Vuckovich rides again!

Blog readers will recall the good time my wife and I had back on July 14, when veteran jazz pianist Larry Vuckovich led a quintet in an afternoon concert of songs from Guaraldi's longtime repertoire: both tunes that Dr. Funk wrote, and some (by other composers) that he was known to have performed during his career. I detailed that delightful afternoon in an earlier post, and concluded by expressing the hope that Larry would be successful with his desire to repeat the experience.

That hope has become reality. Larry will lead the same combo — Josh Workman, guitar; Seward McCain, bass; John Santos, Latin/Brazilian percussion; and Akira Tana, drums — in a concert taking place at 8 p.m. Monday, December 9, at Yoshi's Jack London Square, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland, California. Ticket details and other information can be found here.

Judging by the event description on Vuckovich's website, the program will be similar (if not identical) to what took place in July, at Silo's in Napa, California. Larry will chart high points in Guaraldi's career, following a chronological order, with this quintet delivering items from Dr. Funk's early Fantasy albums, along with hits such as "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" and selections from the Black Orpheus soundtrack. It also sounds like Larry and his group once again will share their arrangement of "Blue Lullaby," an unreleased Guaraldi original.

Sadly, I won't be able to participate this time, as I was back in July; Monday is a long day for us working stiffs, and there won't be enough time to make the drive — in the midst of Bay Area rush-hour traffic — after my shift concludes. But I'll be in there in spirit!

I'll leave you, and further whet your appetite, with another photo of the quintet's July performance in Napa. Expect more of the same!