Antonio Giuseppe Pettine was a Philadelphia auto and aircraft mechanic who always had a way with a song. At the age of 25, he decided to give up mechanics in favor of a career as a professional entertainer.
A recent, non-bylined piece in The Five Mile Beach Sun explains how he got his start:
“In the summer of 1967, he walked into The Elmira, then a swinging local club in Wildwood that would actually book Stevie Wonder that season. He told the manager that he and his band were looking for work – though, as fate would have it, he didn’t technically have a band at the time. Undeterred, he returned to Philadelphia where he fortuitously found a band in need of a singer. With no time to waste, they quickly rehearsed 10 songs and took the stage that Friday night, opening with ‘Devil with a Blue Dress On’.”
But on that night at The Elmira, he was not introduced as Antonio Giuseppe Pettine; he was announced as Cook E. Jarr, and the band’s name was The Krums. That was the beginning of a 50-year career as one of the legendary lounge acts.
From the late 1960s until the late 1970s, Jarr was a mainstay in Wildwood at The Elmira and the Barn, and also at the Oasis in Somers Point. His first venture, to Vegas circa 1975, was not a success. Jarr and The Krums were alternating with the tremendously popular lounge act, The Checkmates, within the Nero’s Nook lounge at Caesars. Jarr just didn’t go over.
“The whole town had a Rat Pack vibe,” he said at the time. “That’s cool, but it’s not my cup of tea.”
Caesars paid off his contract and sent him back to Atlantic City where he developed a tremendous following. During his stint in several casino lounges, he won Atlantic City Magazine’s “Best Lounge Act” award several times.
By that point his stage makeup included dark glasses, a heavily sprayed “mod” hairdo and a plethora of gold chains. He wore that get-up on stage until his last days. Tom Krawiec, a fan from the early days, wrote a tribute to Jarr upon the lounge legend’s passing on Jan. 16 of 2025.
“I first became aware of Cook E. Jarr in the summer of 1971,” wrote Krawiec. “I was watching a local Philadelphia television dance show called ‘Summertime on The Pier’ that was broadcast from the Steel Pier, when on came this wild guy named Cook E. Jarr and his band, The Krums, performing a song called ‘Who Wears Hot Pants?’ an updated version of the song ‘Who Wears Short Shorts?’ I was 11 years old and I thought…well this is cool!
“Eight years later in 1979 I made my first visit to one of the casinos in Atlantic City, and as I walked past one of the lounges I heard this band absolutely cooking through some soul number. I poked my head in and I soon realized that right there on stage was the legendary Cook E. Jarr! He’s gliding across the stage, mic stand swingin’, soul shoutin’, giving it everything he had. The saddest part was that there was no one in there on a Tuesday night to see it, but I had so much respect for him because he did give it all he had. He was the consummate performer, a true professional entertainer.”
He was working at Atlantic City’s Claridge when Las Vegas beckoned again. On June 2, 1982, Jarr and the band left Atlantic City and arrived at the Sands in Las Vegas for what was supposed to be a two-week stint. He performed in Las Vegas lounges for more than 40 years.
“I’ve worked the MGM, the Tropicana, Caesars, Bally’s,” he told Carol Cling of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “But at least those places are still standing, unlike The Silver Slipper – we called it the Sleazy Slipper – and the El Roacho, alias the now imploded El Rancho.”
For the last five or so years of his performing life, Jarr worked as a single, sans The Krums, singing along with pre-recorded accompanying tracks at Harrah’s Carnival Court on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Though his glory days as a Vegas lounge legend were behind him, Jarr still gave it everything he had.
“The music may have changed, with hip-hop hits from Nelly, 50 Cent, Usher and OutKast joining old standbys from Steppenwolf to Kool and the Gang,” wrote Carol Cling. “But the act remains much the same. It’s booming, booty-shaking music with plentiful patter from the motor mouth musician, punctuated by the Cookster’s dog barks, imitation engine-revving and other trademark sound effects.
Late night television’s Jimmy Kimmel, who had Jarr on as a guest several times, said that Jarr was “a great fit for Vegas. He was exactly the kind of thing people hoped to see when they’re there.”
His act? “At first glance, you think, what is this?” Kimmel said. “Then you’re amused for a little while, and then you start to think, Hey… he’s pretty good.”
Upon his passing, the Discogs.com website deemed Cook E. Jarr “the ultimate lounge lizard.”
Something tells me that Antonio Giuseppe Pettine would have been proud of that.
Speaking of lounge entertainment
In our “shameless self-promotion” department, I’ll be singing the jazz side of the Frank Sinatra Songbook 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 23 at Gregory’s in Somers Point with pianist Dean Schneider, bassist Andy Lalasis and Tom Angello on drums.
This is part of Tom Angello’s All-Star Monday Night Jazz Series, sponsored by the South Jersey Jazz Society. Admission: patron members $10, SJJS members $15, and non-members $20. Seating is first-come, first-served. Reservations: 609-289-0326.
Bruce Klauber is the author of four books, an award-winning music journalist, concert and record producer and publicist, producer of the Warner Brothers and Hudson Music “Jazz Legends” film series, and performs both as a drummer and vocalist.
