Like anyone growing up in the 1960s, Karl Dentino picked up the guitar and started playing because “it was the thing to do,” in an era defined by the Beatles and the emergence of other rock and roll acts.##M:[more]##
Unlike many adolescent hobbies that fade as time moves on, Dentino says that for some reason, his hobby just stuck with him, and now he is sharing it with others. But he isn’t out marketing his music to major record companies, nor is he trying to gain recognition for his music.
Rather, he is part of a group of local performers who join together on Tuesday evenings for the open mic night known as Cultural Art Expression and Spoken Word. The group began meeting a few months ago at a healthfood store in Ewing.
Now, the group has found a new home in the Plainsboro Library, where the group meets from 6:45 to 8 p.m. every Tuesday. Participants in the small, cozy group include a mix of performers who are published and aspiring poets, artist, writers, and singers.
“The tone of the evening is that everything is sort of low stress,” says Dentino, who owns and runs his own marketing company in Jersey City by day. “The atmosphere of the group is that they’re welcoming. A lot of us are older musicians who are prone to making mistakes when we perform.”
Dentino grew up in the Camden area. His father was a health inspector, and his mother was a nurse’s aid. After he got married, he and his wife moved to North Jersey for a couple of years, while he was working in New York City. In 1982 they moved to West Windsor, after looking along the train line for a nice place to move. The couple have a son, who attends St. Joseph University in Philadelphia and a daughter, who will be a freshman at Notre Dame High School in Lawrenceville.
On Sunday mornings, Dentino also plays guitar at St. David the King church in the folk music choir. “The guitar has always been my hobby,” he says. “When I saw this, I thought it would be a nice opportunity for me to play out more and start performing in public.”
His style of music is Ragtime blues, a finger-picking style of music that has its roots in rural America, in the Southeast, from the 1920s and 1930s, during the Great Depression. “It was the working class’s popular music,” he explains. “It’s really the foundation of modern-day rock and roll, country blues. I like that music.”
“For me right now, it’s all about sharing what I have with other people,” Dentino says. “A lot of the songs I play are humorous, and they have a funny story to them. If I can make someone laugh or clap their hands, that’s enough.”
Dentino credits the catalyst behind the program — Elizabeth Stelling, the chef-owner of CookAppeal Cafe formerly located inside the Simply Natural Living health food shop in Ewing, who is also a poet herself and who got the open mic night at the cafe together in the first place. She is also a busy caterer and event planner.
Stelling sought other venues to keep Cultural Expressions going, and found that the Plainsboro location seemed to be the best option. “Hopefully, this will take off in Plainsboro,” Dentino says. “It’s really a wonderful venue for people like me who feel like they have something to share with other people, whether that hobby is music or art or poetry. Most of the people in the room when you’re performing are there also to perform.”
Says Stelling, a Plainsboro resident, about the new location: “We would like to see more attend and share their talents. The library has also offered for us to be involved with its arts festival each year, or we might create our own gathering in Plainsboro.” — Cara Latham
Central Jersey Cultural Art Expression and Spoken Word, Plainsboro Public Library, 641 Plainsboro Road, 609-275-2897. www.lmxac.org/plainsboro. Spoken word presented by aspiring poets, artists, writers, or singers. Read or listen. Light snacks included. Tuesday, July 15, 6:45 to 8:30 p.m.
