Post by MIKE MACALUSO on Jun 21, 2005 13:43:58 GMT -5
Death Don't Have No Mercy In This Land
Ralph "Duke" Gillotte, the namesake and keyboard player for one of Central New York's most long-lived and prominent rock bands, The Legendary Dukes, died Feb. 11 at his home in Geneva. Gillotte, 62, apparently suffered a heart attack. Like true troupers, his fellow Dukes played two shows in Gillotte's memory that very weekend, fulfilling commitments at two major Buffalo benefits Feb. 12 and 13. The band will perform, Friday, Feb. 26, at the Holiday Inn on Carrier Circle, in East Syracuse.
Gillotte had to leave the OnCenter stage in Syracuse while playing another benefit on Feb. 6, when he suffered a nosebleed so serious he had to be treated at a local emergency room. Dukes drummer Ron Alberts discovered Gillotte's body at his home five days later. With Gillotte's passing, Alberts is the only remaining original member of Wilmer & the Dukes.
Back in 1969, when the band was known as Wilmer Alexander & the Dukes, they scored a significant regional hit with the song "Give Me One More Chance." The surviving members of the Legendary Dukes include Albert, guitarist Steve Lyons, bassist Ted Paris, singer Eric "Mitty" Moore, trumpeter John Kolody, saxophonist Rocky Pelligrino and trombonist Dave DeWitt.
Ralph "Duke" Gillotte, the namesake and keyboard player for one of Central New York's most long-lived and prominent rock bands, The Legendary Dukes, died Feb. 11 at his home in Geneva. Gillotte, 62, apparently suffered a heart attack. Like true troupers, his fellow Dukes played two shows in Gillotte's memory that very weekend, fulfilling commitments at two major Buffalo benefits Feb. 12 and 13. The band will perform, Friday, Feb. 26, at the Holiday Inn on Carrier Circle, in East Syracuse.
Gillotte had to leave the OnCenter stage in Syracuse while playing another benefit on Feb. 6, when he suffered a nosebleed so serious he had to be treated at a local emergency room. Dukes drummer Ron Alberts discovered Gillotte's body at his home five days later. With Gillotte's passing, Alberts is the only remaining original member of Wilmer & the Dukes.
Back in 1969, when the band was known as Wilmer Alexander & the Dukes, they scored a significant regional hit with the song "Give Me One More Chance." The surviving members of the Legendary Dukes include Albert, guitarist Steve Lyons, bassist Ted Paris, singer Eric "Mitty" Moore, trumpeter John Kolody, saxophonist Rocky Pelligrino and trombonist Dave DeWitt.
