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VACHÉ, WARREN, JR. (1951– ). A trumpet player styled in the Dixieland tradition, Vaché received his first big break at the age of 25 when he was hired to perform with legendary clarinetist Benny Goodman. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Vaché was a featured soloist with many groups that thrived playing Traditional Jazz, including ones led by Woody Herman and Eddie Condon in addition to a group with Scott Hamilton that Vaché co-led. After the 1980s, Vaché began leading his own groups and recorded several albums. Vaché also performed some Bebop-related material, although the majority of his groups and recordings focused on Early Jazz.

VALDÉS, CHUCHO (1941– ). Learning from his father, Bebo Valdés, Chucho Valdés (Born Jesús Dionisio Valdés in Quivicán, Cuba) learned piano at a very young age but did not establish himself as a prominent figure in his native Cuba until the end of the 1960s. Along with several other prominent musicians, Valdés first established the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna in the late 1960s, a group that would turn into the Latin Jazz iconic group, Irakere. Valdés teamed up with several other prominent Cuban musicians to form this group that included Paquito D’Rivera and Arturo Sandoval. In the early 1980s, Valdés became the primary leader for this group and was responsible for many of its recordings. Unlike many of his fellow Cuban bandmates, Valdés never defected to the United States but constantly received work visas to perform, tour, and teach in the U.S. during the 1990s and 2000s. During these two decades, Valdés continued to tour with Irakere less and began working more as a sideman and with his own Latin Jazz groups that ranged from piano trios to quintets with trumpet, saxophone, and sometimes percussion.

VALIDE. An alternate name for a superbone or a trombone that has both a slide and valves.

VAMP. A term referring to a repeated phrase or section of a song that functions as an introduction, interlude, or ending. See also OPEN.

VAN EPS, GEORGE (1913–1998). Van Eps received early musical training from his siblings and became a proficient guitar and banjo player before reaching his teenage years. In 1924, Van Eps began playing professionally and throughout the next two decades would catch on with many major touring jazz acts, including those led by Benny Goodman and Ray Noble. Van Eps is credited with being an innovator on guitar by including a seventh string on the instrument to be used for playing bass notes. Van Eps primarily worked as a freelance musician but was also an established writer and had several books published on guitar technique. His innovations for the guitar are still used today by guitarists like Charlie Hunter, who also employs the use of an extra string for the same purpose that Van Eps included his.

VAN HA TRIO. A Belgian jazz trio that often served as a host band for touring American musicians. The trio was made up of Roger Van Haverbeke, Tony Bauwens, and Freddy Rottier. The group has remained active since its formation in the 1960s.

VARIETY (I). A short-lived record label that distributed discs recorded in the mid-1920s by the Cameo Record Company.

VARIETY (II). Founded by Irving Mills in 1937, the Variety record label only lasted a year. Several recordings were released on Variety including ones comprised of members of the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

VARSITY. A record label founded by Eli Oberstein for the purpose of releasing cheaper records. The majority of releases by Varsity were either commercial jazz or race records made in the 1930s.

VAUGHAN, SARAH (1924–1990). Unlike many of the musicians from her era, Vaughan was not born into a musical family. She received piano and voice training and began her professional career at a young age. During the early 1940s, Vaughan won an award for best young talent at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York; was featured with Earl “Fatha” Hines’ big band; and soon after was hired by vocalist Billy Eckstine to perform with his big band. Vaughan’s popularity soared, and she was hired in 1949 by Columbia Records to record exclusively for five years. The majority of the records she made were either popular music or ballad based, and her talents for interpreting jazz music were not fully maximized while with Columbia.

After her record contract was up, Vaughan spent a good deal of time working with a variety of jazz musicians including Clifford Brown, Count Basie, and Cannonball Adderley, and she also recorded several albums under her own name. During the 1960s, her jazz output again decreased, but she would make several concert and television appearances with famous jazz artists Dizzy Gillespie, Maynard Ferguson, and Herbie Hancock. Vaughan’s legacy will always be strong because of her striking vocal style and command of standards.

VAULT. Around for less than a decade after being founded in 1965, Vault Records did little recording but did capture a few important jazz musicians, most notably a young Gary Burton. See also RECORD LABEL.

V-DISC. Created by the U.S. armed services in 1943, V-Disc was created with the intention of creating recordings for the army. Eventually music was distributed to all departments of the military. Many classic jazz musicians were captured on V-Disc recordings including Louis Armstrong, Glenn Miller, and Coleman Hawkins. The label was dropped several years after World War II ended. See also RECORD LABEL.

VELVET TONE. A record label founded by Columbia to release race records from 1926 to 1932.

VENTURA, CHARLIE (1916–1992). Ventura began playing saxophone as a teenager and focused on tenor saxophone after being highly influenced by Coleman Hawkins. He was hired by drummer Gene Krupa in 1942 and remained in Krupa’s band for several years until electing to pursue a solo career. Ventura experimented with a big band that quickly dwindled down to an octet. The group adopted the name “Bop for the People” and was an important launching pad for several significant jazz musicians including Conte Candoli, Dave McKenna, Kai Winding, Bennie Green, and Ed Shaughnessy. Ventura also included several of his brothers, Ben, Ernie, and Peter, in these groups. Bop for the People disbanded in the early 1950s, and Ventura continued to maintain a steady solo career.

