Review: The Vivino Brothers Blues Band Show
January 5th 2001, The Bottom Line, NYC.
Ok people. There are only so many times you get to see a show like this one.
Uncle Floyd
For those of you who don't understand why the entire population of New Jersey doesn't just get up and go somewhere else. For those of you who have had a semi-normal childhood. For those of you who have never spent time adjusting a weird circular antenna to watch a television show on UHF there is a unique artist who goes by the name of Uncle Floyd.
At the height of his popularity in the early 1980's you could see dozens of marginally collectible bumper stickers that announced: "I don't avoid. I watch Uncle Floyd." Thanks to over a hundred loyal fans and dedicated sponsors like LEE Press-on Nails, Carvel Ice Cream and local delis throughout the state his show has lasted, nearly uninterrupted, for over twenty-seven years. The Uncle Floyd Show is ostensibly a kiddie program but it's loaded with double-entendres, in jokes, weirdo comics personalities wearing stupid costumes, off-stage laughter, live rock music, odd puppets and . . . well you get the picture. Besides writing inane original dialogue and immature skits every weekday, Floyd's greatest challenge on the show is restraining himself from breaking up into hysterical laughter for half an hour.
But Floyd wasn't doing his television show at the Bottom Line. He was doing his act and Floyd's nightclub act is pure shtick. Want an idea of what it was like? Set the Way-Back Machine for 1951. Get tickets for the dinner show at Kutscher's in the Catskills. Get there early enough to catch the warm-up comedy act for Eddie Fisher and you are in the Floyd Zone. It's non-stop jokes and impressions that are probably too stupid to be funny but you can't keep yourself from laughing uncontrollably anyway. It's Henny Youngman meets Pat Cooper with a little Syd Caesar and Soupy Sales thrown in. But be careful not to set the dials for too far back or you'll end up on stage with Floyd at a Burlesque House in Paramus so deep in Vaudeville you'll never get out.
Did I mention Soupy Sales? The Sales-man himself was at the early show sitting in the front row of the reserved section. Thank you Soupy for stealing the kiddie show format from children and giving it to us warped teenagers and chronically immature adults. Floyd came by before his act to give his warm respects to the one man most responsible for his own triumphant career in television. If you're old enough to have seen Soupy Sales Show on TV you already know that Floyd's vehicle was the next de-evolutionary step from Soupy's. Don't ask what's next. Fellow Floyd Showmen Michael Townsend Wright and Mugsy, or a guy looked a lot like him, also came by to greet Soupy.
For more important Uncle Floyd Show info, visit:
After some rapid-fire jokes Floyd moved to the piano, a task that requires more than a little acrobatic aplomb at the Bottomline. He sang a series of tongue-twister songs designed to trip up the average audience member into an endless stream of scatological expletives. As part of his repertoire Floyd introduced the classic "Shaving Cream" with references to its recently deceased Brooklyn-born composer. Later a woman in the crowd requested "Deep in the Heart of Jersey" and Floyd eventually performed it. But he only sang it after a series of jokes, insults and questions revealed exactly where she lived in Queens, all the best restaurants in the area and the name of her butcher, information with which Floyd was intimately familiar.
A high point of the act (anything above the basement, har-har) was when Floyd removed his chapeau to complain about God's special brand of cruelty as evidenced by his unusual scalp. While other men tend to be either hairy or bald, Floyd has the last remnants of a widow's peak that he has trained with multiple dabs of Brylcreem! to soar six inches above his head. His best impression incorporated the towering tuft as a slightly mis-alligned version of the famous Alfalfa Spike from the Lil Rascals series. His impression of Alfafa crooning to Darla was spot on and brought the house down.
From Alfalfa's ballad Floyd went into a hearty barrelhouse piano rendition of the Rascals theme song. This, in turn, was followed by a version of the theme song complete with excessive static and tinny thin speakers, as it emanated from the Vivino family television set. You know the set, the one with the tuning dial broken because the boys used to crank it to hard the long way to get from channel 2 to channel 13 despite the strict warnings of their father. Oh yeah, it's not the big console TV. It's not the other one on top of the console. It's the third and smallest one. Yes the one positioned to the left of number two; the one with the aluminum foil on the rabbit ears and a wire that runs into the kitchen and attaches to the toaster. Yeah, that one.
A few more bawdy songs, off-color jokes and radio commercial jingles, including "We're doing our Christmas shopping at Robert Hall's this year" and out of the back of the stage other brothers began to appear intermittently. Jerry began bringing out his assorted saxophones toward the end of Floyd's act causing him to ask with mock surprise, "Am I done already!" Floyd introduced the stylishly buzz-cut Jerry as his "older" brother; the one with even less hair than he has. The last straw was when Floyd quipped, "Hey, it looks like David Wells is playing with the band tonight." Jerry groaned but hung on to it all the way till the end of the show when he vowed he would make Floyd pay for it. It's obvious where the prevailing sibling rivalry is in this family.
