On Friday, November 15, the Red Light Café hosted a packed house for Vinnie D’Agostino and friends, the saxophonist supported by Kevin Bales on piano, Terrell Montgomery on bass, and Dave Potter on drums, four masters of their instruments playing expertly, often furiously as they fulfilled the promise of the show’s title, “Feel the Burn.”
To say the music was intense does not to give enough credit to D’Agostino and his band of the night, the players he gathered specifically for the intensity with which they play. After roaring through an opening of Miles Davis’s “Seven Steps to Heaven,” they launched Freddie Hubbard’s free-flowing, esoteric “Crisis,” then Dexter Gordon’s “Cheesecake,” all tunes not too familiar as to be played too often and all the arrangements characterized by the relentless energy required of these uniquely capable artists.
As distinguished as his work on the saxophone, D’Agostino’s route to the rarest of Atlanta’s jazz air is atypical. He played saxophone as a youngster, and played it well; his first performance was as an 8-year-old and he turned professional at 15. But after a year in college studying music, he turned to a different path. Marriage, kids, and first with the Department of Defense, then for more than 30 years with Coca-Cola, retiring as Director of Global IT for Global Human Resources Technology, D’Agostino had to satisfy himself with the life of many musicians turned out to make a living, that of a weekend warrior.
Now he‘s back and with a vengeance, leading on gigs like “Feel the Burn,” playing as a sideman with such diverse projects as guitarist Bill Hart’s fusion band and Joe Gransden’s big band. “And a favorite project of mine,” he noted, “a quartet resurfacing pop jazz from the ‘70s.”
In a world where improvisation is the rule, the dominant characteristic of the music, D’Agostino stresses the importance of a seemingly contrasting penchant for preparation, something he says he brings to music from his corporate life.
“Part of my learning as a leader is about finding an ideal mix of players who also come prepared,” he said. “That is a special kind of preparedness, four people together who even without rehearsal come ready to go.” For more on the music and perspectives of Vinnie D’Agostino, tune in to our Music Life and Times podcast, episode 47.