Ventura made several different cities home throughout the next few decades, including Minneapolis, Denver, Las Vegas, and eventually Fort Lauderdale. Complications with a variety of illnesses and dental problems forced Ventura to stop playing in the mid-1970s. Ventura succumbed to cancer in 1992.

VENTURA, RAY(MOND) (1908–1979). A French pianist, Ray Ventura played a prominent role in the development of jazz as a popular music in France during the 1930s. Ventura was a sideman for a brief time during the 1920s until he formed his own groups that were extremely popular until World War II. Ventura did some touring in the 1940s but mostly led local groups in Paris. See also FRANCE.

VENUTI, GIUSEPPE “JOE” (1903–1978). Born in Philadelphia, Venuti was a highly influential violinist during the 1920s and 1930s. His first major musical relationship was with guitarist Eddie Lang, with whom Venuti recorded on and off again for several years until Lang’s early death. Big band leader and composer Jean Goldkette hired Venuti for several tours in the early 1930s, and Venuti’s popularity spread. Throughout the remainder of the decade, Venuti played and recorded with many influential musicians including Bix Beiderbecke, Frankie Trumbauer, Tommy Dorsey, Jack Teagarden, and Paul Whiteman.

After Venuti’s surge of touring, his popularity became slightly subdued after the 1940s, while primarily leading his own groups. Venuti served as a studio musician in Los Angeles in the mid-1940s and continued to freelance and tour. He experienced a brief resurgence in the 1960s after a performance at the Dirk Gibson Colorado Jazz Party and into the 1970s when he recorded with many of his admirers including Ross Tompkins, Marian McPartland, Dave McKenna, and Scott Hamilton. At the end of the decade, Venuti succumbed to several serious health issues and died at the age of 74.

VERSE. A section of music in which the melodic material stays constant but the words or lyrics change. Almost all music taken from the Great American Songbook and used as a jazz standard contain a section that would be considered a verse.

VERVE. Founded by jazz producer and engineer Norman Granz, Verve Records would become a highly influential and important jazz label after its creation in 1956. Previous Granz projects from other labels were reissued on the Verve label, resulting in a catalog of music featuring Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Young, and Ella Fitzgerald. Granz sold the company in 1960, and Verve moved in several new directions during the 1970s, including expanding to include Folk music in its repertoire. In the 1980s, Verve began producing jazz records again including albums by Joe Henderson, Stan Getz, and Betty Carter. The label was consolidated by its parent company along with several other jazz labels in 1998. See also RECORD LABEL.

VIBES. See VIBRAPHONE.

VIBRAPHONE. Similar to a marimba or xylophone, the vibraphone is the most commonly used instrument of the pitched percussion family. With its tones set up in a similar fashion to a piano, the vibraphone is made up of pitched metal bars that are struck with mallets. The vibraphone has an electric motor that controls the amount of sustain of each note so that it is a more effective accompanying instrument. Significant jazz vibraphonists include Lionel Hampton, Bobby Hutcherson, Milt Jackson, Gary Burton, and Stefon Harris. See also MAINIERI, MIKE; TJADER, CAL.

VICTOR. One of the oldest known record labels, Victor was established in 1900. Victor was responsible for releasing the first jazz recording in 1917 in a recording of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. Throughout the 1920s, Victor would add to its jazz catalog and record big bands led by Paul Whiteman and Duke Ellington. Victor remained at the forefront of recorded jazz in the 1930s and produced discs by Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, and Lionel Hampton. Victor dwindled in the 1940s and was eventually slowed down considerably when the market for jazz dried up. Victor was purchased by a German company in 1986, at which point it served only as a label for reissues.

VIENNA ART ORCHESTRA. Founded in 1977 by three European jazz musicians, Mathias Rüegg, Wolfgang Puschnig, and Woody Schabata; Rüegg served as the primary leader for the orchestra. The group was very influential in the development of jazz in Austria and constantly promoted jazz music. The Vienna Art Orchestra featured concerts that focused on a variety of composers including Ornette Coleman, Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and Jelly Roll Morton. Many jazz musicians performed with the group, among them Art Farmer and Betty Carter. Working together for over 20 years, the Vienna Art Orchestra suffered few personnel changes during its existence and was at its height during the late 1990s. See also EUROPE.

VILLAGE GATE. A jazz club in New York that was popular during the 1950s. Pianist Horace Silver made a notable recording of one of his groups at the Village Gate.

VILLAGE VANGUARD. First opened in 1935, the New York club began featuring all jazz in 1957. Along with Birdland, the Village Vanguard remains one of jazz’s most historic clubs in New York. The Village Vanguard has featured nearly every important jazz performer since the 1950s. John Coltrane, Brad Mehldau, and Wynton Marsalis are some of the musicians who have recorded multidisc live performances of their sets from the venue. See also JONES, THAD; McNEELY, JIM; WILDER, JOE.

