Larry Vuckovich Hits #2 on Swiss National Radio Jazz Popularity Poll
Swiss National Radio jazz listeners voted Larry Vuckovich’s Beyond Category music at #2 on it’s Popularity Poll for the week of October 13–20, 2010. The highly creative, versatile jazz pianist placed just behind the fans’ #1 favorite, the renowned Jeff Hamilton Trio. Click here to see the poll!

NEW RELEASE
Somethin’ Special

Somethin' Special has reached the #3 spot on the 'JazzWeek' radio
charts.

View the JazzWeek radio chart

Somethin' Special has reached the #1 spot on Clifford Brown Jr’s American Jazz Countdown

Somethin' Special has reached the #1 spot on Bob Parlocha’s Bob’s Top 40 New Releases (275 station syndicated show)

I don’t often review music when it doesn’t directly relate to movies, but a few years ago I did write about jazz pianist Larry Vuckovich’s film noir-inspired CDs, which I highly recommend. Larry recently sent me his latest CD, Somethin’ Special (Tetrachord Music) and while it isn’t based on a movie theme, it contains such tasty mainstream jazz I want to spread the word about it. Larry’s East Coast-based rhythm section is joined by tenor man Noel Jewkes and that superb saxophonist Scott Hamilton.
-Leonard Maltin's MOVIE CRAZY A Website for People Who Love Movies. Read movie critic Leonard Maltin’s review of Somethin’ Special

San Francisco pianist Larry Vuckovich has been an accompanist, bandleader and world-jazz pioneer over seven decades. His latest album "Somethin' Special" is exactly that, according to jazz critic Andrew Gilbert. “His playing sparkles with understated wit …. He’s telling a story …. It’s the work of a master.” Andrew Gilbert, columnist for San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe, Jazz Times, Down Beat.
- The California Report - Listen to jazz critic Andy Gilbert’s NPR/KQED The California Report: Audio Review radio

“Great new release. Great selection of tunes…your interpretations and playing are the ABSOLUTE as always.” -Gary Walker, WBGO Jazz Radio

Music Director Gary Vercelli of Sacramento Jazz Station KXJZ, listed Somethin’ Special as its “Excellence in Jazz” selection for the week of September 5, 2011 - View "Excellence in Jazz" Selection of The Week - PDF

This CD easily lives up to its title with outstanding performances throughout the sessions." “…Pannonica mixes glistening lines with jaunty bop.” “…Stardust is lush with a few Tatum – inspired runs -AllMusicGuide.com 4 ½ Stars - Ken Dryden

" I think it kills."
-Thomas Conrad
-Eighty-Eights column, JazzTimes (complete review to follow soon)

“Somethin' Special is a lovely album, beautifully performed. Vuckovich has selected a set of tunes that includes some unjustly unfamiliar numbers, and Hamilton and Jewkes add grace and sensitivity to the excellent playing of the central trio.”
-Bruce Lindsay
-AllAboutJazz.com Read the Review

High Wall: Real Life Film Noir
High Wall (MGM film theme by Bronislaw Kaper - premier jazz recording)

High Wall has reached the #8 spot on the 'JazzWeek' radio
charts.

"Vuckovich continues to reveal that he is the most poetic interpreter of film noir. The title track is an unknown minor masterpiece composed by Branislav Kaper for a 1947 film. Vuckovich crystallizes it's ambivalent melancholy. His own "View From Telegraph Hill," commissioned for a film noir festival, is a mystery of brightness and shadow. The lush, archaic 1940 romanticism of Jack Lawrence's "A Handful of Stars," in a luminous solo piano unfolding, beautifully belongs."
-Thomas Conrad
-Eighty-Eights column, JazzTimes

Read movie critic Leonard Maltin's reviews of High Wall and Street Scene.
-Leonard Maltin's MOVIE CRAZY  A Website for People Who Love Movies.

"... any discussion of the best jazz piano players in the world must now include Larry Vuckovich!"
-Brad Stone - Music Director and on-air host KSJS - San Jose, CA

    4 1/2 Stars    -Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

"A MONSTER of a player who should be much more well known. (High Wall: Real Life Film Noir) is one of his best recordings to date."
-Gary Walker - Music Director and Morning Host of WBGO NJ/NYC