The Vivino Brothers Blues Band
Jimmy & Jerry opened up with a nice light jazzy number but nobody in this folder cares about the music, do you? YOU want to know about variations in facial hair, wardrobe and groundbreaking fashion statements. Am I wrong? Well, AM I WRONG? Sorry Sons and Daughters of Paramus, Kenny The Quad Man don't go there. But if you beg maybe I can get Mr. Kenneth to come in to comment.
All right already, get off your knees. Stop begging. Here he comes.
HELLLOOOOOO! To all my friends in AOL-land, a Merry Christmas a Simply Swishy New Year! Ahhooooogah!
(I don't know how long I can keep this up)
What are you whispering? Never mind. You want to know about the brothers? I have one word for you - Charcoal! Stunningah! Oops, two words. I can't help myself they were utterly gorgeoso to the max. Bless there little hearts, they came all the way down to the Village without a chance to change from their dress-up clothes. Conan, you lucky devil! You get to see them like this every day.
Dark shirts were all the rage last night at the BL accented by brightly coloured, yet tastefully understated, cravats. Who picks Mr. Jerry's ties? My Gawd, catch me before I absotutely SWOON. Pleasant psychedelic chevron pattern on little brother Jimmy's tie, but PSSSSST. . . oh Jimmy, you might want to show a tad more variety by taking a new one out of the closet since the last BL show. Did I say out of the closet? Oh my, aren't we daring!
Shoes? The stage monitors blocked the view but who can look down that low when there's so much going on from the knees up. YUM!
Michael Merritissimo, Brian Charette on Hammond B-3 and 'Freaky' Fred Wolcott on congas kept the charcoal thing going with a bit more individual style. HINT: Brain, lose the black turtleneck, this isn't church. (titter) Michael PEACH is YOU. Absolutely delicious. Don't you think about changing that shirt unless it's off to the French laundry to clean and press. Fred, honey, tucking the tie into your matching charcoal jeans is a hoot but where or what do you safety pin it to? It didn't budge. Fashion alert! Oh Fred-so, take a hint from Curtis's song: Dread is DEAD. While you're at it ring up girlfriend Catherine and give her the news.
Uh-oh. Maybe someone should gag me and tie me down before this outburst spoils my microscopic chances with the boys! Oh Mr. Q. Oh Mr. Q. Come to the rez-Q, Mr. Q. (tee-hee)
Uh, thank you Mr. Kenneth. Try to keep from pinching my butt on your way out this time. Jeez, listening to that "guy" makes me want to quick chug a brewsky and buy power tools.
Where was I? Oh yes, the music. It IS about the music. Unfortunately, the sound dudes at the Bottomline spent the entire first set trying to figure out how to make the stage monitors work while the bros. played there butts off. Jerry had to ask the audience what it sounded like because he couldn't hear. Not to blame the hired hands, there was no soundcheck for the boys due to the brief amount of time between the end of Conan and the start of Floyd. Of course, even on a bad day with lousy conditions these guys can whip most mere mortals. Yes, the show must go on and professionalism prevailed.
Forgive me for not knowing the first number but soon enough JV and JV (JV2?) were singin' sweet harmonies on Slippin' and Slidin'. Curtis Mayfield's "Pusher Man" was everything it is on the CD and more. The song features Jerry playing some great licks on flute. Hearing him play flute is a rare treat and this song is a great platform for it. Percussionist Mike Rosenberg was called out to take over congas for the number while Fred Wolcott schlepped his bongos all the way over to stage right and the piano bench. It was serious separation wide-screen stereo dueling hand drums for much of the song. This was great stuff as was Fred's work throughout. Then came assorted solos by the guys; definitely a whole lot of fun. Whether the guys going for it or not they nailed the John Barleycorn album sound of Traffic which in retrospect was one of the few successful ventures into jazz fusion by a rock band. If anybody else in the world owns an album from the 70's by a band called Compost, trust me, they nailed that sound too.
"Jealous Kind" followed "Pusher Man" with some serious percussive effect. The rhythm section dominated the beginning of the set both thematically and in terms of shear volume. Nothing wrong with that, just a slight switch from the CD where the rhythm is a bit further back in the mix.
Another switch from what I've grown accustomed to in Shows Vivino was Jerry taking on emcee duties. Jimmy seemed a bit preoccupied with getting the music down and so was not quite his buoyant self. It didn't effect his playing but he looked like he might have had a bit of a rough day at the office. Also he had to play a fare amount from music sheets which was a bit diverting. Jerry took up the slack, however he handled intros with aplomb and kept up the stage patter injecting more of his own personality into the proceedings.
Okay, don't get me wrong here - I'm no Mr. Kenneth but Jerry's new look is flattering. As my mom used to say, "You look so much better now that I can see your face." All David Wells comparisons aside, Jerry is more of a presence and personality on stage than he was before. Of course since is my first Vivino Brothers billed show I may be off. The management welcomes additions and corrections to the minutes.