VINNEGAR, LEROY (1928–1999). Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, Vinnegar made his first mark on the Chicago jazz scene as the house bass player for the Bee Hive Jazz Club. Accompanying many touring musicians, Vinnegar performed with many of the top working musicians of the 1950s, including Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Sonny Stitt, and Johnny Griffin. Vinnegar was encouraged to relocate to California in 1954, at which point he became a regular with drummer Shelly Manne’s groups. Throughout the remainder of the 1950s, he played with many West Coast Jazz stars including Herb Geller, Dexter Gordon, Conte Candoli, Art Pepper, and Chet Baker. Toward the end of the 1950s, he was hired by tenor saxophone legend Ben Webster, and the two would work together for the better part of a decade.

Vinnegar continued his working relationship with Webster while also freelancing with many of the musicians based out of Los Angeles. He was the original bass player for the Jazz Fusion group, the Jazz Crusaders, and also did commercial and studio work in the late 1960s. Vinnegar suffered from a variety of health problems in the 1980s, which led to his relocating to Portland, Oregon, for quality-of-life reasons. Until Vinnegar’s passing in 1999, he primarily led his own trio and continued to tour and record.

VINSON, EDDIE “CLEANHEAD” (1917–1988). Despite coming from a lineage of musicians, Vinson did not familiarize himself with an instrument until he was 17, at which point he took up the alto saxophone. Vinson quickly made his mark and within a year was playing as a member of touring bands, most notably one led by tenor saxophonist Illinois Jacquet. Vinson relocated to New York in the late 1930s and was hired to be a vocalist and saxophonist with Cootie Williams for several years. Vinson began leading his own groups toward the later part of that decade, and many young musicians, such as Red Garland and John Coltrane, were at one time members of his groups.

Vinson’s style flipped between Straight-Ahead Jazz, Blues, and early Rhythm and Blues (R&B), and he was very popular in all genres. He was signed to a deal with King Records that prominently featured R&B artists, though many of his recordings were jazz based. His popularity dwindled in the 1950s, but he continued to record and perform with many of the top jazz talent including Wynton Kelly, Count Basie, and Cannonball Adderley. Vinson experienced a slight resurgence in the late 1960s and 1970s when several of his concerts in Europe with Jay McShann received acclaim. Vinson would continue to record and tour, primarily in Europe, until his death in 1988.

VIOLIN. A member of the string family, the violin was developed from the medieval instrument the viol. Like the viola, cello, and bass, the violin features four strings tuned a fourth apart, and it is the top voice of all stringed instruments. The violin is rarely used in jazz despite several virtuosos who have become proficient jazz soloists, including Stéphane Grappelli and Regina Carter. See also NANCE, RAY; SMITH, STUFF; URBANIAK, MICHAL; VENUTI, JOE.

VOCALESE. A vocal style of applying text or syllables to previously improvised jazz solos. The vocal group Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross were very influential to the common use of vocalese. Other artists like Joni Mitchell, Kurt Elling, and the New York Voices make full use of vocalese when they perform classic jazz songs. See also JEFFERSON, EDDIE; JORDAN, SHEILA; MANHATTAN TRANSFER.

VOCALION. A record label in New York that was a pioneer in releasing vertical-cut records. Vocalion recorded several important jazz groups in the 1920s and 1930s, including the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Billie Holiday, and Duke Ellington. Vocalion was fused with several other labels during its existence and was associated with jazz labels OKeh and Bluebird. Despite surviving on reissues throughout the 1960s, Vocalion was shut down in 1969.

VOGUE. Record label based out of France in the late 1940s that made several significant recordings of touring American jazz musicians including Clifford Brown, Art Farmer, and Sidney Bechet. Despite being purchased several times, the Vogue record label name lasted well into the 1980s.

VOICING. A term that describes the order and position of notes one uses when playing chords or writing chords to be played by instrumentalists. Voicing can refer to how a pianist plays a chord, or how he arranges notes in both or one of his hands.

VON OHLEN, JOHN (1941– ). Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, Von Ohlen attempted to learn several instruments as a youth, and upon entering college, he was undecided about pursuing trombone or drum set. Despite being accepted to and attending the prestigious North Texas State University, he dropped out before completing a year and worked as both a trombonist and drummer until eventually deciding on drums. Toward the end of the 1960s, Von Ohlen received his big break playing and recording with the bands of Woody Herman and Stan Kenton. In the late 1970s, he began leading his own groups, first in Indianapolis, Indiana, and then in Cincinnati, Ohio. Von Ohlen led both small groups and big bands and developed a reputation as a very diversified and distinguished performer.

V.S.O.P. (I). Name of a band fronted by Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, Ron Carter, Wayne Shorter, and Freddie Hubbard. The band did a few tours and made several live recordings in the late 1970s and 1980s. Shorter and Hubbard were replaced by Wynton and Branford Marsalis for several years until the group disbanded.

V.S.O.P. (II). A short-lived record label created to release Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) records of Louis Armstrong in the 1980s.