[Dixielandjazz] Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks - Wall Street Journal, July 31, 2013

[Robert Ringwald]

Ron,

Get yourself into the city right away before Sophia’s closes. 

I’ve spent a few happy night there. 

-Bob Ringwald


From: Ron L'Herault 
Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2013 6:27 PM
To: 'Robert Ringwald' 
Subject: RE: [Dixielandjazz] Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks - Wall Street Journal, July 31, 2013

It's my fault this happened.  Every time I even get close to making concrete
plans to take a trip to NY to see the band, the gig ends.  I just retired
and was looking into train fare and hotel rates for a two night stay.   I'm
cursed, I tell ya, cursed.

Ron L

-----Original Message-----
From: dixielandjazz-bounces at ml.islandnet.com
[mailto:dixielandjazz-bounces at ml.islandnet.com] On Behalf Of Robert Ringwald
Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2013 6:59 PM
To: lherault at bu.edu
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks - Wall Street
Journal, July 31, 2013

Big Band Seeks New Digs
by Will Friedwald
Wall Street Journal, July 31, 2013
The trumpets are blaring, the clarinets are soaring, the drummer is grinding
out the beat, and all over the dance floor at Sofia's, couples are
frantically Lindy-hopping as Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks play Duke
Ellington's "Jubilee Stomp," followed by Jimmie Lunceford's even faster
"Jazznocracy" and Fletcher Henderson's well-named "Stampede."
The last time people danced to this music, in the mid-1920s, it was with an
air of desperation, as if they knew that the Roaring Twenties would soon
give way to the Great Depression and then World War II. On Monday night at
Sofia's, the crowds were in similar spirits, and as with their Jazz Age
counterparts, the party was soon coming to an end.
Just over a week ago, Mr. Giordano learned that the Edison Hotel, which
leases space to Sofia's, will terminate the lease, closing the Midtown
restaurant. The band's last performance there will be held on Aug. 13. The
hotel didn't respond to a request for comment.
"I almost wanted to cry when I found out," said Francesco Sofia, the
restaurant's owner. "More than anything else, this is a family thing. It's
not a corporation.
My kids work there, all the people who work there are like family. We don't
treat them like a business."
Neither he nor Mr. Giordano knew what will replace the space, also known as
Club Cache. "They want something that can make them at least $2 million a
year," Mr. Giordano said. "Frankly, we can't sell that much macaroni."
Even in the depths of summer, when most clubs are ghost towns, reservations
for Mr.
Giordano's Monday and Tuesday-evening performances book up quickly. This
summer, with the news of Sofia's eminent departure, the band's fans are
showing up by the busload. More than 140 crowded into the room Monday, said
Carol Hughes, who helps out at the door and is Mr. Giordano's girlfriend.
Over the years, fans ranging from Mel Brooks to Elvis Costello to Liza
Minnelli have ponied up the $30 cover and minimum to hear the Nighthawks.
"The fact that Vince and his band even exist in this day and age is nothing
short of a miracle, when you look at the history of big bands in this
country," said Amber Edwards, a producer working on a documentary about the
Nighthawks. "There are so few venues in New York for live music of any kind,
and then add to that the challenge of presenting an 11-piece band, with a
dance floor that's always full, at prices that most people can comfortably
afford for an evening's entertainment, and it's an even greater miracle."
Mr. Giordano is looking for a new home for the 11-piece band, which has
played at Sofia's since 2008, but is at once flexible and specific in his
requirements.
"It has to be a regular weekly gig on the same night," he said, "not just a
Monday here and a Thursday there." He wants a room where there's a dance
floor, which eliminates nearly all Midtown jazz clubs, and one that will let
patrons stay all evening, rather than chasing them out after each set.
"It also has to be a place where I can store instruments and music, and not
have to schlep it back in forth to my house in Brooklyn every week," he
added.
A well-known performer-historian when it comes to early jazz and big band,
Mr. Giordano has long been a go-to musician for movie and television
producers looking for an authentic 1920s sound. His soundtrack for the HBO
Prohibition-era series "Boardwalk Empire" won a Grammy last year, and he and
his band are currently at work on the fourth season. (On Monday, the singer
Margot B., who also appears on the show, was on stage with the band, singing
George Gershwin's "Somebody Loves Me.") When Mr. Giordano started, his idea
was to play the music of the Jazz Age with the surviving veterans of that
era. His first clarinetist was Clarence Hutchenrider, who played the same
role in the original Casa Loma Orchestra 40 years earlier. Since then, he's
gradually replaced the old-timers with younger musicians, including Will and
Peter Anderson, saxophone-playing twin brothers who began playing with Mr.
Giordano in 2007, during their sophomore years at Juilliard.
Last weekend, Mr. Giordano and Ms. Hughes canvassed Midtown looking for new
venues.
They had an appointment in one club, where they said the manager didn't seem
to be particularly receptive, but when Mr. Giordano walked in, a troupe of
chorus girls was rehearsing on stage. He recognized the music: his own
recording of "Barnyard Blues," the opening track of the "Boardwalk Empire"
soundtrack.
His long-term goal, in finding a new venue, is to keep working with the
band. "I found that practice makes better," he said. "I gave up on perfect a
long time ago.
I'll settle for better."
-30-

-Bob Ringwald
www.ringwald.com
Amateur (ham) Radio Operator K6YBV
916/ 806-9551

"If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's
life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if
there is a man on base." --Dave Barry

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