Vic Vogel Bio, Wiki
Victor Stefan “Vic” Vogel was born on August 3rd, 1935 and died on September 16th, 2019. He was a jazz pianist, composer, arranger, trombonist, and conductor in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He passed early Monday morning next to his Steinway piano, which he had played since he was 16, according to a post on his Facebook page.
Vic Vogel Early Life & Background
Vic Vogel was born to Hungarian parents living in Montreal. He began playing the piano at the age of five after watching his older brother play. He also taught himself to play trombone, tuba, and vibraphone, and to arrange music. By 14, he soloed on CBC programs aired nationwide.
When he turned 6, he played the piano and occasionally trombone in Montreal nightclubs and burlesque houses. He worked to save enough money to buy the Steinway grand piano he often played in the display window of Layton Brothers at Saint Catherine and Stanley streets.
He dropped out of school at age 12 after telling his parents that his only interest was music. He got a job at the Birks jewelry store on Ste-Catherine St., where he helped deliver packages. After work he often snuck into clubs by the back door to hear local jazz pianists like Oscar Peterson perform, according to the biography Vic Vogel: Histoires de Jazz by Marie Desjardins.
Vic Vogel Career
His work includes more than 2,000 pieces, arrangements, and compositions; his name is on more than 60 albums, and he has given more than 10,000 performances. When he was about turn 20th, he took lessons in piano theory and analysis. After having played in several orchestras of reputation, He played in several dance orchestras in the 1950s, eventually conducting his own musical ensemble in 1960 at Club Chez Parée in Montreal. In 1961, he carried out a tour with the Double Six of Paris and, in 1966, with the orchestra of Radio-Canada. In 1967 he founded his legendary band, Le Jazz Big Band, which he conducted for more than 50 years and practiced every Monday night.
The ever-colorful bandleader has played at almost every Montreal International Jazz Festival, including the very first one in 1980.
He then toured with the Parisian vocal group Les Doubles Six in 1961 and later, the Société Radio-Canada’s jazz orchestra in 1966. The album Vic Vogel and the Awesome Big Band entered the American Billboard chart in 1987.
Vogel has shared the stage with more than 2,000 artists, among them some of the legendary musicians of all time. They include Paul Anka, Sammy Davis Jr., Édith Piaf, Celine Dion, Michel Legrand, Jerry Lewis, Chucho Valdés, Maynard Ferguson, Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald, Phil Wood, Gerry Mulligan, Mel Tormé and Dizzy Gillespie.
In 2005, Vogel represented the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as the European Broadcasting Union named him to compose, arrange and conduct the European Youth Jazz Orchestra, with which he toured in Europe and recorded an album in tribute to Oscar Peterson’s 80th birthday.
In 2007, he was the subject of the feature-length documentary film, “The Brass Man” (L’homme de Cuivre), and on November 1st, 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in Music from Concordia University.
Vic Vogel Death & Cause
Vic Vogel died on Monday, September 16th, 2019 at the age of 64. He passed on next to his Steinway piano, which he had played since he was 16, according to a post on his Facebook page. Vogel had been ill for some time and was unable to participate in a farewell concert held in his honor at the Montreal International Jazz Festival in 2015. A celebration in Vogel’s honour will take place soon, according to his Facebook page.
