Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks

I had the honor of escorting a fetching female to Club Cache last night to hear Vince Giordano and his Nighthawks play the hits of the twenties and thirties. Vince is the “go to” guy in town for early big band music. You may well have seen him in the films The Aviator and The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, or heard him on A Prairie Home Companion. He’s sort of dazzlingly talented — in the course of the set he alternates on bass fiddle, bass sax, and tuba, sings on several of the numbers (in a pleasant Rudy Vallee sort of voice), and introduces the songs in a charming, respectful manner. The set list included some Paul Whiteman numbers; the “Little Rascals” theme music by Leroy Shields; “Only Make Believe” from Showboat; and a song I recognized from the Eddie Cantor picture Palmy Days. (There were dozens more, of course — these were just the ones I knew). A few folks I knew were there: Rich Conaty of WFUV’s the Big Broadcast; Heather Holliday from Coney Island USA; Antique DJ Michael Haar; and Jimmy Roberts, author of “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change”.

Most of the people in attendance, however, were older folks, which is CRAZY! This music is too old for it to be marketed and presented as a nostalgia trip — the people who dug it back in the day would have to be centenarians now.  But there are all these odd subcultures of young people in the contemporary nightlife nowadays who would absolutely LOVE this show…spread the word to them. It’s a completely charming trip.

Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks play every Monday and Tuesday night at Club Cache, which is in Sofia’s Restaurant in the Edison Hotel. For info and reservations, call 212.719.5799.