L.H. My boss-Rob Mullins-met
you at the Creative Coalition Spotlight 2000 Awards
last year in New York, and he enjoyed
your playing. Tell us about the direction
you are taking your personal music.
J.V.The
direction I'm taking my personal music? I love playing jazz,
blues and rhythum and blues. Pick
one.....you'll find all three in my music.
I'd like to think of myself as a
well rounded/versatile musician. I love The
Beatles and I love Train. My record
label wants me to favor blues and r&b.
LH. Many jazz musicians think
that "the blues" is a harmonically boring genre
since there are only a few chords.
Do you consider yourself more "blues" or
"jazz", and what is it about that
blues that keeps it interesting for you?
J.V.
I consider myself more of an r&b saxophonist. Ala King Curtis. That's
how I primarily make my living. The
demand for rock/ r&b saxophone will
always be there. And I enjoy doing
dates in those idioms as well as playing
jazz or legit. As far as jazz is
concerned....yes it is more challenging or more
difficult to master than any other
form of improvisational music. And
furthermore, I take my hat off to
anyone out there who might want to dedicate
their lives to becoming the next
Charlie Parker. I feel that the so called
jazzer's or purists who feel that
blues or r&b are boring and limited to 3
chords show a lot of musical shallowness.
Here in New York I'm very fortunate
to play with all types of players.
I did a gig the other night with Lou
Soloff at the Iridium Jazz Club in
NYC. Les Paul was being honored and Gibson
sponsored this big hoopla and invited
every guitar player you could think of
to sit in and jam with our group..
We played with Russell Malone and we
played with Slash.....yea Slash at
a Jazz club. The point I'm trying to make
is that if you play all styles of
music you will play with all types of
musicians. Russell Malone burned
and Slash rocked his ass off. Obviously
Russell is the better Jazz Guitarist
and Slash is the better Rocker. Who's
the better guitarist? My answer to
the question....what keeps me interested
in the blues is......I LOVE MUSIC...IT'S
THE MUSIC.....sometimes you have to
know what not to play.
L.H. My boss and I are big
fans of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and read the
story about Conan and Max Weinberg
meeting and Max asking for an audition for his
group for the show. Have you been
with the show since the beginning?
J.V.
I have been with the show from day 1. The story you read is true. My
phone rang and so did my brother
Jimmy's. At that time we were both playin
with Donald Fagan and New York Nights.
We were about ready to commit to the
first Steely Dan reunion tour, when
Max asked us to make an audition. We
rehearsed for 4 or 5 days with Max,
made the audition and now it's 9 years
later. The Steely Dan Reunion Tour
was a 5 week stint. A lot of Cats here in
the City thought we were crazy to
pass on Fagan and Becker's tour for a remote
chance of landing a T.V. gig. I guess
it's the route you take.
L.H. You and your brother Jimmy
are musical directors for that show. Can you tell
our readers exactly what that means.
J.V.
You might have read or heard through our coast to coast musical
grapevine, that my brother Jimmy
and I are the musical directors of the
show. Max is the musical director
Jimmy does all the arrangements and I do
all the contracting. Max is the band
leader/musical director.
L.H. How do you choose what
songs to play when on the show? Is it pre-arranged
according to the guests or something?
J.V.
Max and Jimmy select the songs. Although, sometimes a guest will ask for
a certain song. But rarely.
L.H. One of the things that
is impressive about that band is the wide range of
musical styles that you guys do with
a small group. How do you approach arranged
songs like the Beatles music and
other styles that weren't really done with your
instrumentation on original versions?
J.V.
It's television...It's middle America.....It's sometimes corny or
muzak like....but it works.
L.H. Who wrote the theme song
for the Conan show?
J.V.
Howard Shore and John Lurie wrote the opening theme. My brother Jimmy
and I wrote the closing theme. The
closing theme was plucked off of our first
Vivino Brothers Album intitled Chitlin's
Parmiagianna
L.H. One of Rob's favorite
bits that you guys ever did was the "Year 2000" song
with the flashlights and stuff. Whose
idea was that?
J.V.
One of the writers. I forget which one. The writers come and go.
That particular bit has been going
for the full run of the show.
L.H. Many musicians out here
in L.A. are out of work, and whenever someone in our
camp gets a cool job, there is much
celebration from those guys who are working
and secure, and a lot of jealousy
from guys who are out of work. Do you get a lot
of email from people asking your
for favors since you are so high profile now?
How do you find time to do everything
on your schedule?
J.V.
We
have the same problem in New York as you have in L.A. So many
great players... not so many great
gigs. I feel so blessed that I am working
so steadily. I'm too busy to get
caught up in any of the bullshit that exists
on the music scene here in NYC. I've
always worked a lot. Even before Conan I
was doing all right. My friends or
colleagues are the real deal and they are
happy for me. I see them all the
time on jingle and record dates. My good
friend, Lou Marini is touring with
James Taylor. ( I'm a little bit jealous
of him )
L.H. A friend of Rob's-trumpeter
Lee Thornburg-recently got the gig on the Tonite
Show with Jay Leno. Lee described
that event as "life changing." Did getting the
Conan gig change your life?
J.V.
I'm so happy for Lee. We were at Manhattan School of Music together
in the 70's. He sounded great as
a kid. Joe Shepley ( a legendary studio
trumpet player in N.Y. ) called me
to congratulate me on landing the show. He
asked if my life had changed. I told
him that the only difference in my life
was that, when I put the ATM card
in the bank machine that the money always
comes out.  (click
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