A web log, an æthereal scrap-book if you will, with a somewhat vintage flavour. News items, occurrences, experiences, thoughts and opinions related to Victoriana through to Fifties Americana can all be found here.
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.
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.
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!
A pleasant little article from the New York Daily News here, focusing on the music of the spiffing television series Boardwalk Empire (which still hasn't made it to a terrestrial British channel *shakes fist at Rupert Murdoch*, guess I'll just have to get a hold of the box set when Season 1 is released on the 9th January).
Renowned jazz bandleader Vince Giordano is the man behind all of the live music heard in Boardwalk Empire, as well as having been involved in providing the authentic sound for many a period piece in the past. As well as helping to provide the score for Boardwalk Empire Giordano and his band, the Nighthawks, play live every week at a local New York restaurant. In every respect they are one of the most accurate hot jazz bands of the modern age, with a sound so reminiscent of the 1920s and '30s that they are practically indistinguishable from original live bands of the time. No wonder they are in so much demand for film and television work!
Boardwalk Empire's success can no doubt be put down in part to the attention to detail displayed in each and every episode and this obviously extends to the music as well. It is another feather in the cap of Mr Giordano and his band that he is involved in this series and it's wonderful to see (and hear) this toe-tapping music in a popular TV show.
A wizard wheeze from HBO, makers of the hit U.S. television series Boardwalk Empire, who have brought an actual 1920s subway train out of retirement and with the assistance of the New York Transit Authority are running it on a limited basis on one of the Manhattan lines for every weekend throughout September!
The London Transport Museum and London Underground have done similar one-offs in the past with 1930s-era stock, but nothing as old as the '20s I think. It must be quite an experience; it's just a pity there's a great big ocean between me and it, else I'd probably be on it every weekend! Well, it's reminded me to keep an eye out for any vintage LU runs in the future, anyway*. Some videos have already surfaced on YouTube which give a good sense of travelling on a 1920s subway train. It looks like fun!
Incidentally has anyone actually seen Boardwalk Empire yet? Is it as good as I hear? I'm amazed the first series hasn't already been snapped up by Channel 4 or someone. For the likes of me who refuse to further line the pockets of the Murdoch empire it is most frustrating! I want my Twenties fix! ;-)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*While searching the Interweb to confirm my memory of the LU/London Transport Museum heritage runs, I've discovered there's another one this Sunday, the 11th September, up at the end of the Metropolitan line between Harrow-on-the-Hill, Rickmansworth and Amersham. The museum's 1938 train and locomotive are being given an airing and there's even a competition for the best period-dressed passenger! It may be a little late in the day (certainly is for me, not to mention a little bit of a trek for me at the moment) but I thought I'd bring it to your attention anyway. Details here.
