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Jazz Articles about Tommy Vig
Tommy Vig 2022: Jazz Jazz
by Jack Bowers
In a musical career spanning more than seven decades, Hungarian-born vibraphonist and percussionist Tommy Vig spent many productive years as a composer, arranger, performer, leader and sideman in the U.S.A., and planted his jazz flag in many precincts, from straight-ahead to semi-classical, avant-garde to atonal, He touches almost every base on Jazz Jazz, recorded in his homeland as the Coronavirus pandemic finally waned. Some listeners may love the music, others may dislike it, while the majority may fall somewhere in ...
read moreTommy Vig: Welcome to Hungary
by Hrayr Attarian
Although not as well-known in the US as his compatriots Attila Zoller and Gábor Szabó, percussionist Tommy Vig is every bit as talented as the two guitarists with a unique vision and unrelenting quest for perfection. Born in Budapest, Vig was a child prodigy, having recorded on drums at the tender age of eight. Political climate forced him into a self-imposed exile to the US where he made a living playing behind other jazz musicians, vocalists and ...
read moreTake Five With Tommy Vig
by Tommy Vig
Meet Tommy Vig: Born to a musical family in Budapest, Tommy Vig was internationally recognized as a child prodigy by the age of six, playing drums with his father, clarinetist Gyorgy Vig. His sense of improvisation, rhythm and energy at that young age made him unique, and he performed live concerts on radio, at the Budapest City Theatre, the Academy of Music in Budapest, and even the National Circus. At the age of eight, he made an album, ...
read moreTommy Vig: Welcome to Hungary!
by Jerry D'Souza
Vibraphonist Tommy Vig has had an interesting career. Born in Budapest, he played the drums when he was six and recorded his first album two years later. Music was his passion, but the political landscape in Hungary was to cast a shadow on his days as a jazz musician. Jazz was banned in 1949, and Vig could not play it again until 1956. With the defeat of the Hungarian Revolution, Vig decided that it was time to move on. Move ...
read moreTommy Vig: Now and Then
by C. Michael Bailey
Tommy Vig is one of those jazz names which, when it pops to the surface, triggers you to say, Hey, I’ve heard of him." Among many listeners, anyway. Among musicians, Mr. Vig is well known, his extensive discography betraying the fact. Among his credits are performances with Stan Kenton, Quincy Jones, Henry Mancini, Red Rodney, Joe Pass, Don Ellis, Art Pepper, the Miles Davis/Gil Evans big band, and others. He is credited with contributions to the Manhattan Transfer’s The Anthology: ...
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