Johnny Varro

Johnny Varro (* 11. January 1930 in Brooklyn as John Robert Varro ) is an American jazz pianist , bandleader and arranger .

Life

Johnny Varro began playing the piano when he was ten; he came into contact with jazz in the Commodore Music Shop in New York City. There he met the manager Jack Crystal ( Billy Crystal's father ), who hosted jam sessions on the Lower East Side . During these sessions, Varro met musicians like Willie The Lion Smith , Sid Catlett , Joe Thomas, Hot Lips Page , Joe Sullivan and Pete Brown .

He had his first professional job after completing his military service in 1953 with Bobby Hackett , with whom he toured the east coast of the USA . In 1954 he appeared in the New York jazz club Nick's with Phil Napoleon , later with Pee Wee Erwin . In 1957 Eddie Condon brought him to his club as an intermission pianist; eventually he also became a regular pianist in Condon's band, which played Buck Clayton , Wild Bill Davison , Pee Wee Russell , Cutty Cutshall , Lou McGarity , George Wettling , Yank Lawson, and Peanuts Hucko . He has also appeared in New York clubs such as The Embers, The Roundtable, Condon's Uptown (with Edmond Hall ) and The Metropole ; while he played u. a. with Red Allen , Roy Eldridge , Coleman Hawkins , Charlie Shavers , Jo Jones and Jonah Jones .

In 1965 he moved to Miami Beach , where he appeared on the Jackie Gleason show; During this time he also worked with Flip Phillips , Billy Butterfield , Phil Napoleon and toured with the Dukes of Dixieland . In 1979 he went to Los Angeles, where he spent the next 14 years a. a. played with Red Norvo and Jack Sheldon ; he also appeared as a soloist at Gatsby's Restaurant in Brentwood . Eventually he organized the band Swing 7 , which played music in the style of the 30s to 50s and performed at jazz festivals and parties.

In 1993 he settled in Florida in the Tampa Bay area, where he continued to guest at jazz festivals, jazz parties and concerts. During this time, several recordings were made for the Arbors Records label in solo, trio and extended line-up under his own name and as a sideman, such as with Ruby Braff , Rick Fay , Tom Saunders and Ralph Sutton , as well as recordings for the Nagel-Heyer label , u. a. with the New York All-Stars , the Bill Allred / Roy Williams Quintet, George Masso , Danny Moss and Warren and Allan Vaché . In 2009 the quartet album Two Legends was created with Ken Peplowski .

The critic Scott Yanow counts Varro among the best swing- influenced pianists since the 1950s, who, however, has long been assigned to the circle of traditional jazz and has therefore not been adequately perceived by a broader audience. He was influenced by Jess Stacy , Teddy Wilson and Eddie Miller .

Johnny Varro was married to actress and singer Micki Varro, who died in early 2018.

Discographic notes

• Everything I Love ( Arbors , 1992)
• Say Yes: Arbors Piano Series at Mike's Place, Vol. 2 (Arbors, 1998)
• Afterglow (Arbors, 1999)
• All That Jazz (Arbors, 2001)
• Ring Dem Bells (Arbors, 2008)

literature

• Bielefeld catalog. 1988 & 2002.
• Richard Cook : Jazz Encyclopedia. Penguin, London 2007 ;, ISBN 978-0-141-02646-6 .
• Richard Cook, Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings . 8th edition. Penguin, London 2006, ISBN 0-141-02327-9 .
• Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-532000-X .
• Warren Vaché senior : Jazz Gentry: Aristocrats of the Music World. Rowman & Littlefield, 1999.

Web links

• Johnny Varro's website
• Johnny Varro at Allmusic (English)
• Warren Vaché, Sr .: The Mississippi Rag
• Discography (Gerard Bielderman)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mike Barnes: Micki Varro, Actress and Jazz Singer, Dies at 75. Hollywood Reporter, January 24, 2018, accessed January 25, 2018 .