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Larry Vuckovich's 70th Birthday celebration, 12/8-10 at Jazz at Pearl's |
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Written by Ronaldo Oregano
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Tuesday, 05 December 2006 |
 San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has declared Friday, December 8th, 2006, as
"Larry Vuckovich Day" in San Francisco to
honor the 70th birthday of a legendary San Francisco-based jazz
pianist, bandleader and concert presenter. Vuckovich will kick off the
celebrations with a series of weekend concerts, Friday through Sunday,
December 8-10, at Jazz at Pearl's nightclub in San Francisco's historic
North Beach District. Vuckovich, of course, was a major force during
the heyday of the North Beach jazz scene of the 60's and 70's. Onstage
with Vuckovich will be longtime collaborators Buca Necak (bass), Akira
Tana (drums) and Hector Lugo (Latin percussion). You can expect guest
performers to stop in throughout the weekend.
Over
a 50-year career, Vuckovich has performed extensively in San Francisco,
as well as in New York and Europe, playing alongside such jazz giants
as Don Byas, Elvin Jones, Art Farmer, Mel Torme, Red Norvo and Cab
Calloway. He has played a major role in supporting San Francisco jazz -
honoring its glorious past and supporting its current struggle to
survive - by playing at and presenting major concerts honoring those
who have enhanced the San Francisco jazz scene.
Vuckovich is also celebrating the satisfying success of his recently
released CD, Street Scene.
The title tune is an Alfred Newman composition used in not just one,
but a series of film noir classic movies, like Kiss of Death and Cry of the City. This fascinating
recording is filled with tunes that harken back to Vuckovich’s first
fascination as a teenager arriving in the U.S. for the first time.
Vuckovich, a native of Montenegro, came to San Francisco with his
family in 1951, at the age of 14 and began playing professionally at
23, a protégé of piano legend Vince Guaraldi. He was soon
plying the fertile San Francisco jazz scene of the early sixties,
leading his own combos, sitting in from North Beach to Haight Street
and performing regularly with stars like Mel Torme and Jon Hendricks.
With Hendricks, Vuckovich toured Europe, headquartering in Munich from
1968-1970.
Vuckovich returned to San Francisco and in 1978 becoming the house
pianist at the Keystone Korner. He dug in and his career gathered
steam. He released Blue Balkan,
the first of several highly acclaimed LPs under his own name, in 1980.
After a successful 5-year stay in New York City, Vuckovich returned in
San Francisco in 1990 to establish Club 36, a jazz venue located at the
top of the Union Square Hyatt. He’s been a mainstay on the Bay Area
music scene ever since, appearing regularly with his Blue Balkan
Ensemble, his Young at Heart Ensemble, a wide variety of combos and
styles.
Larry Vuckovich Quartet, December
8th-10th
Jazz at Pearl's is located in the heart of San Francisco's
Entertainment District 256 Columbus Ave.
Show Times:
- Doors open 30 minutes prior to each show.
- 2 Shows: 8:00 pm & 10:00 pm. Shows are 75 - 90 minutes each.
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 Wednesday, 19 November 2008
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