As you’ve probably heard by now, we’ll be honoring Johnny Vidacovich with the Life Achievement Award in Music at the 2016 Best of the Beat Awards at Generations Hall on Thursday, January 19.
In keeping with tradition, the party will feature a tribute to Vidacovich, along with performances by plenty of other acts, including Naughty Professor, Soul Brass Band, Khris Royal & Dark Matter, Mia Borders, the Fortifiers with Sonny Boy Schneidau and Valerie Sassyfras.
Stanton Moore. Photo by Jerry Moran.
Paying tribute to a musical giant like Johnny Vidacovich is no easy task, so we got some help from someone who was definitely up for it: drummer extraordinaire Stanton Moore. As a student of Vidacovich’s, both literally and figuratively, Moore seemed like the perfect person to curate this project. We couldn’t be happier with the results.
“Johnny encouraged me to develop my own voice,” Moore, who is a founding member of Galactic and leader of his own bands, told OffBeat for our forthcoming cover story on Vidacovich. “He would really try to get me out of playing drum-based ideas, what he would call ‘drum-istically.’ I was coming out of a rudimental—drum line—background at Brother Martin. He would put on Bach’s ‘Brandenburg Concerto’ and have me play brushes to that. You can’t play a beat to it, you have to play colors—you have to play musically.”
The Best of the Beat tribute to Johnny Vidacovich will consist of Vidacovich’s Astral Project bandmates James Singleton (bass), Steve Masakowski (guitar) and Tony Dagradi (sax). Joining them will be former Astral Project member David Torkanowsky (keys) and frequent Vidacovich collaborator/Nolatet bandmate Mike Dillon (vibes, percussion). Renowned jazz drummer Brian Blade, who studied under Vidacovich at Loyola, will hold down the drum kit for the night.
“Hearing him for the first time was a revelation,” Blade told us for January’s cover story. “I wanted to be around these inventors, these sound makers and Johnny was at the heart of that. What touched me was the depth of expression and the joy in the sound and the spark in everything that he played. The drumming is a reflection of the man. When you watch him walk or when he talks to you there is such a swing and groove in it and humor and joy.”
Tickets for the 2016 Best of the Beat Awards are on sale now. You can check out the nominees and cast your votes for the awards here.
