NIU alums Tony Kidonakis (left) and Rich Moore (second from right) meet Jay Leno backstage at NBC's "Tonight Show," where they performed with Chicago band The Redwalls.

NIU School of Music alums
perform with The Redwalls
on NBC's 'Tonight Show'

by Mark McGowan

Two alumni of the NIU School of Music performed Tuesday, Nov. 1, on NBC's “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”

Baritone saxophonist Tony Kidonakis and alto saxophonist Rich Moore helped to flesh out the live sound of The Redwalls, an up-and-coming rock 'n' roll band from Chicago. The trio also includes tenor saxophonist Jeff Snyder, who plays with Kidonakis in the Chicago swing band The Rhythm Rockets.

“Words can't describe how cool this is. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” says Moore, who plays professionally with jazz and salsa groups around Chicago and teaches private lessons. “To be able to perform in a situation like this is huge. All my friends were going to be watching.”

“It was an amazingly cool day. It was just one of those special things that not everybody get to do, to be on that set and see the inner-workings of that show,” Kidonakis said. “I really enjoyed being able to hear The Tonight Show Band play, and not just in and out of the commercials. They have some amazing players in that band, and they really entertain the crowd during commercials. You wouldn't know that if you weren't there.”

Kidonakis, the elementary school band director in Downers Grove, organized the trio at the request of Scott Ligon, who's been adding keyboards to live sound of The Redwalls. Ligon and Kidonakis are members of a four-piece cover band called The Federales.

“They're strictly two guitars, bass and drums – four guys – but on their new record, ‘De Nova,' there's a lot of vintage keyboard sounds: Hammond B3, Wurlitzer. On a few of the tunes, there's also saxophone, which was performed by one guy who mutli-tracked it,” Kidonakis says. “For the live shows, to really do these songs some justice, they've used two or three horns.”

The NIU-dominated sax trio first joined The Redwalls on stage in June for a sold-out CD release part at Cabaret Metro in Chicago. The expanded band played “Build A Bridge,” a song Kidonakis says “almost gives a nod to an old soul tune, like Otis Redding. Most of their music is pretty guitar-driven, but this particular song has a really strong sax texture.”

For Kidonakis and Moore, their musical journey together began at NIU in 1997. Later, as juniors, they were accepted into the legendary and internationally renowned NIU Jazz Ensemble.

Now they have some national TV exposure.

“The band is very happy with the way we played,” Kidonakis said. “The manager sent an e-mail Thursday to all the sax players and Scott, the keyboard player and my friend, just thanking us for making the trip on short notice and playing well and being such professionals.”

11-7-05