Flickr member Paul VanDerWerf, got this photo of Vince Giordano playing his Conn bass saxophone, while leading his famous Nighthawks Orchestra at the Princeton, NJ Jazz Feast 2010.
Vince Giordano at Jazz Feast 2010
Photography by: PAVDW Source: Flickr
The Nighthawks Orchestra is a New York based band whose music has been featured in many movies and television shows. The group specializes in hot jazz—AKA Dixieland—and is led by saxophonist Vince Giordano.
Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks are currently an 11-piece band. They have been together since 1976, and besides the work in television in film noted above, the group has played prestigious black tie galas at places such as: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Public Library, the Waldorf Astoria, and the Rainbow Room. Vince Giordano has also been invited to perform at the Smithsonian, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Jazz Festivals around the world.
Giordano’s interest in music started at a very young age. He was only 5 when he first uncovered something that would ultimately lead him to his musical career:
Born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island, Vince began his odyssey into the world of music at the age of five. The discovery of a slew of 78 rpm records in his grandmother’s attic ignited the flame. He began music on the violin but switched to tuba in the 7th grade, then added the string bass and bass saxophone. He joined the musicians union at age 14 and started playing with Dixieland banjo bands around Long Island…
Source: Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks blog
I always find it inspiring to read about a working bass saxophonist. Furthermore, Giordano appears to have been at it much longer than many of us. He started playing the horn prior to the bass saxophone renaissance that we’re currently seeing. Looking at it from this perspective, one could say that Vince Giordano is in fact a pioneer in the modern bass saxophone movement.
Sweeet! A working bass sax player that actually gets to play bass. What a oddity. ;o)