Vince Giordano Documentary to Make New York Debut at 92Y

How crazy do you have to be to keep a Jazz Age enterprise going in the 21st Century? 92Y presents the New York premiere of the film that attempts to answer that question. Visit 92y.org/Giordano for more details!

Vince Giordano-There's a Future in the Past is a feature-length documentary about musician and bandleader, historian, scholar, and collector Vince Giordano who, with his 11-member band The Nighthawks, has doggedly kept alive the music of the 1920s and '30s for the past forty years.

This Jazz in July Festival Special Event on Sunday, July 10 at 6 pm includes a screening of the film, followed by a conversation with Vince Giordano, Jazz in July Artistic Director Bill Charlap, and filmmakers Dave Davidson and Amber Edwards, and then a brief performance by Vince Giordano and The Nighthawks.

"The 92nd Street Y is my second home in New York, starting with the very first installment of Jazz in July in 1985 and continuing on through Lyrics and Lyricists and the sold-out Concerto and F and Rhapsody in Blue concerts last fall," says Vince Giordano. "I can't think of a more perfect venue for the New York premiere of this documentary about my life and career."

Grammy-winner Vince Giordano created the period music in Todd Haynes' Carol, Martin Scorsese's The Aviator, Francis Ford Coppola's The Cotton Club, half-a-dozen Woody Allen films including his upcoming Café Society, and HBO's award-winning series Boardwalk Empire. A New York institution for nearly 40 years, Vince and his 11-member band the Nighthawks bring the hot, syncopated music of the 1920s and '30s to life with their virtuosity, vintage musical instruments, and Vince's encyclopedic collection of more than 60,000 period band arrangements. But between the moments of glory on stage, there is the struggle to find gigs, manage personnel, and schlep a van full of equipment and 400 pounds of music to every job-with no road crew. Meltdowns occur, and the threat of going out of business constantly looms. Vince Giordano-There's a Future in the Past captures the hard work, endurance, and joy of being true to one's calling.

The film made its world premiere at the Manchester (UK) International Film Festival in March, where it won the award for Best Music Score. Its US premiere was at the Kansas City FilmFest in April, where Chuck Haddix, director of the Marr Sound Archives of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Libraries and author of Kansas City Jazz and Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker called it "the best jazz film I have ever seen." View the film's trailer here.

Subsequent area screenings after the 92Y premiere: Upstate Films, Rhinebeck, NY - July 24-27; Jacob Burns Film Center, Pleasantville, NY - Aug 11; Andrews Memorial Hall, Clinton, CT - Aug 20.

Vince Giordano-There's a Future in the Past is directed and produced by Dave Davidson and Amber Edwards of Hudson West Productions, whose credits include seventeen hours of national PBS programming, including nine episodes of the award-winning series Michael Feinstein's American Songbook (2010-2013); A Place Out of Time: The Bordentown School (2010, Christopher Award); Words and Music by Jerry Herman (2008), which screened at 92Y with a talk-back featuring Jerry Herman and Amber Edwards; George Segal: American Still Life (2001); Against the Odds: Artists of the Harlem Renaissance (1994); Vladimir Feltsman-Journey from Home (1993); The Dancing Man-Peg Leg Bates (1992); and Cissy Houston: Sweet Inspiration (1988). Edwards has also sung in 92Y Lyrics & Lyricists shows, including one with Vince Giordano and The Nighthawks.

2016 Jazz in July Festival - The music continues with the 2016 Jazz in July Festival, from July 19-28, featuring: Harry Allen, Gene Bertoncini, Anat Cohen, Freddy Cole, Jimmy Greene, Jon Gordon, Dick Hyman, Jon-Erik Kellso, Jeremy Pelt, Ken Peplowski, Houston Person, Renee Rosnes, Carol Sloane, Rossano Sportiello, Warren Vaché, StEve Wilson and more. Single tickets start at $52; tickets for age 35 and under begin at $25.

SUMMERTIME SWING PARTY

Tue, Jul 19, 8 pm

Bill Charlap, piano / Harry Allen, tenor sax / Jon-Erik Kellso, trumpet / Gary Smulyan, baritone sax / Chuck Wilson, alto sax / Joe Cohn, guitar / Todd Coolman, bass / Dennis Mackrel, drums

JAZZ GOES HOLLYWOOD: DIETZ & SCHWARTZ

Wed, Jul 20, 8 pm

Bill Charlap, piano / Renee Rosnes, piano / Ken Peplowski, clarinet / Gene Bertoncini, guitar / Jon Gordon, alto sax / Sandy Stewart, vocals / Sean Smith, bass / Louis Nash, drums

UNFORGETTABLE: THE NAT KING COLE SONGBOOK

Thu, Jul 21, 8 pm

Bill Charlap, piano / Freddy Cole, vocals & piano / Houston Person, tenor sax / Warren Vaché, cornet / Randy Napoleon, guitar / Elias Bailey, bass / Quentin Baxter, drums

KINGS OF STRIDE: EUBIE, FATS & THE LION

Tue, Jul 26, 8 pm

Bill Charlap, piano / Rossano Sportiello, piano / Ted Rosenthal, piano / Anat Cohen, clarinet / David Wong, bass / Aaron Kimmel, drums

TAKE THE A TRAIN: Billy Strayhorn AT 100

Wed, Jul 27, 8 pm

Bill Charlap, piano / Renee Rosnes, piano / Carol Sloane, vocals / Jeremy Pelt, trumpet / StEve Wilson, alto sax / Jimmy Greene, tenor sax / Peter Washington, bass / Kenny Washington, drums

AMERICAN RHAPSODY: GERSHWIN, ARLEN & THE BLUES

Thu, Jul 28, 8 pm

Bill Charlap, piano / Dick Hyman*, piano / Randy Sandke, trumpet / Ken Peplowski, clarinet & tenor sax / Jon Gordon, alto sax / Michael Dease, trombone / Peter Washington, bass / Willie Jones III, drums

*Dick Hyman, Jazz in July's first Artistic Director, was recently named an NEA Jazz Master.

92nd Street Y is a center for the arts and innovation, a convener of ideas, and an incubator for creativity. Founded in 1874, it seeks to create, provide and disseminate programs of distinction that foster the physical and mental growth of people throughout their lives. 92Y offers thousands of programs from its New York headquarters and creates community far beyond its four walls, bringing people from all over the world together through innovations like the award-winning #GivingTuesday and the Social Good Summit. It's transforming the way people share ideas and translate them into action all over the world. All of 92Y's programming is built on a foundation of Jewish values, including the capacity of civil dialogue to change minds; the potential of education and the arts to change lives; and a commitment to welcoming and serving people of all ages, races, religions and ethnicities. For more information, visit www.92Y.org.