Keep memories of your visit to the Trieste alive for years to come--or you can share your experience with your friends and family.
Trieste Records Videos:
(manufactured by
Highland Laboratories)
Nostalgia dei Sensi:
A DOCUMENTARY
is a 28 minute program documenting the roots and the essence of the Caffe. Family members, Trieste musicians, and long-time customers help paint the picture of the institution that has developed over the last four-plus decades. Includes footage of the Saturday Concert, Espresso brewing, and coffee roasting. $10.95
IN CONCERT:
The Caffe Trieste Performers at Forest Meadows.
The Caffe Trieste Saturday Concert has been recorded, video-taped, and filmed hundreds of times. However, this is a rare look at the Trieste musical family on the road, in concert. Included are Papa Gianni, sons Gianfranco and Fabio and the Caffe Trieste Band. Running time: 63 minutes. $10.95
WEST COAST LIVE:
VIDEO $10.95
An uncut, behind the scenes look at this live radio show as broadcast from the Caffe Trieste in San Francisco. Hosted by Sedge Thompson, the two-hour program includes the entire Giotta Family: the Caffe Trieste Band, the Mattinata di Matteo band, and interviews with family members, customers, celebrated poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, world famous photographer Jimo Perini, writers Herb Gold and Kristen Jensen, and others
All of these reasonably priced items are available at our retail location next door to the Caffe.
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Our café has a long-running, rich musical tradition about it. The entire Giotta family has been performing across Northern California since their arrival in this country in 1951. Eldest son Gianfranco and sister Sonia performed in talent competitions, shows, operettas, and on radio during their childhood in the 1950's along with their parents, Papa Gianni and wife Ida. Gianfranco sang professionally and pursued a musical career before deciding to settle into the family business.
Papa Gianni, Mamma Ida, Fabio and Sonia Giotta have frequently appeared on local, national, and international television and radio, in films, and in print and internet media since the 1950’s, and the Caffe has been a popular set for movies and television work. Interested parties, please email: triestemusic@aol.com or call 415.550.1107.
The Caffe Trieste Saturday Concert is the longest-running show in the City of San Francisco. It has evolved from a small, family show with guitar and mandolin ensemble into an Italian-flavored version of the Lawrence Welk show (one of the Giotta Family's favorite television indulgences from the 1950's through the 1970's). Many new singers have joined the Trieste Musical Family in the last few years. Wonderful local singers such as Bruce Winslow, Steve Randolph, Irving Mok and Alfredo Tollis bring new facets of jazz, show tunes, ballads, and vaudeville, as well as songs by Piaf, Weill, and Dean Martin to the Trieste repertoire.
Some Caffe Trieste celebrity affecionados.
This musically humble, yet powerful Concert has been graced with scores of awards, accolades, and reviews from local, national and international print and television media. The Caffe's extensive archive safely perserves these treasures which number in the hundreds and date back several decades. Here are a few:
The San Francisco Bay Guardian, July 1999
"Original "Best of" Winner - 1974, "Best Singing Wait Staff"
SF Weekly - Best of 2003
"Best Afternoon Opera - "Saturday Live at CaffeTrieste"
The San Francisco Bay Guardian, August 1999
"Best Saturday Afternoon Entertainment."
Over the years, the Caffe has also received many other awards from The Bay Guardian, SF Weekly, Citysearch.com, San Francisco Focus Magazine and others.
The early 1960's brought the youngest and only American born member of the Giotta family - - Fabio. Since age five, he grew-up singing and playing music, and performing professionally; often with his brother Gianfranco and frequently along with the entire family. Collectively, the Giotta family has performed on concert stages such as those of: the Fairmont Hotel-SF, Davies Symphony Hall, the San Francisco Opera, Club Fugazi, Luther Burbank Center-Santa Rosa, the Masonic Auditorium-SF, Herbst Theater-SF, the Palace of Fine Arts Theater-SF, and dozens more.
Various members of the family have also performed at many major social and musical events such as art, film, and music festivals and private gala events across the bay area. One such event was a private party thrown in honor of the birthday and wedding anniversary of Luciano Pavarotti.
Papa Gianni sings traditional Italian songs and Opera along with wife Ida. Because of eldest son Gianfranco's untimely passing in 1999, Fabio now maintains his brother's vocal tradition with English and Italian renditions of ballads, show tunes, and standards originally made famous by premier Italian-American singers such as Frankie Laine and Frank Sinatra, while sister Sonia specializes in Country/Western, Italian ballads, pop music of the 1950's and Swing. Fabio also plays his Petosa Millennium reedless digital accordion, as well as bass guitar and directs the band.
Trieste Thursday Night Concert Series-North Beach
Trieste Artists' Bios
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Sherri Mignano on her custom Petosa
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Fabio plays his Petosa Millennium reedless digital accordion and directs the band.
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Ron Borelli plays his Petosa
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Dave Baioni playing our restored 1954 Petosa Grand accordion.
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"Quality and Service since 1922"
The accordion is the offical instrument of the City of San Francisco, and Petosa Accordions are the offical instruments of the Caffe Trieste.
