Arnold "Spider" Rondinelli is easily one of the most engaging musicians you'll ever come across. It doesn't matter where or when you encounter him, there's a smile and a kind word.

Lake Fong, Post-Gazette Drummer Arnold "Spider" Rondinelli performs with saxophonist Kenny Blake at Martini's in Jefferson Hills. Click photo for larger image.

Today, he's grinning behind his drum kit at Martini's, a restaurant and bar in Jefferson Hills, where he's been entertaining crowds for the past six years.

Owners Ed and Candice Bloskis hired him after he stopped by one snowy night en route to a performance in Uniontown.

"I asked them for one night and I got two," said Rondinelli, who performs at the restaurant every Friday night and Saturday afternoon. "They have been tremendously supportive."

And so is Rondinelli. In addition to providing work for musicians, he routinely conducts jazz clinics for students at Serra Catholic High School in McKeesport.

Saxophonist Kenny Blake, who first performed with Rondinelli in the mid-1970s, said the drummer is always thinking about fellow musicians.

"That's the way he is," said Blake. "If Spider goes on a gig and finds out there's more money then he originally thought, his first thought is to hire another musician. He's loyal to the music and the musicians."

Rondinelli grew up about a mile from Martini's in the town of Clairton.

After graduating from high school in 1953, he worked his first job as a musician at the Point Vue Hotel in Brentwood with trombonist Tommy Turk and the band "Deuce Is Wild." Turk was later murdered during a holdup of a liquor store in Las Vegas.

The band also featured Bobby Negri, Danny Mastri and saxophonist Flo Cassinelli.

"It was really a hot group," said Rondinelli, noting that the band also performed at the Midway Lounge and other area hot spots.

In 1960, Rondinelli was drafted and spent two years in the service with the 113th Army Band, based at Fort Knox, Ky. The band also featured fellow Pittsburghers Art Nance, Clarence Oden and Stanley Turrentine.

"We played the black NCO club twice a week with Stanley's band and two nights a week with my band in Louisville," recalled Rondinelli.

After his discharge in 1962, Rondinelli returned to Pittsburgh but was itching to hit the road.

Soon, he and pianist Dodo Marmarosa, guitarist Ron Anthony and bassist Wilbur Ware headed to Chicago.

For the next few months, the group performed at the Southern Hotel, Pink Poodle and the Gator Horn, which featured comedian Lenny Bruce.

"At one point, we were all asked to leave town for many different reasons, including drugs," said Rondinelli. "Three of the guys went to Florida and are clean now."

Rondinelli eventually hooked up with pianist Red Garland.

"I left Dodo and went with Red," he said. "We were actually the first rhythm section before Red went back to New York and hired Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones."

Rondinelli returned to Pittsburgh and went to work with pianist Frank Cunimondo.

Later, he joined a group with Junior Williams, who offered him an opportunity to work in St. Thomas.

"Me, Bobby Boswell and Mark Pompay got round-trip tickets," said Rondinelli. "I was only supposed to stay four weeks, but they offered me a deal I couldn't refuse. I stayed there for over four years."

While there, Rondinelli met Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter, two musicians who later formed the 1970s seminal fusion group Weather Report.

"They used to come in every night and eat pizza," said Rondinelli. "That's where they got together and thought up the name Weather Report."

Other guests included Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and Mongo Santamaria.

"We got to meet so many wonderful people," he said.

After about four years, Rondinelli returned to Pittsburgh and started performing and booking talent at Sonny Daye's Stage Door in Oakland.

"I would go to New York and book talent," said Rondinelli. "My favorites were Bob Berg, Joe Lavano and Steve Slagle. They all stayed at my house."

Throughout the '90s, Rondinelli performed at such venues as DeRosa's in North Versailles and Katz Plaza. He also played the part of a Latin percussionist in the movie "The Cemetery Club."

Now, he's regularly featured at Martini's, the Viking Lounge in McKeesport and the Brass Monkey in Clairton.

At 75, Rondinelli said he would do it all over again.

"Jazz is going to save the world," he said. "Jazz music has given me security. I have done nothing else in my life. My father wanted me to be a tap dancer, but I preferred to play the music that made me want to dance."

This occasional series profiles longtime performers and aficionados to mine their memories and knowledge of a lifetime in music.