Larry Vuckovich

Larry Vuckovich (born December 8, 1936 in Kotor , Montenegro ) is an American jazz pianist of Yugoslav origin.

Live and act

Vuckovich received classical piano training as a child ; through programs of the radio station AFN and the Voice of America he became familiar with jazz . Following persecution by the Tito regime, his family migrated to San Francisco in 1951 , where they received political asylum. There he visited jazz clubs , where he met greats like Miles Davis , Dizzy Gillespie and John Coltrane , but also jammed with local musicians like John Handy and Cal Tjader . He studied music at San Francisco State University, simultaneously with Roland Kirk , Mickey Roker, and Bob Cranshaw ; Vince Guaraldi trained him further.

In 1959 Vuckovich began his career as a professional musician with Brew Moore ; soon afterwards he also accompanied Irene Kral and David Allyn , from 1963 Mel Tormé . In 1965 he became the pianist of Jon Hendricks and toured with him around the world before settling in Munich to work as the resident pianist at Domicile . There he accompanied Lucky Thompson , Pony Poindexter , Clifford Jordan , Dexter Gordon as well as Slide Hampton and Dusko Goykovich . He then went back to San Francisco to work as a resident pianist at Keystone Korner until 1983 ; there he played with musicians such as Arnett Cobb , Buddy Tate , Leon Thomas , Philly Joe Jones and Charles McPherson . Between 1985 and 1990 he worked in New York City with Curtis Fuller , Milt Hinton , Al Cohn , Tom Harrell and many others. Then he returned to the west coast to present his own bands such as Blue Balkan , Young at Heart and La Orquesta el Vuko . He has also performed with musicians such as Bobby Hutcherson and Larry Grenadier and was the musical director of the West Coast Jazz Festival and the Nappa Valley Jazz Festival .

Vuckovich recorded his own albums for Concord Records , Hot House, Inner City Records and Palo Alto Jazz before founding his own label, Tetrachord Music, in 2000, for which he also produces. He also recorded with Jon Hendricks, Dusko Goykovich, Hadley Caliman , Cal Collins and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson .

Blue Balkan: Then & Now (Tetrachord Music 2002; with Bobby Hutcherson, Eric Golub, Tommy Kesecker, Jeff Chambers, Paul Breslin, John Heard , Vince Delgado, Eddie Moore , Eddie Marshall )
Cast Your Fate ( Palo Alto Records 1983, with Jon Hendricks, Hein van de Geyn , Gaylord Birch, Kenneth Nash )
Dusko Goykovich As Simple As It Is - Live at the Domicile Munich ( MPS 1970, with Ferdinand Povel , Isla Eckinger , Clarence Becton )