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Tommy Vig
About Me
As an award-winning jazz vibraharpist/drummer/film,
television and classical concert music composer/jazz
arranger/big band leader/percussionist/inventor/author, I have
worked with Henry Mancini, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett,
Quincy Jones, Rod Stewart, John Williams, Diana Ross,
Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Dean Martin, Stan Kenton, Michel
Legrand, Mickey Rooney, Milton Berle, Judy Garland, Lalo
Schifrin, Jerry Goldsmith, Sammy Davis Jr., Don Ellis, Joe
Pass, Alan Silvestri, Burt Bacharach, Gil Evans/Miles Davis
big band, Johnny Mathis, Jimmy Webb, Jack Benny, Freddy
Hubbard, Manhattan Transfer, Robben Ford, Art Pepper,
Benny Golson, Ralph Martieri, Billy May, Bruce Broughton,
Cat Anderson, Chappy, Natalie Cole, Nelson Riddle, Don
Costa, Jimmy Durante, Earle Hagen, Buddy Hackett, Juan
Garcia Esquivel, Florence Henderson, Fred Karlin, Ben
Lanzarone, Bob Rozario, John Elizalde, Anthony Marinelli,
Charles Fox, George Romanes, Gil Melle, Jack Hayes, John
Addison, John Barry, John Collins, Jesse Barish, Jim Cregan,
Bob Hughes, Bruce Roberts, Johnny Mann, Lajos Dudas,
Lawrence Rosenthal, Lennie Niehaus, Lionel Newman,
Marlena Shaw, Martin Denny, Maurice Jarre, Johnny Carson,
Merv Griffin, Paul Jabara, Pete Rugolo, The Kim Sisters,
Randy Edelman, Ray Anthony, Red Rodney, Red Skelton,
Shorty Rogers, Steve and Edye Gourmet, Sid Caesar, Terry
Gibbs, Tony Curtis, Van Alexander, Milcho Leviev, Aladar
Pege, Billy Byers, Danny Thomas, and Vic Damone, just to
name a few, and produced, directed and conducted the official
Olympic Jazz Festival for the LAOOC in Los Angeles, 1984.
My list of credits as film composer, big band leader and studio
percussionist is very long. Worked in all the top studios in
L.A., including Warner Brothers, Fox, Universal, CBS,
Columbia, ABC, Disney, Goldwyn, MGM, Paramount and so
on, and participated in 1400+ studio sessions in Hollywood,
including two Academy Awards, was the Vice President of the
American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers for ten
years, and have been a member of ASCAP for forty-one
years. My MOMENT FOR VIBRAHARP, PIANO AND
STRINGS, was recently premiered with great success by the
Las Vegas Youth Symphony Orchestra, Oscar Carrescia
conducting, myself playing the solo. My other symphonic
works were performed by the Las Vegas Symphony
Orchestra, and the Orchestras of Cologne and Hagen,
Germany, which performances were broadcast internationally
on European radio. Was honored by the L. A. Jazz Society on
April 7, 2001, at the Los Angeles Musicians Union, receiving
the Vibraharpists' Academy Award, Terry Gibbs, Emil
Richards, Larry Bunker, plus twenty other vibe players and
stars participating in that VIBE SUMMIT, hosted by producer
Mal Sands and was recently featured at famous jazz radio
personality Chuck Niles' big birthday bash at the Long Beach
Westin Hotel, accompanied by Abraham Laboriel, Roger
Kellaway and Peter Donald, and I appeared with my group at
Charlie O's (L.A.) and The Bootlegger (Las Vegas) in August
2003, with great success, featuring Roger Lee on drums and
Gus Mancuso, on piano. My book, HOW TO TELL WHAT
THINGS ARE REALLY WORTH, is now available on
Amazon. com and bookstores everywhere. It explains my
patented invention, recognized by top scientists in the world.
