Help Save Johnny Vidacovich's House

[ShaSha]

A note from Stanton Moore:

HELP SAVE THE VIDACOVICH HOUSE!

Hello fans of great music,
I'm writing to you to ask for your help in helping out my mentor, teacher and good friend Johnny Vidacovich. Johnny and his wife Deborah's house is in need of major repairs and they are in need of financial help. To compound matters, Johnny is developing arthritis in his right thumb. I want to keep him from having to play every single gig that comes his way so that the arthritis doesn't get worse. This is the house that I learned my most important musical lessons in. This is also the house that Kevin O'day, Brian Blade and many other great drummers learned in. Johnny is one of the most unique drummers in the world and is a New Orleans treasure.

So I want to help them in as many was as I can by letting as many people as I know that:

- Johnny will be teaching lessons at the house for the next few weeks at a discounted rate of $75 an hour
- You can book the lessons with Deborah via email at jvidacovich@cox.net
- You can make donations to the Vidacovich cause by mailing a check made out to Johnny Vidacovich to 4816 Bienville St. New Orleans, LA 70119
- You can make a donation online by clicking here! http://www.stantonmoore.com/news/jv.html

[Blitzzzzz]

Geez, yet another great one still suffering from the Thing! Everyone whose ever been knocked out by one of his amazing solos should pony up the price of a ticket, or at least a drink!

Meanwhile, check out this piece in the New York Times about Davell Crawford if you will.:cool:

The New York Times
November 22, 2007
A Displaced Jazz Musician Rebuilds in New York
By VINCENT M. MALLOZZI

The musical Prince of New Orleans has been touring New York in vagabond shoes.

"I've been walking around at night looking at all the clubs and the
restaurants, just trying to figure out a new beginning for myself,"
said Davell Crawford, 32, sitting on a piano bench recently at Roth's
Westside Steakhouse on the Upper West Side, where he practices. "I'm
just thankful to be given another chance in a great city like this, a
chance to fit in somewhere and entertain the people."

Mr. Crawford, a jazz artist who is as well known in New Orleans as
Mardi Gras, lost everything but his melodious soul in 2005 to
Hurricane Katrina, which caused many musicians to leave and try to
find work in other cities.

His career ruined by the storm, the man who once opened for Etta
James, jammed with Lionel Hampton and thrilled audiences on four
continents lives in a tiny Manhattan apartment provided by the Jazz
Foundation of America, which has aided in more than 3,000 emergency
cases involving musicians and their families affected by Katrina.

"Davell is a cross between Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles, a male
Billie Holiday," said Wendy Oxenhorn, the executive director of the
Jazz Foundation. "He is way too talented to be going through hard
times."

Mr. Crawford, called the Prince of New Orleans by a former mayor, Marc
H. Morial, said that Katrina wiped out his apartment and his Lower
Ninth Ward recording studio, where he kept his grand piano,
recordings, compositions, jewelry, even money.

The studio doubled as a music school for hundreds of aspiring young
artists whom Mr. Crawford, whose energetic music embraces jazz,
gospel, funk and rhythm and blues, taught to sing and play the piano.
The catastrophe forced him to live for a while in his grandmother's
beauty salon, which Katrina left partly standing, with no running
water and no heat.

As the rest of New Orleans struggled to recover, Mr. Crawford used his
life's savings to support himself while performing at funerals and
benefits around the city.

For those performances, he took no pay, but great pleasure in repaying
those who had showered him in better days with thunderous applause at
places including the House of Blues, Charly B's and the Maple Leaf.

"Down in New Orleans, we're a very tribal community," Mr. Crawford
said. "We're like family ó we help one another."

By February 2006, six months of volunteering had taken a financial
toll on Mr. Crawford. He had drifted to Atlanta and was sleeping on
the floors of friends' apartments.

One afternoon, he found himself in a Burger King there, with $12 left
in his pocket.

"A preacher friend of mine from Atlanta called me that very day, just
by coincidence," Mr. Crawford said. "He rushed over to the Burger King
and gave me a hundred dollars ó and I just broke down and started to
cry."

