LIVE at Piedmont Piano Company
Larry Vuckovich
89th Birthday Celebration
Larry Vuckovich celebrates his 89th year on the eve of his birthday, which is December 8! He will be playing with his favorite guitarist, Kai Lyons. Larry and Kai have been regularly expanding their diverse and wide-ranging repertoire. Besides the great jazz classics of top composers, they will cover seldom heard standards, great Latin and Brazilian pieces, World Music gems, and as always funky, boogaloo blues selections. They will present special jazz vocals, as well as an original arrangement of the theme from The Godfather. Don’t miss this special event!
A recent article about Larry by Tim Carl:
Sunday E-dition: Calistoga’s Vuckovich
General Admission
$25 in advance / $30 at the door
We are offering a limited number of seats for this performance. Advance purchase is recommended. Masking is optional.
LARRY VUCKOVICH
Larry Vuckovich is recognized as a pioneer, being the first in the US to fuse Balkan ethnic, Gypsy – Roma folk elements with American jazz. His 1980 LP, Blue Balkan, featuring Bobby Hutcherson, is a landmark recording in this genre. Here is a link to major reviews https://larryvuckovich.com/audio-blue_balkan_2002.htm. This recording has been remastered into an attractive CD digipak format with enhanced sound. The airplay starts on October 21.
Cited by piano legend Barry Harris as "one of the premier West Coast pianists," Mr. Vuckovich brought his Jazz-Latin Trio/Quartet, featured on his two piano trio/quartet CDs, to Lincoln Center's Dizzy's Club Coca Cola in New York. On the same tour, Marian McPartland invited him to interview and perform with her on her Piano Jazz show, broadcast to national and global NPR affiliates.
In 2019 Larry Vuckovich received a Lifetime Achievement Award from his former country Yugoslavia – this time being in Serbia at the Nišville Jazz Festival, where he also performed. He also holds the recognition for being one of the very few musicians on the scene today who for over a period of 6 decades has performed with such greats going back to the 30s and on: Red Norvo, Cab Calloway, Don Byas, Dexter Gordon, Tony Bennett, Jon Hendricks, Philly Joe Jones, Elvin Jones, Joe Williams, Bobby McFerrin + many more. He has been selling out major venues such as the SF Jazz Festival – doing a tribute to Thelonious Monk, Bach Society in Half Moon Bay, Sonoma Jazz Festival, Yoshi’s and the Meyhouse Jazz Venue in Palo Alto. larryvuckovich.com
KAI LYONS
San Francisco native Kai Lyons is the first and only foreigner to win 1st prize on the Cuban guitar known as the “tres cubano” at the international changüí festival in Guantánamo, Cuba. He was the music director of Loco Bloco, winning 1st prize in the 2022 Carnaval parade of San Francisco with an original composition as the group’s theme song. He travels the world studying ancient and obscure music stylings of Cuba, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Ghana and Morocco. He has worked with Arturo O’Farrill, John Santos, Marcus Shelby, Scott Amendola, Wil Blades, Atta Kid, Honey Knuckles, Snow Tha Product, San Francisco Philharmonic, SF Ballet Orchestra, Mike Clark, Merril founder of TuneYards, Donald Harrison, Ches Smith and various members of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. He is currently adjunct professor of jazz guitar at Cal State East Bay Hayward and teaches groups at the Jazzschool in Berkeley. kailyons.com