The prototype may be viewed online at Carvalu.com
Of my music:
Colossal... jazz totally committed - The Jazz Journal,
London
Cohesion, fire, tenderness, fine soloists and excellent charts
- The Jazz Record Digest
Intriguing musical statements... of compelling interest -
Playboy Magazine
Tommy Vig's talents as a composer, arranger, percussionist
and vibe soloist are quite admirable- Jazz And Pop
Big Band with a bite... Brilliant. - Army Times
Superlative playing - Jazz Monthly, England
Swings with a vengeance - Los Angeles Times
Tremendously exciting band - Daily Variety
High standard of performance - Saturday Review of
Literature
Excellent - Variety
Milestones along the jazz road - The Las Vegas Sun
— REVIEWS FOR WELCOME TO HUNGARY ! —
The liner notes of Tommy Vig's Welcome to Hungary certainly create
an interesting first impression. The booklet is essentially an extended
rant by Vig that touches on everything from politics to aesthetics to
metaphysics. If nothing else, the reader understands that Vig despises
multinational corporations, rock music, fusion, and especially the
Beatles.
The music is almost as enigmatic as the liner notes, but thankfully much
more focused. Indeed, Tommy Vig has created an original, strangely
intuitive, and ultimately satisfying big band. This music is avant garde,
and dissonance is integral to their vision. That said, Vig's pieces are
about as catchy as avant garde big bands could conceivably be. Fast
unison parts are balanced with clear melodies, and rounded out with
explorative soloing and inventive charts.
Tommy Vig and saxophonist David Murray work well together, and the
sensitive interaction between the two players lends a sense of direction
to the proceedings. Many songs feature extensive parts in which these
two artists are featured without the rest of the band. Murray's solos
retain their challenging nature but never sound grating in the context of
Vig's more atmospheric vibraphone playing.
Given how adventurous this music is, the horn charts sometimes sound
surprisingly old-fashioned. Many of the tunes are based off of a swinging
riff, recalling the classic swing bands of Benny Goodman and Count
Basie. But this is just a starting point, as Vig and Murray explore each
song with thoroughly modern harmony. And this is not just limited to the
solos—the developmental sections of each song are as difficult and
demanding as 20th century classical music, while remaining firmly in a
jazz aesthetic.
Highlights of the set include the lengthy and cerebral Sahara and the
Thelonious Monk tribute In Memory of Monk. The latter song seems
particularly suited to this record, as Vig and Thelonious Monk each
share an idiosyncratic, dissonant, and yet curiously catchy musical
vision. Every song on this recording has something to offer, and there is
not a single weak track.
. . .
Despite its cranky eccentricities, this is worth seeking out. It is an
original, swinging and well conceived and well executed effort. - Eric
Prinzing, JAZZREVIEW.COM
Tommy Vig and David Murray are the real deal! Welcome to Hungary !
is a Bags and Trane collaboration configured for the 21st century.
Tommy Vig’s Orchestra is truly outstanding on all fronts, and his
arrangements are, of course, nothing less than top-notch. The highlight
of the album is the constant interaction and interplay of Tommy Vig’s
vibes and David Murray’s halting tenor saxophone. David Murray is the
true heir to the late John Coltrane’s avant-garde tenor saxophone
technique and concept, and Tommy Vig is mindful of his playing up and
down the horn throughout the entire album. He has composed and
arranged precisely to suite his guest soloist’s ecstatic tenor saxophone
playing. David Murray’s non-stop stretches up-and-down the tenor
saxophone are completely synchronized with Tommy Vig’s Orchestra.
Tommy Vig's arrangements are incredibly tight; you can feel the band’s
pulse throughout each track of the album, with each instrumentalists
being completely in-line with the other. David Murray’s extended
technique provides a harmony-in-itself, and Tommy Vig realizes the full
effects of this, hence the need for his Orchestra to provide a more
focused energy that would give Murray the space to stretch out. Murray
plays the tenor saxophone with Tommy Vig’s Orchestra in the same
spirit as tenor-man John Gilmore did with the Sun Ra Arkestra during
the golden age of jazz. - Dustin Garlitz, October 2011, JazzTalent.com
TOMMY VIG’S ARRANGEMENTS, VIBES WORK AND THE
USE OF DAVID MURRAY ON WELCOME TO HUNGARY!”
ARE EXCELLENT ! - ROBERT RUSCH of CADENCE
MAGAZINE
HIGH CALIBER BAND ! Excellent arrangements and vibe
playing by Vig ! - Jazz Podium Magazine, Germany, Oct
2011
Beautiful ! Enjoyed WELCOME TO HUNGARY ! very much,
especially the vibe solos ! - Mate Hollos, President,
Hungarian Composers Association
The Tommy Vig arrangements are very powerful - Steve
Voce of the Jazz Journal, England
A Gem of Big Band Swing!
