Victor Dvoskin, professor of jazz bass, was recently featured in the Washington Post for his instrumental role in “the longest running jazz gig in D.C.”
“It’s not your typical ‘I’ll walk the baseline for you while you solo.’ It’s more constant communication,” notes Geoffrey Reecer, a member of the Air Force’s Airmen of Note, and one of three regular guitarists who play with Dvoskin. Adds pianist and occasional guest Harry Appelman, “His intonation, his soloing, the way he gets around the instrument — there’s a certain classical technique there.”
Twenty-two years and counting at the same spot in D.C.’s mercurial nightlife scene — still with no cover charge or minimum — is not an insignificant achievement, a throwback to an era when live jazz could be heard almost every night at most major hotels.
“There was a plethora of places, both big and small in D.C., and everywhere there used to be music: the Mayflower, the Willard, the bigger chains like the Ritz or the Sheraton and the Four Seasons,” says guitarist Donato Soviero, another Dvoskin regular. “But the day 9/11 hit, almost everywhere, the music was put on hold. And it never really picked up again,” he adds, noting that the digital music revolution also kicked in around that time, and hotels realized they could program their own musical choices for next to nothing in costs.”