Joe Carvalko - Piano
As a kid, Joe Carvalko
lived in part across the street from the Blue Moon
bar and grille in what was once Bridgeport’s
African American conclave.
As a youngster he heard the blues and jazz
screaming from the joint late into the night, every
night, but on Saturday night the sounds were
especially vibrant—they were seared into his head
for all time. Inside the house was his mother
playing 78s on an old Victrola- Frank Sinatra,
Tommy Dorsey, Ella Fitzgerald-this became
part of his psyche. When he was 17 he went out
west where he formed the Playboys where he
played piano and occasionally the accordion in the
Art Van Dame mode.
The group doubled with R/R and jazz. The group
stayed together for 4 years playing in and around
Omaha (the Peppermint Lounge) and Lincoln,
Nebraska, traveling as afar as Texas and
California.
He remained dormant as a performing musician
for many years and a few years ago pick up where
he’d left off, playing the standards in the way he
remembered them so long ago.
lived in part across the street from the Blue Moon
bar and grille in what was once Bridgeport’s
African American conclave.
As a youngster he heard the blues and jazz
screaming from the joint late into the night, every
night, but on Saturday night the sounds were
especially vibrant—they were seared into his head
for all time. Inside the house was his mother
playing 78s on an old Victrola- Frank Sinatra,
Tommy Dorsey, Ella Fitzgerald-this became
part of his psyche. When he was 17 he went out
west where he formed the Playboys where he
played piano and occasionally the accordion in the
Art Van Dame mode.
The group doubled with R/R and jazz. The group
stayed together for 4 years playing in and around
Omaha (the Peppermint Lounge) and Lincoln,
Nebraska, traveling as afar as Texas and
California.
He remained dormant as a performing musician
for many years and a few years ago pick up where
he’d left off, playing the standards in the way he
remembered them so long ago.
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| Waterfront Jazz Project |
| Waterfront Jazz Project |
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| Waterfront Jazz Project |
| Waterfront Jazz Project |