Patriarch of jazz in Montreal

Vic Vogel, the pianist, trombonist and bandleader who was a forceful presence on the Montreal jazz scene for decades, has died at age 84.

Vogel died Monday at his Montreal home, “beside his true love, his Steinway piano,” 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 honour at the 2015 Montreal International Jazz Festival. He had performed in 35 editions of the jazz fest — the record for any performer, festival organizers said then.

He did much to energize the city’s jazz scene with outstanding big bands that featured many of Montreal’s top players. Founded in 1968, his group included such notable musicians as Dave Turner, Rémi Bolduc, André Leroux and Ron DiLauro.

Despite his occasionally prickly side, he was an engaging character on and off the bandstand, punctuating his performances with colourful anecdotes and spicing up the band’s sound with dynamic riffs at the piano.

Andrew Homzy, former professor in the jazz program at Concordia University, said Vogel “became the patriarch of jazz in Montreal.”

Vogel was born Viktor Istvan in 1935 to Hungarian parents in Montreal. As a child, he began to play piano after his older brother, for whom the family’s piano had been purchased, gave up lessons. His first exposure was to classical music.

As a jazz musician he was largely self-taught, learning by ear to play trombone and vibraphone and then studying formal composition.

He dropped out of school at age 12, worked at Birks on Ste-Catherine St. delivering packages, and after work would sneak into clubs to hear such jazz pianists as Oscar Peterson perform, according to the biography Vic Vogel: Histoires de Jazz by Marie Desjardins.

By the early 1950s, still a teenager, he was playing piano in local clubs. He conducted his first big band performance in 1960. He conducted music at Expo 67 and the 1976 Olympic Games.

In 1968, Vogel began to score music for TV and film.

Vogel shared the stage with jazz greats such as Dizzy Gillespie, Maynard Ferguson, Gerry Mulligan and Mel Tormé. He also accompanied Tony Bennett, Eartha Kitt and Andy Williams, among others.

His recordings secured several nominations for Juno and Félix awards. In 2007 he was the subject of the documentary film The Brass Man, and in 2010 was awarded an honorary doctorate in music by Concordia. Postmedia News