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 he did, through the minefields of Russia and
into Austria. He later went to New York and the Juilliard
School of Music, but not before he had played with
keyboardist Joe Zawinul. But his moving days were not over;
he left New York for Hollywood, and then Las Vegas, and it
was in those cities that he found the nail to his career as he
established himself playing with Frank Sinatra, Joe Pass and
Rod Stewart, among others.
Vig pursues the Big Band American Sound on Welcome to
Hungary!, but goes for an interesting trajectory with the
inclusion of saxophonist David Murray whose free styles
permutations energize the music and two Hungarian
instruments, the cimbalom and the tárogató. It all works well
with the tasteful arrangements enriched by the musicians.
Murray and Vig state the theme of Sahara with tenor
saxophone and vibraphone, respectively; both in melodic
consonance. Murray angles out, changing the tempo and
intensity of his notes in a virtuoso performance. The advent of
the orchestra moves the composition into a swing time that
Murray embraces with robust verve. The assimilation is
seamless, and the soulful power absorbing.
Vig Corn, based on a Hungarian folk melody, has an
incipient beauty framed by Balazs Cserta on tárogató,
accompanied by Rózsa Farkas on cimbalom. The mood
explodes in a dazzling array of swirling melodic lines that
quickly gravitate into swing. The concept makes for a lively
outing and, with Cserta and Farkas adding intonations, this
turns out to be most delectable of the set.
Another side of Vig's creativity comes through his solo on
Rise and Shine, where he probes the dynamics of his
instrument with crystalline runs and an artful blend of harmony
and melody. The orchestra dwells on the melody, and so
does Murray, in what turns out to be another gem of big band
swing.
The five bonus tracks feature a slimmer band that is
spearheaded by the brass. This is a tight outfit, sure in its
focus and approach that sees it melding composition and
freedom with finesse. This trait is strong on I Told You,
where the melody's arc is pricked by the horns. Two ballads,
expressively sung in Hungarian with feeling by Mia Kim, come
in quite a different mode.
The accompanying booklet has information on the recording,
and Vig's often acerbic views on music and politics make for
entertaining reading. - Jerry D'Souza (All About Jazz)
Stan Kenton 2011 ! Intelligent charts, beautiful, futuristic
orchestration - Peter Pallai, Director, Hungarian Cultural
Center (London)
HOMECOMING, VERY EXCITING MUSIC ! Dr. János
Gregorits (JAZZMA.HU Magazine)
Tommy Vig is a vibes player who's Hungarian orchestra is a
cross between the
Vienna Art Orchestra & Loose Tubes, &
very good - Martin Bright (UK Jazz Radio)
Modern ! I liked Welcome to Hungary!” It is ahead of the
times! - Robert Maloschik (JazzToday, Budapest)
Music for Free Thinkers ! When you’re 73 and you’ve left
Hollywood and capitalism behind, you’re pretty much free to
do things as you see fit. Free jazz big band that certainly has
its roots in church basement jazz, recording from Hungary
notwithstanding. The liner book comes with a lengthy hippy
diatribe against selling out and this cat can have his opinion
since he’s been on both sides of the fence. If music from
labels with names like BYG, Actual or Celluloid means
anything to you, this left leaning big band date will resonate
with you in a big way. Certainly music for free thinkers. -
Chris Spector (Midwest Record)
Leonard Feather and Stan Kenton both called me one of the
future leaders in American music.
In the official HUNGARIAN JAZZ HISTORY, I am named as
only one of four musicians who ever became successful jazz
artists in America, the others being the three great guitarists:
Gabor Szabo, Elek Bacsik, and Attila Zoller.
My just released big band CD featuring David Murray has
accumulated good reviews, some of which are posted at
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/tommyvig1
You can learn more about this CD at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_to_Hungary!_The_Tom
my_Vig_Orchestra_2012_Featuring_David_Murray
More information about me may be had at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Vig
Wife, vocalist/dancer Mia, (who sings a couple of songs on
our most recent CD, WELCOME TO HUNGARY !”) is a
former KIM SISTER, who starred at the Stardust and Desert
Inn Hotels, and who was featured on the Ed Sullivan Show 24
times. She also appeared on the Dinah Shore, Operation
Entertainment, Hollywood Palace and Dean Martin television
shows. You can read about her career at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kim_Sisters and view her
recent performance at http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=KYi9gg3xkUo
My House Concert Story
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJriSmYdGkiWaAYvEmpEXKw/videos