Submitted by Sanford Johnson
In the 1970s and ‘80s, cornetist/trumpeter Warren Vache played in the house band at Eddie Condon’s on West 54th Street in New York City. Condon’s was down the street from Jimmy Ryan’s where legendary trumpeter Roy Eldridge performed. During their breaks, Eldridge and the young Vache would listen to each other. That, says Vache, was, “the best teaching experience I ever had.”
A longtime resident of Rahway, New Jersey, Vache will be leading one of four bands playing at the New Jersey Jazz Society’s 49th annual Pee Wee Russell Memorial Stomp from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 18, at the Birchwood Manor, 111 N. Jefferson Rd., Whippany, New Jersey.
Tickets to the Pee Wee Russell Memorial Stomp are $30 in advance for members, $35 for non-members; $40 at the door for members, $45 for non-members. Student tickets (with current ID) are $15 either in advance or at the door. To order tickets, log onto njjs.org, call 800-838-3006, or send a check payable to NJJS, including a $3 per order handling fee, together with a stamped, self-addressed envelope, to: NJJS, c/o Mike Katz, 382 Springfield Avenue, Suite 217, Summit, NJ 07901.
The mission of the New Jersey Jazz Society, founded in 1972, is to promote and preserve the great American musical form known as jazz through live jazz performances and educational outreach initiatives and scholarships. The Pee Wee Russell Memorial Stomp was created to perpetuate the memory of the clarinetist Charles Ellsworth “Pee Wee” Russell, who died in 1969. Proceeds from the event benefit NJJS scholarships and its educational program, Generations of Jazz.
(above) Warren Vache
