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Johnny Varro
Johnny Varro (born 1930) is a pianist with roots in the swing style of jazz. He is also a leader and arranger. Varro was born in Brooklyn, New York. He began studying piano at the age of ten. During his teenage years he was introduced to jazz by way of the Commodore Music Shop in New York City. There he met the manager Jack Crystal (father of Billy Crystal), who was running jam sessions on the Lower East Side. At these sessions Johnny met some of the greatest players of the era, such as Willie "The Lion" Smith, Big Sid Catlett, Joe Thomas, Hot Lips Page, Joe Sullivan, Pete Brown and others. The experience of sitting in for Joe Sullivan and Willie "The Lion" Smith was invaluable and soon allowed Johnny to become a hired player. Johnny's first professional job was with Bobby Hackett touring the East Coast with his quartet. In 1954 he worked at Nick's with Phil Napoleon and later with Pee Wee Erwin. In 1957 Eddie Condon asked Johnny to play at his club as intermission pianist. During that gig he met more musicians who began calling him for jobs. The Condon gig extended into Johnny becoming Condon's band pianist. The players in Condon's band at this time included Buck Clayton, Wild Bill Davison, Pee Wee Russell, Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity, George Wettling, Yank Lawson, Peanuts Hucko and others. For the next several years between the Condon tours, Johnny worked most of the jazz rooms around New York including The Embers, The Roundtable, Condon's Uptown (with Edmond Hall), The Metropole and many others. Musicians such as Henry "Red" Allen, Roy Eldridge, Coleman Hawkins, Bobby Hackett, Charlie Shavers, Jo Jones and Jonah Jones helped further his musical education. In 1965 he moved to Miami Beach and worked on the Jackie Gleason Show. He also worked with Flip Phillips, Billy Butterfield, Phil Napoleon and toured with the Dukes of Dixieland.hen came another move in 1979 to Los Angeles, California, where he lived, played and toured for the next 14 years. He played with Eddie Miller, Dick Cathcart, Tommy Newsom, Red Norvo, Abe Lincoln, Bob Havens and Jack Sheldon. He also did a five-year solo stint at Gatsby's Restaurant in Brentwood. It was in Los Angeles where the idea was born to organize a swing group covering the styles of the 30's, 40's and 50's. This group, known as the Swing 7, has played many of the Jazz festivals and parties.
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Terry Myers: Smiles
by Andrew J. Sammut
Tuneful, swinging and technically polished. Terry Myers isn't worried about anything else jazz is “supposed" to be. Smiles is a relaxed yet energetic romp through some standards, ballads and blues that the Florida-based saxophonist clearly loves to play. There's nothing complex or innovative here, just four musicians having a good time and looking to take the listener along. A jumping “Them There Eyes" introduces Myers's straightforward approach to contemporary swing. He crafts phrases with rhythm and reason ...
read moreJohnny Varro: Two Legends of Jazz
by Joel Roberts
Though they're separated by nearly 30 years in age, veteran pianist Johnny Varro and clarinetist Ken Peplowski are a perfectly matched pair. Varro, born in Brooklyn in 1930, has been a leading proponent of small-group swing since the '50s, appearing over his long career with the likes of Pee Wee Russell, Buck Clayton and Eddie Condon. Nearing 80, he remains active on the festival and club circuit, still playing in the elegant, Teddy Wilson-inspired style that's been his hallmark for ...
read moreJohnny Varro: Two Legends of Jazz
by Mike Neely
Traditional jazz fans are lucky because Two Legends of Jazz catches pianist Johnny Varro and clarinetist Ken Peplowski on an inspired day in the studio. Varro has a light, subtle touch and melodic gift reminiscent of Teddy Wilson. Co-leader Peplowski sets aside his saxophones for clarinet during the entire session, which is a treat because his older style, woody sound meshes well with Varro's bright, precise piano. Peplowski is as shrewd and savvy on clarinet as he is on saxophone.
read moreThe Johnny Varro Swing Seven: The Johnny Varro Swing Seven: Swingin' on 57th Street
by Mike Neely
The Johnny Varro Swing Seven: Swingin’ on West 57th Street is a bright, upbeat septet recording that presents a band with distinctive soloists and a superb rhythm section. Johnny Varro on piano, Michael Moore on bass, and Joe Ascione on drums, are about as good a rhythm section as there exists in traditional jazz, precise and agile with the power to push the music to another level.
The lively arrangements are nearly all written by the leader/pianist Johnny Varro. The ...
read moreTapping into the lingering love for swing jazz
Source:
Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes
Johnny Varro played with the elder statesmen of classic swing jazz in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s, working with Eddie Condon, Bobby Hackett, Roy Eldridge and Pee Wee Russell to name but a few. Now at 87, he is one of the elder statesmen. Pianist Varro returned to Port Charlotte with the Florida edition of his Swing Seven band on Monday, November 13. It was the band’s third appearance in five years in the Charlotte County Jazz Society’s concert series. ...
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The art of the jazz duo
Source:
Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes
Pianist Johnny Varro is best known for his interpretations of vintage jazz, most of it dating to the 1920s through the '40s. But Friday afternoon's duo concert with bassist Mark Neuenschwander for the South County Jazz Club gave Varro a chance to spread his wings a bit into material not associated with his Swing 7 classic jazz band. Their duo came about by accident a few years ago when the drummer never showed for a trio gig. They shifted gears ...
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Spotlighting Obscure Tunes with Toe-Tapping Swing
Source:
Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes
Pianist Johnny Varro seems most at home in obscure jazz material—not only 50 or more years old, but in some cases, obscure even when it was first performed. Such was the case with more than half of the compositions he presented Monday night, November 11, with the Florida edition of his Swing 7 band at the Charlotte County Jazz Society concert series. Sure, there were a couple of Duke Ellington staples ("What am I Here For?" and “"Black and Fantasy"), ...
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From Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes: "Pianist Johnny Varro seems most at home in obscure jazz material - not only 50 or more years old, but in some cases, obscure even when it was first performed. Such was the case with more than half of the compositions he presented Monday night, November 11, with the Florida edition of his Swing 7 band at the Charlotte County Jazz Society concert series...Give Varro, house pianist at Eddie Condon's in New York back in the day, extra credit for avoiding tired material."
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