Guitar Center-San Francisco is the exclusive pro-audio equipment and string instrument supplier to the Caffe Trieste and Trieste Recording Studios.
Over the decades, there have been many veterans in the Trieste Musical Family. Cabaret singer Eddie Fonseca croons beautiful renditions of songs by Kurt Weill and Edith Piaf. Soprano Lory Stark absorbs the audience with her powerful renditions of Grand Opera arias and classical Italian songs in several languages.
Cast Members:
Dave Baioni-accordion, piano
Maxine Bernstein-vocals
Ron Borelli-accordion, piano
Ned “Eddi” Boynton-guitar
Owen Davis-conga drums
Chris Dugan-bass guitar
Dave Jess-bass guitar
Nova Lindow-lead sound reinforcement engineer
Tony Mance-bass guitar, banjo, spoons, vocals
Dave Miotke-piano, vocals
Sheri Mignano-flute, accordion
Irving Mok-vocals
Bing Nathan-bass violin
Steve Randolph-vocals
Lory Stark-vocals
David Sturdevant-guitar, harmonica, vocals
Alfredo Tollis-vocals
Bruce Winslow-vocals
Occasional Guests:
Helene Attia-vocals
Ed Fonseca-vocals
Special guests consisting of famous and not-so-famous singers and musicians are asked to step-up to the stage area and join-in. On one occasion, two members of THE DRIFTERS were sitting in the audience and quietly, but very obviously, enjoying the concert. It wasn't long before Papa Gianni asked them to come up and do a number or two.
They performed two of their mega-hits. The entire house was swaying to UNDER THE BOARDWALK, after which one of them promptly broke into "La Donna e Mobile" from the opera Rigoletto. It is this kind of musical diversity, flexibility, and "schmaltz" that adds so much charm to this casual, Saturday afternoon affair.
Mattinata di Matteo
In the old tradition which started what would evolve in to the Concert, accomplished Flautist/Accordionist Sheri Mignano has singlehandedly taken charge of preserving longtime mandolinist Matteo Casserino’s legacy of fabulous Italian Folk music arranged for guitar and mandolin. Matteo performed at the Caffe for some 30 years and performed on Trieste Records videos and sound recordings. He also introduced Sheri to the Trieste musical scene in the mid 1980’s. Matteo’s legacy lives on in the Mattinata di Matteo Saturday morning performances at the Caffe, and also with Sheri’s “traveling” band named for an Italian wartime tune: Zighi Baci, which performs all over Northern California and at other Caffe Trieste locations.
The Caffe Trieste Band can consist of accordion, organ, piano, guitar, mandolin, bass guitar, string bass, bass violin, slide trombone, trumpet, flugle horn, flute, piccolo, harmonica, washboard, banjo, spoons, bongos, congas and just about any other low-tech instrument (except for Fabio's Petosa Millennium digital reedless accordion). Well known Bay Area favorites such as Dave Miotke, David Sturdevant, Dave Jess, and Sheri Mignano are "regulars" with the band. Duo and Trio accordions are not unusual at the concert. Noted Bay Area accordionists such as Dave Baioni, Ron Borelli and Owen Davis often join Fabio and the band. Our 3+ hour show now starts at about 1 p.m. $7.00 minimum per person. No cover charge. For more information about show schedule, theme shows, and guest singers, please go to our events page.
As of March, 2004. the Caffe’s seating and stage area arrangement have been reconfigured to be more audience friendly. As it was in the late 1960’s and perdiodically during the 1980’s, the audience now enjoys the same Caffe Trieste ambience with an added bit of Cabaret flavor. The “new” stage area is set against the beautiful Fishermans’ mural depicting a scene in Sardegna, the house sound reinforcement system has been completely revamped (engineer included), and the performances have never sounded or looked so good.
Trieste Records came into existence in 1981 with the introduction of our first LP Saturday Live at Caffe Trieste. Upcoming albums include a collection of favorite Trieste Concert duets and solos performed by octogenarians, Ida and Papa Gianni, a new, expanded version of Saturday Live at Caffe Trieste, and vocal and accordion instrumental collections by Fabio and Sonia.
OUR NEWEST COMPACT DISC Senza Te HAS BEEN RELEASED!
It is priced at $14.95 plus tax and freight. This album was in production sfrom December 1997 through May 1999 and contains tracks from eight different recording sessions dating from 1963 to February 1998. Most of the 19 tracks are previously unreleased. These include a large range of repertoire as well as many artists and engineers from both the Bay Area and abroad. The CD has a unique, San Francisco flavor; the multi-lingual repertoire includes Standards, Rock, Ballads, Jazz, Italian, and Showtunes. This album also chronicles the work of brothers Gianfranco and Fabio and other members of the Trieste musical family. Senza Te, a rock-ballad with music and lyrics by Gianfranco was written 1969 and has never been released. This album marks Gianfranco's FIRST EVER solo album!
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Senza Te
Audio CD
$14.95
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| The Trieste Musical Family cares very much about the wonderful folks who share their talent with us through the fine musical repertoire perfromed in the Concert. To show our support and respect, Caffe Trieste Incorporated-Trieste Music is a licensee of ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC.
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Trieste Recording Studio
