Vache, Warren (Webster Jr.)

Vache, Warren (Webster Jr.), jazz cornetist, flugelhornist; b. Rahway, N.J., Feb. 21, 1951. He grew up with jazz; his father was a bassist in a Dixie-style band and a committed jazz chronicler. His father’s band included Pee Wee Erwin, who gave Vache Jr. lessons when he took up the cornet. He also studied with Jim Fitzpatrick and was influenced by Bobby Hackett and Ruby Braff. After taking a degree in music, he frequently played with his father’s band and then with Benny Goodman, where his reputation flourished. He soon became a regular at Eddie Condon’s club in N.Y. with Vic Dickenson and Bob Wilber and became a fixture in the N.Y. Jazz Repertory Orch. (c. 1972-74). Around this time he met Scott Hamilton, and the two men began a collaboration that lasts until today. In the late 1970s Vache made a series of solo albums, each becoming more successful, while continuing to make recordings with Hamilton. The duo created albums that solidified their reputations as kings of the mainstream. Throughout the 1980s Vache toured the world extensively and cemented his position as a major talent. His records, from solo efforts to the duet affairs with Hamilton and, recently, his Warm Eveningsalbum with the Beaux Arts String Quartet, continue to sell in massive quantities. In 1984 he suffered an accident which severed the tendons in his right hand; fortunately it had no lasting effect on his playing, and later that year he appeared at the Edinburgh Festival to a standing ovation.

Discography

Jersey Jazz at Midnight (1975); First Time Out (1976); Blues Walk (1977); In N.Y. City (1978); Julian (1978); Polished Brass (1979); Iridescence (1981); Midtown Jazz (1982); Easy Going (1986); Warm Evenings (1989); Horn of Plenty (1993); Swingin’ & Singin’ (1994); Syncopatin Seven (1994); Talk to Me Baby (1995); Stardust (1995); Celebrate the Music of Isham Jones (1996); Live at the Vineyard (1996); Shine (1997); Warren Plays Warren (1997); Plays Harry Warren: An Affair to Remember (1998); Recorded Live in Hamburg (1999); Mrs. Vaches Boys (1999); What Is There to Say? (2000); Swingtime! (2000).—Music Master Jazz and Blues Catalogue/Lewis Porter