musicians — some of whose names you know.

'Name' musicians

There are, first of all, the three Vivino brothers — Jimmy (guitar) and Jerry (sax), who became part of Conan O'Brien's Basic Cable Band, and "Uncle" Floyd, the musician-comedian who has had a unique career of his own.

"For a lot of kids, that high school band really nurtured us," Jimmy Vivino said. "They were so supportive of all the kids who showed they were interested."

There's also Lee Shapiro (keyboards), who became one of the Four Seasons. There's John Feeney (string bass) of the Orchestra of St. Luke's. There's Frank Pagano (percussion) of the band Renaissance, who has played with Jimmy Buffett and Phoebe Snow. There's Doug Romoff (Fender bass), who played in the pit for Broadway's "Les Misérables" and "Miss Saigon." And there's Jeff Venho (trumpet), who is the music department chair at the Rudolf Steiner School in New York.

Some of these guys have been on stage with Bruce Springsteen, Al Kooper and Donald Fagen. But even in high school, there was something consequential about them, Rubinow said. They seemed to have a special rapport with each other, a special coolness. He wasn't a musician himself. But he wanted in.

"I admired the way they bonded," said Rubinow, who went on to become an Emmy-winning editor ("The Roots of Country" for TBS, "Frederic Remington: The Truth of Other Days" for the PBS "American Masters" series) and documentary filmmaker.

"In high school, I was on the outskirts of jock," he said. "I was on the football team, not very good. Hanging out with the sports guys. I saw John and Doug walking around the school, they're making jokes with each other, and they just seemed cool. I thought, 'These guys are interesting.' I kind of pursued them. We became very close very quickly."

Joe Sielski is the tie that binds

He soon discovered that the key bond they had was music. And the glue was Joe Sielski — instrumental music teacher for the borough of Glen Rock from 1963 to 2003. They were all in his bands.

"He took an interest in every student, and he pointed the kids who really had talent in the right direction," recalled Jerry Vivino, whose music-minded family (Dad had been a professional trumpet player, Mom a classical pianist) had moved to Glen Rock from Paterson in 1964.

"He made us work hard," Jerry Vivino said. "But we enjoyed him. He was not easy. He was demanding, in a very professional, educational way. He wanted to see us play the best we could play."

Sielski, everyone agrees, was a winning mix of kindness and discipline. He doesn't claim to be Mr. Holland, the idealized band teacher Richard Dreyfuss played in "Mr. Holland's Opus" (1995). But neither was he J.K. Simmons, the monster perfectionist of "Whiplash" (2014).

"I guess some people say, 'You remind of me of Mr. Holland,' " said Sielski, who now lives in Allendale. At the climax of the film, he and his special eight are reunited in a big Dec. 2, 2021, tribute concert at Glen Rock High (organized for the film).

"I didn't think I was doing anything special, any more than many other teachers were doing," he said. "There are teachers all over the U.S. that have great programs. I loved the job, I loved the kids. It was a great community, a great school to work with."

Natural talent

These particular kids, Sielski points out, were musically savvy and had bands and projects going on outside of school. It wasn't like he kindled a flame that wasn't already burning. But his knowledge of the rigors of a professional musician's life, combined with his warmth and openness, made him a uniquely good teacher, Floyd Vivino recalled.

"He encouraged growth," Vivino said (he played cymbals in Sielski's band — long story).

"He was the boss, but he gave us great freedom to experiment and express ourselves artistically," Vivino said.

Musically speaking, it was a heady meeting of two generations. Sielski, originally from Jersey City, had played sax and clarinet in the 1950s in the 392nd U.S. Army Band. He was a child of the big-band era. His students, in the early 1970s, were weaned on blues and rock-and-roll. It required a certain amount of latitude, and a natural curiosity on both sides, for them to understand each other.

"He encapsulated it with this expression he had, and this shaking of the head," said bassist Doug Romoff. "We would do something really cool — something rock-and-roll — and he'd say 'You guys with your guitars.' "

Extra measures

All teachers want to leave an imprint on their students. But band teachers have a rare opportunity. They often get their kids for a full four years, rather than just a semester or two. And they're constantly working with them outside of class hours — at sports events, concerts, community parades.

It helped that the community itself was nurturing, Jimmy Vivino said. "I'm glad I grew up where I did, and when I did," he said. He wrote a blues song about it (and sings it in the film):

"You may travel round the world, You may see the USA … You may travel round the world, You may see the USA … If you ain’t never been to Glen Rock, You ain’t never lived a day."

But a community is only as good as its people. Sielski, his students agree, was one of the best.

"When push comes to shove, we now realize how much he dedicated his time and energy to us," Romoff said

It was Romoff — himself the son of a professional studio bass player — who instigated the film, and he became its co-producer. He had kept in touch with Rubinow over the years, working with him on various projects. This was an idea that fired both their imaginations. A film about music. But also a film about people. About belonging. "I kind of birthed the thing and Barry gave it life, carried it for the nine months," Romoff said.

Consider yourself at home

All eight of these students had the luck, and the chops, to stumble early into the world of professional music — welcoming, democratic, open to anyone with talent. Through high school band, they forged friendships that lasted throughout their lives. Sielski was the catalyst for all that.

"There was an air about Joe, you almost can't describe it," Romoff said. "He kind of looked at you like, 'Hey, I get you.' He made us all feel that way."

They, for their part, made him feel that way. Especially during the making of this movie, when they all got back together with their much-loved mentor — the first time he'd seen some of them in 50 years.

"They walked through they door, and it was like I had seen them yesterday," Sielski said. "We took right up where we left off."

If you go ...

"Banded Together: The Boys from Glen Rock High." 7 p.m. Thursday, March 30, Glen Rock High School Auditorium, 400 Hamilton Ave., Glen Rock. $10. To buy tickets, visit artscouncilgr.org.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Glen Rock band teacher documentary: He inspired eight pro musicians