Bob Centano was, to say the least, a character. He was a musician, entertainer, comedian and larger-than-life personality. A few years ago my wife, Noelle, and I moved into a house on Newport Street and assumed we were getting the usual house with bedrooms and a backyard. Unbeknownst to us, we moved in a few houses away from Bob Centano. We did not know what we were in for, but we soon found out! The first time I walked out the door with my sax around my shoulder, Bob yelled from a few doors down, “Hey are you a musician?” and the rest was history. Over the next six years, Bob became an important part of our lives and a dear friend. We hung out and listened to and talked music, smoked cigars and played poker. Bob always had great stories and was the life of any party. Since I knew Bob for only a relatively short time I asked some of his lifelong friends to share some stories.

Mike Smith––Anybody who knew Bob knows that when you were with him it was always a good time with lots of laughs, but I would rather talk about the kind of man Bob Centano was. He was a kind and generous person who always put others before and above himself. He was a gifted artist—a true renaissance man—painter, sculptor, musician, model railroad enthusiast, antiques collector and so much more. He had an eye for special pieces that most people would write off as junk. He would bring home some strange estate sale find and have the perfect place to put it.

And don’t forget party planner. The first Friday of December—when Bob always hosted his annual Christmas bash—will never be the same. Just a few weeks ago Bob said to me, “I sure feel sorry for the person who ends up with this house when I’m gone. Two hundred people are gonna show up and wonder were the party is!” That party, a 30-year tradition, took up the entire first floor of Bob’s house, as well as the basement man-cave, which I’m proud to have named “The Sportsman’s Lodge.” Ah, if walls could talk!

I met Bob in 1980, when I moved back to Chicago after college, and let me tell you, Bob was a real jazz daddy. He was constantly promoting the music, foremost with his big band, which featured some of this town’s most experienced musicians, along with the constant influx of young musicians flocking here to play the real Chicago big band-style jazz that Bob embodied. And he was good for those young players, because he was never judgmental. You played the way you played, and he was always encouraging. He had the most infectious love of jazz I’ve ever seen...

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