The next day, he received a phone call from Ms. Oxenhorn, whose
foundation began helping him with bills and finding him work. In
August this year, the foundation brought him to New York and placed
him in his apartment, gave him a donated grand piano worth $12,000 and
had his grandmother's beauty salon in New Orleans repaired.

The foundation also provided Mr. Crawford with recording equipment to
make CDs to get bookings for festival work and helped him land an
audition for Blue Note Records in New York and numerous gigs around
the city.

Those gigs included the foundation's annual benefit concert, "A Great
Night in Harlem," held at the Apollo Theater in May, which raised
$750,000.

"We have to keep in mind that this is just one story out of hundreds
of musicians that have needed us," Ms. Oxenhorn said of Mr. Crawford's
plight. "Many of the other musicians we have been helping are elderly,
without any resources."

For now, the foundation arranges for Mr. Crawford to play at private
parties, which pay just enough to cover rent and basic expenses. But
he dreams of playing in bigger venues, honing his piano skills in his
apartment on the donated piano and practicing at the steakhouse.

Mr. Crawford, who has been performing since he was 7, won a 1998 Big
Easy Entertainment Award for Best Gospel Artist. He is the grandson of
James Sugar Boy Crawford, a pioneer of New Orleans rock 'n' roll and
composer of "Iko Iko," a popular song written in 1954 under the
original title "Jock-A-Mo."

In the early 1960s, Sugar Boy was caught in a different kind of storm.
While on tour in the still-segregated South, his entourage was stopped
by the local police, and he was taken from his car and beaten so badly
that he decided never to return to music.

"He had his Katrina," Mr. Crawford said softly, "and I had mine."

While mentioning the places he would love to play in New York ó the
Algonquin Hotel, the Blue Note and Birdland ó Mr. Crawford noticed a
tip jar on top of the piano with several bills stuffed inside.

He left his piano bench, picked up the jar and gave it to a waiter.

"This is not my money," he said. "When I earn it, I'll keep it."

[Rossvegas]

Wow. These stories just break my heart....

[Rossvegas]

I just chipped in to save Johhny's casa, and I encourage everyone to do the same. Let's show hin some threadhead love, y'all!

[papafrog]

shit..i had no idea that davell was in such dire straits...
i talked to him a few times after show, im a huge fan of his...
hes such a nice guy.......he told me he lost his place in
the lower 9, but he never mentioned he lost a recording studio,
and all that stuff thats so important to musicians....
and he played jazzfest 2007, and plays snug harbor, preservation hall,etc.
so i thought he was doing ok.....i had no clue he was living in new york...
hes such a new orleans treasure...
the same goes for johnny v....just reading what stanton moore wrote in
that thread above is real heartfelt.....johnny v also teaches
at the tips sunday workshops for kids on a regular basis...
hes really great with the kids....

[djgriff]

I just chipped in to save Johhny's casa, and I encourage everyone to do the same. Let's show hin some threadhead love, y'all!

With ya Ross.

[glinda]

Yes; it's the season of giving. Hope they get lots of help.

[Blitzzzzz]

I just chipped in to save Johhny's casa, and I encourage everyone to do the same. Let's show hin some threadhead love, y'all!

With ya Ross.

Please forward this to those you know who might be interested. The staff at the station I work at, WEMU.org, are pooling their dollars together. Great opportunity to unite your Jazz and New Orleans loving friends, besides as Glinda says, you never know who'll step up. Tis' the season, indeed.:cool:

[Rossvegas]

This is cool! When I chipped in last night, the fund was at $140...now it's over $1,500. Looks like lots of people are paying their respects to Johhny V!

[ShaSha]

Excellent...!

I didn't know about Davell Crawford either...:(

The other night here in DC, Mike Mills (REM) had a party with and (partially) for Al "Carnival Time" Johnson. It was a charity event for Sweet Home New Orleans. http://dcist.com/2007/12/03/helping_the_mus.php

[mightyradgumbo]

Excellent...!