The V's slowed things down with a quiet blues shuffle. When I say quiet I mean real soft like quiet in the volume department. A voice in the crowd, thinking that there was a problem, yelled out: "Turn it up!" Jerry just put his finger to his lips and let out a long low Miles Davis type "Shsssshhhhhhhhh" and the joint dropped to full hush. Halfway through the number the sound returned to normal loud and knocked everyone back a pace.
Maybe it was the last song but the one with the lyric "Lord, have mercy on me" was a stunner. It included a wailing sax solo with some sustained high notes that really showed off Jerry's chops. Best sax I ever heard him play. Then came a sibling instrumental duel and scattered solos about the place. David Charette started sounding better on B-3 as the night progressed though he did look a bit like a prep school refugee.
Jerry opened up "Fat Burns" with a little background on the title. It seems that Mr. Vivino Sr. used to ask the kids: "Do you know Fat Burns?" They'd say "No", to which he'd respond, "Well it does." O.K., so it's corny, but the title sure fit the song just right because Jimmy was on fire during it. He played his fastest guitar work of the night all the while producing scads of tuneful little riffs one right after another.
It was an All-Vivino night so Jimmy brought up his favorite New York vocalist, Catherine Russell, to join the fun. She did background singing on a tune that I should know but don't. The lyrics included:
Hey Miss Mona, My sweet belladonna, Take a trip with me, Way down to New Orleans.
Don't quote me on that. Gimme a break, I had a few beers, OK? Unlike the Poof at the bar sipping tropical rum drinks and twirling his little paper umbrellas. Oh, Hi Mr. Kenneth. You say your ears are burning? How odd. We haven't mentioned your name in ages. What's that? You want to tell them that Catherine's charcoal leather pants continued the overall theme? And how James "Wormy" Wormsworth wore a free-flowing white blouse with pirate sleeves that danced wickedly as he beat his skins? And you what? Well, thank you muchly Mr. K. but we already have way too much material for this story.
Two back-up vocals and some annoying problems with her vocal mic later and I began to wonder whether Catherine's performance would live up to the grand billing. Then she and the band did a little number written for her by Joey Vino called "Blinded by Fools Gold". Ms. Russell proceeded to set off audio DYNAMITE. She kept nothing back for this one and ended up bringing the house down.
Then Jimmy slowed things down a bit by going semi-acoustic with a hollow-bodied slide performance of "Knockin' Myself Out". It was a nice break from the all-out power plays that characterized the full-tilt blues band for most of the set. Worm joined in on washboard. You don't see a lot of professional washboard instruments these days but this sucker was obviously purpose-built for jugband, jazz and what-you-will musical duty.
Make no mistake about it, this was not your everyday Vivino Brothers Blues Band and Uncle Floyd Show. Jerry called up fellow MW7 horn-mates Mark Pender and Rich 'La Bamba' Rosenberg for a rollicking old-timey number that made the most of their collective brass talent.
It's a tight stage at the BL at best without a grand piano, a Hammond B-3 with Leslies and a set of Congas but the brothers V still found enough room for one more horn. It was a special horn. The horn that got them all interested in music. It was Papa Vivino's sharp little silver trumpet. He came on board and played some jazz licks along with the rest of the band. Then he removed the instrument from his lips in deference to the full-timers up there. Jimmy tried to get him to play some more but it's not something he does on stage every day and you could see the guy was choked up with pride. He gave Jimmy a hug and a kiss and basked in the warmth of one hot show put on by his boys.
By this time Floyd was back up at the piano and mugging with a smallish foot-long trombone. It was a toy noisemaker that played just one note. It wouldn't have been too bad if the note vaguely fit in with any of the music being played, but it didn't. Floyd tried playing it with his nose, then gave out a few toots and finally settled down at the piano once again.
The band closed with some Dixieland Soul, a rendition of "When the Saints Come Marching In" that included an around-the-club New Orleans style march featuring Jerry, Mike and Mark. As they passed Momma Vivino on the return trip to the stage she was grinning from ear to ear. Mrs. V spent the later parts of the show clapping, smiling and finally standing and dancing with the band. It felt kind of like a Black Italian Bar Mitzvah and Dixieland San Gennaro Feast wrapped up into one.
After a standing ovation the first set ended with Jimmy getting everyone to sing Happy Birthday to Soupy who had obviously enjoyed the whole show. As it was a snowy slushy night and the boys were a bit put out about the monitor situation, they invited the audience to stay on for the second set. I'm sure anyone who attended that late show will tell you it was better than the early show though I don't quite know how it could be. OK, I got more than my money's worth but heck, I missed Oogie. That little hand dude really cracks me up.
Note: Ooogie DID make an appearance during the second show.)
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