[Dixielandjazz] Johnny Varro at the Landing next week

[Don Mopsick]

THE LANDING PRESENTS:

Pianist and Arbors recording star

JOHNNY VARRO

Feb. 12 through 15

Performing with the Jim Cullum Jazz Band onstage at the Landing. Sets begin
at 8:00 PM

Johnny Varro was born in Brooklyn in 1930 and began studying piano at age
ten. As a teenager he went to jam sessions on the lower East side where he
met some of the greatest players of the era such as Willie "The Lion"
Smith, "Big Sid" Catlett and "Hot Lips" page.

His first professional job was with cornetist Bobby Hackett. In 1957 he
replaced Ralph Sutton as intermission pianist at Eddie Condon's Greenwich
Village saloon. He then took over for Gene Schroeder in the house band that
included Buck Clayton, Pee Wee Russell, Yank Lawson, Billy Butterfield, Lou
McGarrity, Peanuts Hucko, George Wettling and others.

Between stints at Condon's, Johnny played at most of the New York jazz
nightclubs, including The Embers, Nick's, The Roundtable, Condon's Uptown
and the Metropole where he broadened his musical education by playing with
Henry "Red" Allen, Vic Dickenson, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Shavers, Roy
Eldridge and Jo Jones. Later, he worked with Phil Napoleon and the Dukes of
Dixieland. He appeared on the Jackie Gleason Show.

Johnny moved to Los Angeles in 1979 and played most of the jazz clubs
there. He now lives in Palm Harbor, FL, and has been recording extensively.
His high visibility on the jazz scene has made him one of the more popular
jazz pianists. As noted by many jazz critics, "The beat is always there."
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WELCOME, TEXAS MUSIC EDUCATORS!

February 12-15, San Antonio welcomes about 21,000 attendees of the Texas
Music Educators Association, including student performers and their
parents. Begun in 1920 as the Texas Band Teachers Association, the Texas
Music Educators Association is an organization of over 8,000 school music
educators. The Texas Music Educators Association promotes excellence in
music education.

The TMEA has been holding their annual convention in San Antonio for many
years, and The Landing Jazz Club has become a favorite after-hours
"hang-out" for the attendees. There's a good chance that you can catch an
informal jam session with some of the outstanding professional
clinician/performers who will be in town for the convention and come to The
Landing to "sit in" with the Jim Cullum Jazz Band.

For Landing reservations (recommended for next week especially), call

210-602-0967

For more information,

http://www.landing.com (The Landing jazz club in San Antonio)
http://www.riverwalk.org ("Riverwalk, Live From The Landing" public radio
series)

For information on how to hear Riverwalk over the web through your
computer's speakers, go to

http://www.riverwalk.org/audionet.htm

To see this newsletter as a web page, go to

http://www.riverwalk.org/new.htm

mopo