Grammy-winner, New York native and multi-instrumentalist Vince Giordano has played in New York nightclubs, appeared in films such as The Cotton Club, The Aviator, Finding Forrester, Revolutionary Road, Cafe Society, HBOs Boardwalk Empire and for concerts at the Town Hall, Jazz At Lincoln Center, the Newport Jazz Festival and the 92nd St Y for the past five decades. Recording projects include soundtracks for the award-winning Boardwalk Empire with vocalists Elvis Costello, Patti Smith, St. Vincent, Regina Spektor, Neko Case, Leon Redbone, Liza Minnelli, Catherine Russell, Rufus Wainwright and David Johansen. Vince and his band have also recorded for Terry Zwigoff’s Ghost World, Tamara Jenkins’ The Savages, Robert De Niro’s The Good Shepherd, Sam Mendes’ Away We Go, Michael Mann’s film Public Enemies, and John Krokidas’ debut feature, Kill Your Darlings, along with HBO’s Grey Gardens and the miniseries Mildred Pierce. The Nighthawks are also seen and heard in the USA Network series Royal Pains and in the PBS series Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook. The band’s has also worked on Todd Haynes’ Academy Award nominated film Carol; the Emmy-winning Bessie bio-pic on HBO, and Cinemax’s The Knick starring Clive Owen; and the Maggie Greenwald film Sophie and the Rising Sun plus season one & two of the Emmy winning series, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel; Woody Allen’s Café Society starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart; a Barry Levinson film for HBO called Wizard of Lies, starring Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer; a historical drama called The Promise, directed by Terry George, starring Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac and Warner Brothers’ blockbuster film,The Joker. Vince also had a vocal in Martin Scorsese’s film, The Irishman. In the fall of 2020, the band released a recording with Loudon Wainwright III called, I’d Rather Lead a Band. In 2022, they recording music for the film Don’t Worry Darlings starring Harry Styles. Most recently, Vince and the augmented Nighthawks are on the soundtrack and are on-screen in the new Martin Scorsese 2023 film, Killers of The Flower Moon, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone.
Hudson West Productions feature documentary Vince Giordano – There’s a Future in the Past. opened in theaters in 2017. This is a brilliant documentary, which captures the triumphs and disasters involved in leading a band. Plus the sheer amount of work involved in transporting musicians, instruments and equipment to the venue, often at some distance from home. As if that weren’t enough, Vince has become a custodian of historic sheet music and arrangements, plus cataloging and storing his collection of over 64,000 pieces of music. All of this, and more, is encapsulated in this film, now available on DVD or Apple TV. A very special thanks to the directors Dave Davidson and Amber Edwards who found us as a worthy subject! Click on the title above to watch the trailer.
In 2017 Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks provided musical accompaniment to several silent films at MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art) in NYC.
We’ve recently discovered that several tunes recorded by the Vince and the Nighthawks are used in Video Games: BioShock; Fallout 3 and Fallout 4. As happy as we are that an new audience is listening to our music, we were a bit disappointed that we were not notified of the usage..
Giordano’s passion for music from the 1920’s & 30’s and the people that made it began at age 5. He has amassed an amazing collection of over 64,000 band arrangements and sheet music, 1920’s and 30’s films, 78rpm recordings and jazz-age memorabilia. Giordano sought out and studied with important survivors from the period; Whiteman’s hot arranger Bill Challis and drummer Chauncey Morehouse, as well as bassist Joe Tarto among others. Giordano’s passion, commitment to authenticity, and knowledge led him to create a sensational band of like-minded players, the Nighthawks. For over 50 years, Vince Giordano has almost single handedly kept alive a wonderful genre of American music that continues to spread the joy and pathos of an era that shaped our nation.
Click here to listen to Vince Giordano: The Fresh Air Interview
And most of all, keep supporting live music ~
Jaunty Songs That Reveal a Bleaker Reality
“An erupting wellspring of euphoria: that would describe the vintage swing emanating from Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks…”
–The New York Times by Stephen Holden
Playing a Bandleader and Keeping It Real
“VINCE GIORDANO didn’t just record with his band, the Nighthawks, much of the music on ‘Boardwalk Empire.’ He also served as an invaluable historical resource.”
–The New York Times by Charles McGrath
The Nighthawks: Andy Stein, violin/baritone sax; Joe Boga, trumpet; Jon-Erik Kellso, trumpet; Sam Chess, trombone; Will Anderson, alto sax/clarinet; Mark Lopeman, tenor sax/clarinet; Dan Levinson, alto sax/clarinet; Peter Yarin, piano; Arnt Arntzen, guitar/banjo; Paul Wells, percussion; Vince Giordano, band leader, vocalist, string bass/bass sax/tuba