A visit from a Nighthawk

Yesterday afternoon I returned from a post-prandial perambulation, sat down at my desk, opened my Inbox and... espied a familiar, yet totally unexpected name therein.  That of Vince Giordano!

"Surely not the Vince Giordano - band leader of The Nighthawks, America's premier Jazz Age musicians of today who are responsible for the live performances heard (and sometimes seen) in film & television productions that we all know and love such as The Cotton Club, The Aviator and most recently Boardwalk Empire (for which he won a Grammy)?!", I thought to myself with barely-suppressed excitement and disbelief, as I racked my brains trying to remember if I had subscribed to a mailing list or something.

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But no, it was no mailshot, but the man himself!  Reading - praising, even - my insignificant little blog!  I'm still all aflutter just thinking about it.  With kind words Mr Giordano wrote about our shared interest in vintage items, places and of course music - wishing that more people felt the same way too (something I hope I was able to reassure him with in my reply telling of all the fine like-minded folk I have found since I started this blog).  Modestly he thanked me for featuring a link to what was then his Myspace page (in the left-hand column subtitled "Music & the Wireless"), a link that - at his request - I have now updated to point to his new own-domain website vincegiordano.com.

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Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks have, as mentioned, performed on the soundtracks of some major motion pictures and television series in the last 30 years and Mr Giordano is also well-known in his own country for being an authority on the music of the 1920s and '30s, as well as preserving thousands of gramophone records from the period in his own collection.  He and his band play live - as you can see in the video - every Monday and Tuesday night at Sofia's Restaurant in New York's Times Square (a performance I would certainly not miss were I ever to visit that great city) as well as at festivals throughout the country.  Along with Max Raabe in Germany and the Pasadena Roof Orchestra here in Britain they form a triumvirate of dance and swing bands in the world today.  That he was kind enough to contact me has made my year and further goes to prove the gracious nature of people with an interest in the past.

I am more than happy to have a link to Vince Giordano's website on my blog and hope you all enjoy visiting it and listening to his fabulous recreation of our favourite songs (and featuring in our favourite period shows) as much as I do.  Thank you, Mr Giordano!