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Al Vega with the Jeff Hughes Swingtet
at the Sherborn Inn, October 11, 2011
90th Birthday Party at Sculler's
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
| Boston premiere piano-man, Al Vega, joined the Jeff Hughes Swing
Quintet at the Sherborn Inn for a great evening of Jazz and Swing.
The Quintet consisted of Jeff Hughes cornet/flugelhorn, Craig Ball
clarinet, Pete Tillotson string bass (first time at the Sherborn
Inn) Steve Taddeo Drums, and on vocals, Steve Marvin. They started with Jeff on muted
cornet and Craig on tenor sax with Just You, Just Me, Vega
displaying dazzling technical prowess. . He may
be 90, but his fingers are only 25. Miss Linda, who
accompanies Al to all his performances, mentioned that a square had
just been named after Al in his home town of Everett, Massachusetts,
the Al Vega Square. That
prompted Al to declare "I don't want to be a Square, I want to be a
Rotary!" |
|
Steve Marvin, of
the Three Swingin' Tenors, is a favorite in the area. He and
Al go way back. Al and Steve go way back. "Steve is
inspired by many singers, but doesn't copy them", Al said.
Satin Doll had
Al backing him with more flourishes. Jeff backing with empathy
on flugelhorn for Rogers & Hart's Where or When. Stunning.
A lovely ballad and nice dance tune, More Than You
Know was beautiful backed by the rhythm section Al very indulgent on
piano, Jeff ending it with a passionate flugelhorn coda.
The Very Thought of You was very, very slow,
difficult for both band and vocalist, but they accomplished it with
great feeling.
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A fine bass player, Pete was bowing the melody on
Bunny Berigan's
I Cried For You, with Craig backing him on clarinet.
Vega said that sounded just the way Doc Severinsen
did it.
Pete accompanied several of the vocals, including an
upbeat There Will Never Be Another You.
He says Carmen McRea sometimes used a string bass
for accompaniment.
Craig played a wonderful clarinet solo with string bass
behind him, Al on piano softly filling in any spaces with remnants
of tunes. Beautiful! |
|
Steve Taddeo's drum intro into Fats Waller's Nagasaki was WILD,
pushing the band to the fringe,
Then with one wide sweep of his arms, Jeff brought
them all back to earth for a soft, sweet clarinet solo.
Unbelievable!
There's no stopping drummer Steve Taddeo,
machine-gun drumming on Deed I Do, with Vega quickly
responding in kind. The man doesn't
miss a trick!
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| Al was featured on
Errol Garner's Misty, interjecting hints of just about
every famous pianist from that era, while continuing in his own
style, rippling up and down the keys.
The band recalled Sid Torrin, AKA Symphony Sid, who hosted a live jazz radio show in
the 1940's and 50's from Birdland in New York. The show aired
nationally on the ABC radio network, introducing jazz to previously unhip areas of the
country. His Theme Song was Jumpin' With Symphony Sid. |
Jeff reacts to Vega's genius |
Al listens carefully, and backs Craig |
| Jeff Hughes has
many bands, often featuring New England's famous musicians. We
don't often get to Boston or Revere to hear Al Vega, and appreciate
that he was here in our neighborhood. Thanks, Jeff, and Miss Linda!!
Al Vega's life is never dull. Besides playing music, Al Vega was a
Veteran, and spent over 55 years coaching Little League and
Babe Ruth Baseball. In 2008, his Phillies were Champions of
the year, and the trophy was renamed the "Al Vega Trophy". The Everett Advocate named him Person of the Year in 2008. On October 22nd, a square in Everett,
Massachusetts was named the Al Vega Square,
with an emblem of a Veteran, a piano, and baseball figure.
Leonard L. Brown recently released a book he's been working on for
over 11 years about Al's life - Boston's Jazz Legend: The Al Vega Story.
Al Vega is a walking
encyclopedia of the history of jazz in New England!
www.alvegatrio.com
with Dave Zox string bass, and Rick Klane drums
From: Steve
Schwartz, Subject: Al Vega Live on WGBH
Dear Friends and Music Lovers,
Follow this link to the WGBH radio website
http://www.wgbh.org/articles/Remembering-Al-Vega-5001
to listen
to a live performance from the late pianist Al Vega and
his Trio. This music was recorded last June 7th during a
visit to our Fraser Performance Studio with Eric Jackson.
I am very proud to have produced this hour broadcast, giving
us all a final chance to hear Al in his favorite setting.
Rest in Peace, Al. Thank you for the many years of music you
gave us.
It lives on today!
Steve
December 4th, 2011,
Boston Globe
2008 article by Johnny Souza
300+
pictures from the Al Vega Collection by Pino Domenico
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| By Marce,
Updated December 17, 2011
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