Al Vega, 90, Boston piano legend accompanied the giants of jazz

December 04, 2011|By Bryan Marquard, Globe Staff

Al Vega celebrated his 90th birthday (above) this summer with a performance… (Essdras m suarez/globe…)

In clubs hazy with smoke and the promise of a great performance, Al Vega played piano as the finest jazz musicians stepped into the spotlight.

Appearing in nearly every chapter of Boston’s jazz history, beginning in the 1930s, Mr. Vega shared the stage with a roster of musical royalty: Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Stan Getz, and Billie Holiday and Nina Simone.

They asked Mr. Vega to back them because he made their music better and was reliable.

“Billie Holiday had her own piano player, and so did Charlie Parker,’’ he said in 2004, “but don’t forget, when you’re playing seven nights a week, sometimes a piano player might get high, and so I’d end up playing for people like Billie Holiday or Bud Freeman or Charlie Parker or Miles, who didn’t like white people, but I got along with him OK. And Nina Simone had a bad reputation, too, but I played opposite her and got along with her.’’

Mr. Vega, who possessed the kind of stamina that kept him performing and coaching youth baseball as a nonagenarian, died of kidney failure Friday in Massachusetts General Hospital. He was 90 and had lived in Everett since just after World War II.

“In the history of Boston jazz, he’s got to be in the top level, not only because of his longevity, but because of his incredible musicianship and the incredible integrity he brought to all his endeavors,’’ said Leonard Brown, an associate professor of African-American studies and music at Northeastern University who published the book “Boston’s Jazz Legend: The Al Vega Story’’ this year. “He always brought his best to the gig, every time.’’

Mr. Vega, who also played vibraphone, had regular gigs at Antonia’s in Revere and at Lucky’s Lounge in Boston, and his resume reached back to the legendary ballrooms and clubs of Boston’s heyday in the national jazz scene. He played swing and bebop at the Hi-Hat and performed in places such as the Roseland ballroom, Storyville, the Ken Club, and Paul’s Mall.

Those performances continued after he turned 90 in June.

Mr. Vega, who played in a trio with Dave Zox on bass and Rick Klane on drums, was the featured act at his 90th birthday party in June at Scullers Jazz Club.

“I think he was probably one of the most beloved musicians of our time, both historically and from a musical standpoint,’’ said radio personality Ron Della Chiesa, who is helping to organize a January tribute to Mr. Vega at Scullers. “Al just kept going. He was like a jazz train - he was the ‘A train.’ ’’