John Armata

John Armata born January 25th, 1956 -November 26th 2024 was the first born of Tony and Isabella, at Smithtown General Hospital survived by brother Tony and Cindy, son Anthony and Tiffany as well as brother Jimmy and Karen daughters Casey and Brandon, and Amy, Brother in laws Danny,Rick, and nephew Michael. John went peacefully to rock and roll heaven to join Dad, Mom, Michael, Suzy, and Terry
John was born to be an artist and musician with his early beginnings dabbling in painting and jamming on the accordion. The transition to keyboards was seamless and a star was born. He played the Friday night dances at St. Patrick's which was our parish and school growing up in one his first bands and soon thereafter there was no turning back. On a crisp, fall Saturday the trip to the local elementary school for a pick-up soccer game with the highly accredited heavy metal band Deep Purple was on the menu. Cookie Crawford was in the road crew of this Richie Blackmore driven band, and he organized local games for the band. The invitation was extraordinary and Ian Gillans' complimentary words following the game, "Fine game mates," was the cherry on top to this star studded spectacular! It wasn't long after that the move from Smithtown to the condo in Coram occurred and John was cruising in the metallic black van with star shaped rear window and blasting Ram Jam's Black Betty from his sub woofers and making his claim in this one time wonder band. It was also at this time that little ditties were embedded in our brain as John would magically and creatively transform songs like Sentimental Lady into an expressive parody illustrating the joy of house to condo living in essence now having a cooler living environment. "We are here in Coram central air conditioning, calm and cool, enlightening, central air conditioning, turn it on, all that you need is. We joke about this often to this day while marveling at Johns tremendous musical talent and ability to shape words into the melody and also provide comic relief. It was the age of MTV and John would never stray from pointing out Bobby Rondinelli crushing it on his drum kit with Richie Blackmores Rainbow saying "There's Bobby, there's Bobby with his all expressive, joyful tribute to local stars. Bobby's brother Teddy also had no shortage of talent blowing us away on piano and lyric in the condo, jammin' out on guitar in the band Vanilla Fudge and all time claim to fame performance with the rock and roll king Led Zeppelin's front man Robert Plant! It was a monstrous, electric, acoustic, lyrically spectacular era and we were experiencing it all firsthand at Hammerheads, the Mad Hatter, and My Fathers place to name a few. John was front man on lyrics back in the day and blowing away the crowd with tremendous renditions of Zeps "Communication Breakdown", Van Halen's' ruckus "Atomic Punk, " and the ever gorgeous, therapeutic melodic tunes from the ELP hit list entitled "From the beginning" and "Still You Turn Me On" It was around this time our shortly thereafter that Joh recorded with the very talented Tim Witt on these two gems and absolutely did justice on these classics.
Those days were precious, but like any amazing artist and musician knows, that in order to establish any critical acclaim, you must create originals. The year was 1982 and John relocated to Bretton Hall on 86th and Broadway. The Artists Assistance Services managed a residential NYC program in an effort to promote cultural activity and John was laying down the most precious tracks to this day stands as his finest work. I recall going to an Elton John concert at MSG and upon its conclusion went to visit John uptown at the Hall. John strapped my head with earphones and shared with me his masterpieces. "What can I do, I'm so in love with you, sometimes it really makes it -hard to leave, cause babe, I believe in a real kind of lovin " Kinda Love", "Not for Nothin," " Always There," "Tell Me Why," and "All I've Come To Do," represented the cream of the crop and illustrated John's incredible lyrical genius, spectacular vocals, and amazing chops on the black grand piano that echoed acoustically off the classic walls of Bretton Hall.
The amazing launching of Johns solo career following Wheat, Riff Raff, and Legacy to name a few bands was a true turning point in artistic representation and mastery in the field. John would later publish "Tsunami " with Control Tower Production that included some other finer works like "In the City," "Golddigger Blues" and" "(Just a)Rainy Day." These tunes were solid demonstrations of an expansion in Johns repertoire including more synthesizer, bass, drum kits, and special effects making him a one man band. However, as all musicians and artists clearly understand making ends meet required various part time jobs that often meant going to bed hungry giving the term "starving musician," a true and very discouraging slam of reality in the face. His efforts at selling prime cuts of meat and top shelf cuisines worked well for a while until it didn't. The pressure was intense and the loss of all his inventory following theft of his truck positioned John for relocation and change of plans.
John retreated to St. Augustine, spending several years caring for our ailing parents, dabbling in a small part as Big Anthony in the Indie film "Johnny Montana" and continuing to create more astonishing musical pieces that fit beautifully into the landscape of this culturally exquisite town. "Songs for the Mission" was appropriately created including four glorious tracks that explored questions regarding the future and some incredibly inspirational lyrics and musical backdrop. "What Are You Gonna Do?" " All I've Come To Do," "Character Flaw'" and Mother Marie" simply leaves you with jaw dropping expressions, heart throbbing sensations, and outer body experiences. Some of the material was created at a time surrounding our dear friend Father Renee Robert, who brought communion on a regular basis to the family at a time when their disabilities prevented them from attending church. Father Renee was murdered on the side of the highway by the very man he selflessly cared for at the time. In an interview of the film "Where There Is Darkness," John spoke of the loving, caring, selfless man in Father Renee and made it his mission in song and deed to follow Father Renee's example. The song played on, "Mother Marie what can I do for you.
John was an extremely loving, caring, beautiful old soul that made his mark on this world through word and deed. He magically and mysteriously expressed himself on the stage and in every way as he traveled a path that paved the way for goodness, nurturance, and unconditional love. John saw goodness in all despite any flaws, transgressions, or injustices. Please join me in sharing this most telling of songs written in 1990 entitled "See the heaven."
In the city. Where the lonely gather
Restless seekers. With nowhere to go-
Come together. While the suns retreating
An' where they end up
I'm a traveler.. looking for some answers
A re-creator of the things I love!
I serenade her.. every time I see her
Every time I see her I know that I love her so
(Lord I know )
I don't deny it. 'an I can't explain these feelings
Just let me tell you what I hope to see
Maybe a moment maybe for the evening
Just let the 'magic'
Be all the heaven we see!
Now I could hold back!
Or I could walk away
But I need this so bad!
travelin' every day
To see new faces love new ways
I see the heaven in- all (o') you every day
I see the heaven I see the heaven!
I 'see the heaven' in their faces every day!
We Love you Johnny, sleep well my beautiful big brother and we will see you soon xo