By Chuck Darrow
If you’ve seen—or are planning to see—“Motown Forever,” the high-octane revusical that runs Sundays through April 28 at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, you won’t just be seeing an rip-roaring salute to the likes of The Temptations, The Supremes and Stevie Wonder. You’ll also be seeing (and hearing) a little piece of legal-casino-era history.
That’s because the production’s fabulous eight-piece band includes Howard Issacson on saxophone and other instruments. Issacson has been performing at local casinos for some 35 years, both in gaming hall lounges and main stages (and, as you’ll see, the occasional hallway).
Of course, things were significantly different on the live-music scene when the Northeast Philadelphia native arrived in town in the late-1980s following a six-month stint touring with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Back then, every casino featured live entertainment on a daily basis, especially in their lounges.
“If I recall, it was pretty flourishing,” offered Issacson during a recent interview. “There were times where I would work an afternoon gig, six or seven days a week, and then I’d go to a night gig at another casino. I could be working two shifts a day. It was just constant work.”
One long-running gig of his was in the “Basin Street Follies,” a small-scale variety show that ran for a number of years at the Showboat when it was a casino. The cast, which would generally include a singer, comic and several specialty acts (e.g. a juggler, ventriloquist, acrobats, etc.) changed every two weeks; at one point, the featured comedian was a then-unknown Ray Romano. Before performing in “Basin Street Follies,” remembered Issacson, “I was out in the hallway playing in [Showboat’s strolling] Dixieland band. So I’d work in the afternoon and then run over [to the lounge] and play there.”
While Issacson, whose day job the past 23 years has been teaching music at Egg Harbor Township High School, spent a large part of his professional life playing the lounges that, back in the day, were as ubiquitous as slot machines in the city’s gambling dens. He also spent plenty of time backing headliners. It was standard operating procedure for singers (and sometimes comedians) to travel with a rhythm section (commonly piano, bass and drums) and then recruit whatever other musicians were needed in each locale they visited. That’s how he came to play behind the likes of Tony Bennett, Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin and Donny Osmond among other top attractions. But it’s the late Natalie Cole who occupies a special corner of his heart.
“At the time she came [to Caesars Atlantic City], she had that big band album [1992’s “Unforgettable…With Love”], and I listened to that so much and I loved it. It was all the songs that her father [Nat “King” Cole”] did, and the arrangements were just chilling. As a musician, you always hear the arrangements. And I thought, ‘I’d love to play that saxophone section; man, that’d be great.’
“Then she comes in and I get a call to do it. Well, that gave me chills.”
As if teaching full-time (and giving music instructions part-time) and playing in “Motown Forever” (and the 11th annual edition of “The Burlesque Show,” which opens in May at Borgata) weren’t enough to keep Issacson busy, he is also a jazz artist of some note whose CDs can be streamed on Spotify, Apple Music and the like and who has appeared regularly at regional jazz festivals. Which makes him a happy—if, perhaps, tired–individual.
“I’m just really lucky,” he proclaimed, “that I still get to do something I enjoy.”
Nobu sets special dinner
Culinary megastar Nobu Matsuhisa will make a rare public appearance at his eponymous Asian-fusion outpost at Caesars on April 19.
He’ll be hosting an event at which guests will be able to get up close and personal with him while they avail themselves of a specially curated menu and specialty cocktails while listening to tunes provided by a DJ.
Admission to the soiree that begins at 6:30 p.m. is $200 per person (it sounds expensive, but given that Nobu is unlike any other restaurant in terms of the brilliance of its food and presentation thereof, it’s not a wholly unreasonable ask).
For tickets, go to opentable.com.
Chuck Darrow has spent more than 40 years writing about Atlantic City casinos.