I didn't know about Davell Crawford either...:(

The other night here in DC, Mike Mills (REM) had a party with and (partially) for Al "Carnival Time" Johnson. It was a charity event for Sweet Home New Orleans. http://dcist.com/2007/12/03/helping_the_mus.php

Sweet Home New Orleans is a great organization in the couple of dealings I have had with them. They hosted an event with Carnival Time here in Boston that BonnieZ alerted me to but I was unfortunately unable to attend.
Here is their website for anyone interested in finding out more:
http://www.sweethomeneworleans.org/home.php

[nola_funk]

i was just reading something about johnny vidacovich online.
it was talking about him playing on professor longhair's crawfish fiesta and he also played on john scofield's flat out.

i posted a bulletin on my nola myspace page.

[glinda]

This is cool! When I chipped in last night, the fund was at $140...now it's over $1,500. Looks like lots of people are paying their respects to Johhny V!
Wow, it's now at $2,700 - over $2,500 in 24 hours. Isn't the internet amazing!

[ShaSha]

Wow, it's now at $2,700 - over $2,500 in 24 hours. Isn't the internet amazing!

I'm starting see the email being copied to other groups that I belong to as well, so the message is definitely spreading.

Hopefully, if he gets more than he needs, he'll be able to pay it forward to someone else in need. :)

[freebo]

I'd bet money on that one, Sha.

Johnny and Deb, man they gots good hearts, yeah...

[Jordan]

I just tried to click on the link and donate, but I don't see how to do it. It says you can make a donation online below, but I don't see anything to click on.

Any ideas?

[Blitzzzzz]

I just tried to click on the link and donate, but I don't see how to do it. It says you can make a donation online below, but I don't see anything to click on.

Any ideas?

Jordan,
Click on the box that says "Chip In" in the square that has the amount and the graph of contributions. Dead center below all the verbiage. It should take you to Paypal.:cool:

[ohio]

I so appreciate Johnny's contributions to the music world. He even graced our local blues fest as part of the house band (w/Joe Krown) at the piano stage. Total is over $3600 already!

[SteveMiami]

Sweet Home New Orleans is a great organization in the couple of dealings I have had with them. They hosted an event with Carnival Time here in Boston that BonnieZ alerted me to but I was unfortunately unable to attend.
Here is their website for anyone interested in finding out more:
http://www.sweethomeneworleans.org/home.php

I spread this around to radio contacts :cool:

A few bucks here and there going to artists in need, in exchange for a ton of great New Orleans musicians seems fair to me :)

[Jordan]

Jordan,
Click on the box that says "Chip In" in the square that has the amount and the graph of contributions. Dead center below all the verbiage. It should take you to Paypal.:cool:

It showed up at work, but at home last night there was no chip in applet.

[glinda]

Wow, over $6,000 today, got a nice little thank you from Deborah V today too.

[nola_funk]

^ up ^

[ohio]

Wow, over $6,000 today, got a nice little thank you from Deborah V today too.Got one too!

[Papins]

Please help. How is "Vidacovich" pronounced?

[rosetree]

Please help. How is "Vidacovich" pronounced?

Vih-dak-O-vitch

[pokerchick66]

Vih-dak-O-vitch

I thought it was vida-kovitch. Ever see About Last night? ;)

[funkkjunkie]

I think it's vuh dock uh vitch

[rosetree]

I think it's vuh dock uh vitch

That's what I meant to say, but couldn't spell it out...;) :D
Or it might be vuh dock AH vitch....

[pokerchick66]

That's what I meant to say, but couldn't spell it out...;) :D
Or it might be vuh dock AH vitch....

I just checked and this is how it's pronounced: Vi-DOCK-uh-vitch.

[rosetree]

I just checked and this is how it's pronounced: Vi-DOCK-uh-vitch.

Yeah, that's the ticket!!!!;)

[ohio]

I just checked and this is how it's pronounced: Vi-DOCK-uh-vitch.He was part of the house band along with Joe Krown at our local blues fest last year, and yyr that's how they announced him.

[Papins]

thanks to all...I thought it was Vida-ko-vitch

[pokerchick66]

thanks to all...I thought it was Vida-ko-vitch

lol, shaddup, Papins! :p

[Papins]

lol, shaddup, Papins! :p

it's true...as a friend of mine explaned how to pronounce her last name: "it all depends on where you place the syl-ah-ble"