John Joseph Vidacovich Jr. (born June 27, 1949) is an American

jazz drummer Jazz drumming is the art of playing percussion (predominantly the drum kit, which includes a variety of drums and cymbals) in jazz styles ranging from 1910s-style Dixieland jazz to 1970s-era jazz fusion and 1980s-era Latin jazz. The techniques an ...

and a member of the band Astral Project with James Singleton, Tony Dagradi, and Steve Masakowski, as well as Nolatet with Mike Dillon and

Brian Haas Brian Roy Haas (born March 18, 1974) is an American jazz pianist and founding member of the band Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey. Haas spent his formative years in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, a suburb of Tulsa. He began studying classical piano at age five. ...

. He has also worked with

Bobby McFerrin Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. (born March 11, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, and conductor (music), conductor. His Vocal pedagogy, vocal techniques include singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in Pitch (music), pitch—fo ...

Stanton Moore Stanton Moore (born July 9, 1972) is an American funk, jazz, and rock drummer from New Orleans. Most widely known as a founding member of Galactic, Moore has also pursued a solo recording career (beginning with his 1998 debut '' All Kooked Out ...

Charlie Hunter Charlie Hunter (born May 23, 1967) is an American guitarist, composer, producer and bandleader. First coming to prominence in the early 1990s, Hunter plays custom-made seven- and eight-string guitars on which he simultaneously plays bass line ...

Willy DeVille Willy DeVille (born William Paul Borsey Jr.; August 25, 1950 – August 6, 2009) was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five-year career, first with his band Mink DeVille (1974–1986) and later on his own, DeVille created song ...

, Robert Walter,

Mose Allison Mose John Allison Jr. (November 11, 1927 – November 15, 2016) was an American jazz and blues pianist, singer, and songwriter. He became notable for playing a unique mix of blues and modern jazz, both singing and playing piano. After moving to N ...

Johnny Adams Laten John Adams Jr. (January 5, 1932 – September 14, 1998), was an American blues, jazz and gospel singer, known as "The Tan Canary" for the multi-octave range of his singing voice, his swooping vocal mannerisms and falsetto. His biggest ...

Professor Longhair Henry Roeland Byrd (December 19, 1918 – January 30, 1980), better known as Professor Longhair or "Fess" for short, was an American singer and pianist who performed New Orleans blues. He was active in two distinct periods, first in the heyday o ...

James Booker James Carroll Booker III (December 17, 1939 – November 8, 1983) was an American New Orleans rhythm and blues keyboardist and singer. Flamboyant in personality and style, and a pianist of extraordinary technical skill, he was dubbed "the Blac ...

, and

Alvin Tyler Alvin Owen "Red" Tyler (December 5, 1925 – April 3, 1998) was an American R&B and neo-bop jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger, regarded as "one of the most important figures in New Orleans R&B". Biography Born and raised in New Orleans, T ...

. He began teaching at

Loyola University New Orleans Loyola University New Orleans is a Private university, private Jesuit university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the nam ...

in 1982.

Discography

* ''Mystery Street'' (Chebasco, 1995) * ''Banks Street'' (Chebasco, 1996) * ''Vidacovich'' (Paw Maw, 2002) * ''We Came to Play'' with June Yamagishi, George Porter Jr. (Trio, 2003) * '' 'bout Time'' (Paw Maw, 2020) * ''Out Da Box'' (Paw Maw, 2023) With Ray Anderson *'' Blues Bred in the Bone'' (Enja, 1988) With

John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951) is an American guitarist and composer. His music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention as part of the band of Miles Davis; he ...

*'' Flat Out'' (Gramavision, 1989)

Awards and honors

* Lifetime Achievement in Music (2020, ''

Gambit A gambit (from Italian , the act of tripping someone with the leg to make them fall) is a chess opening in which a player sacrifices with the aim of achieving a subsequent advantage. The word '' gambit'' is also sometimes used to describe si ...

s Big Easy Entertainment Award) * Best Drummer (12 wins between 1997 and 2018, '' OffBeat'' magazine's Best of the Beat Award) * Lifetime Achievement Award (2016, ''OffBeat'') * Best Contemporary Jazz Drummer (1995 and 1996, ''OffBeat'') * Best Contemporary Jazz Album: ''Banks Street'' (1996, ''OffBeat'') * Best Contemporary Jazz Album: ''Mystery Street'' (1995, ''OffBeat'')

References

External links

Official website: Astral ProjectJohnny Vidacovich Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2017) 1949 births American jazz percussionists Astral Project members Jazz musicians from New Orleans Living people Loyola University New Orleans faculty American jazz drummers American male drummers Drummers from New Orleans {{US-jazz-drummer-stub