An Important Message from Vince Giordano

What are you—yes YOU—doing to keep traditional jazz alive? That was the recurring theme of my recent conversation with Vince Giordano, leader of the Nighthawks, arguably, or maybe not so arguably, the best exemplar of 1920s and 30s jazz and hot dance music in America. And the question was addressed not just to musicians, but to everyone who loves this music. Vince has been leading the Nighthawks for over 40 years, but his roots in jazz go back farther than that. He didn't want to recount for the umpteenth time how he found his grandmother's 78s at the age of 5; many people have heard that story. Many also know that he studied and worked with a number of musicians who were active in the period—Bill Challis, Paul Whiteman's arranger during that band's peak of its popularity (and quality); the Casa Loma band's clarinetist for over ten years, Clarence Hutchenrider, who was an original member of the Nighthawks; and drummer Chauncey Morehouse, who was in the Jean Goldkette band with Bix Beiderbecke. Vince is also the country's number one go-to guy when TV and movie producers need authentic period arrangements. He's got over 60,000 of them in his house. The Nighthawks have also appeared on numerous movie soundtracks (The Aviator), TV series (Boardwalk Empire) and radio shows (A Prairie Home Companion). Vince and the band are the subjects of a DVD documentary “There's a Future in th