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Gus Mancuso was 88 erstwhile helium died. Fittingly, that’s the aforesaid fig of keys connected a piano, 1 of the galore instruments helium mastered.
Mancuso, a revered instrumentalist successful Las Vegas who backed specified legends arsenic Sarah Vaughan, Billy Eckstine, Bobby Darin, Wayne Newton, Joe Williams, Debbie Reynolds, The Supremes and Roy Clark, died Thursday of Alzheimer’s disease. Mancuso was astatine the Las Vegas location of his instrumentalist son, Ronnie Mancuso, with whom helium was surviving for the past year.
Mancuso was surrounded by his household astatine the clip of his passing. Mancuso’s widow and woman of much than 40 years, Maggie Peterson Mancuso, portrayed Charlene Darling connected “The Andy Griffith Show” successful the 1960s. Mancuso’s survivors besides see his grandson, Roman; and his granddaughter, Zia.
Mancuso was besides earlier joined to Lorraine Hunt-Bono (Laurie Perry successful those days), proprietor of Bootlegger Bistro, which remains the Hunt-Bono household business.
Mancuso was a moving instrumentalist successful Las Vegas for much than 65 years. He played bass, piano, baritone horn, trombone and vibes with large proficiency. Mancuso was a instrumentalist to the end, adjacent aft being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
“He was playing his ‘Schmooze and Booze,’ shows until June of this twelvemonth astatine the Bootlegger,” Ronnie Mancuso, who manages the Bootlegger, Copa Room and its adjacent studio, said Monday morning. “There has been an astonishing outpouring of emotion and respect for my father.”
Vegas sax large Tom Hall, who was friends with Mancuso since the aboriginal 1950s, said of his friend, “I deliberation he’d privation to beryllium remembered archetypal arsenic a musician, and helium was a large musician. He was truthful well-rounded, and helium was besides a loving soul. If you tin person a heavy emotion for idiosyncratic arsenic a heterosexual, that was us. I loved him dearly.”
Jimmy Mulidore, besides a well-known sax player, met Mancuso successful 1957. He refers to the precocious instrumentalist arsenic “Mr. Las Vegas Jazz.”
“He was 1 of the finest jazz musicians ever successful to play successful Las Vegas,” said Mulidore, who got to cognize Mancuso astatine the Black Magic Jazz Club connected Tropicana Avenue and Paradise Road. “He was large connected the baritone horn, and helium played the stand-up bass amended than anybody. He was a large pianist, too. He was an unthinkable musician, and a large person to musicians.”
Born successful Hastings, Pa., Jan. 5, 1933, Mancuso grew up successful Rochester, N.Y., counting Chuck Mangione, Joe Romano and Steve Gadd among his contemporaries. Mancuso served successful the Army successful the aboriginal 1950s, past joined the Tommy Pastor Big Band.
Hall met Mancuso astatine Fort Lee, N.J., erstwhile the 2 were successful the Army band.
“We did mostly PR enactment for the army, visiting VA hospitals and colleges, that benignant of thing,” Hall said Monday. “We would play successful the set and besides had our ain level amusement wherever we would pat dance, sing and play our instruments. We were determination to explicate to assemblage kids that you could bash this, too, if you articulation the Army. Gus was precise bully with that message, due to the fact that helium played truthful large and had truthful overmuch fun.”
Mancuso deed municipality with the Pastor set successful ‘55. But erstwhile the set near Las Vegas, helium stayed, realizing helium could marque a bully surviving arsenic a instrumentalist without having to tour. Soon, Mancuso was performing with the Mary Kaye Trio, forerunners of the aureate epoch of lounge amusement successful Las Vegas.
Mancuso was already well-known successful the industry. He was named the Playboy Jazz Poll’s New Artist of the Year grant aft releasing his debut album, “Introducing Gus Mancuso.” He played each instrumentality connected the follow-up, “New Faces,” and is featured successful Leonard Feathers’s “Encyclopedia of Jazz” arsenic the instrumentalist who brought the baritone horn (a benignant of mini-tuba, with the aforesaid scope arsenic a trombone) to prominence successful jazz music.
Mancuso would circuit the satellite with Vaughan, the fantastic and legendary jazz singer, for 17 years, playing stand-up bass. He besides toured extensively with Eckstine, himself a jazz legend. Mancuso was a go-to instrumentalist hired successful respective hotel-casino shows with the above-mentioned superstars.
During a play successful Los Angeles, Mancuso played alongside with Quincy Jones for a performance bid astatine the Greek Theater (the roster included stars-of-the-day The Brothers Johnson).
Mancuso besides toured with the famed Les Brown Band of Renown. He taught euphony astatine UNLV, tutoring galore musicians who play connected the Strip and elsewhere.
Frank Leone, a topnotch pianist and erstwhile president of the Las Vegas musicians’ union, met Mancuso successful 1967. This was conscionable aft Leone moved to town.
Leone recalls a amusement successful which Vaughan mislaid the lyrics midway done the ballad, “I Remember You.”
“She got to the bridge, and stopped, and called out, ‘Gus! What’s next?’” Leone said. “And Gus says, ‘G insignificant 7!’ He gave her the chord progression alternatively of the lyric, a full musician’s answer. Vaughan cracked up truthful overmuch she coudn’t sing.”
Leone added, “You don’t play for 17 years with Sarah Vaughan unless you tin play.”
Mancuso volition beryllium honored with a burial work 2 p.m. Feb. 3 astatine the VA cemetery successful Boulder City. A solemnisation of beingness is to travel astatine 5 p.m. astatine the Copa Room astatine Bootlegger Bistro, with galore Vegas performer taking part. Donations volition payment Keep Memory Alive, for the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.
Hall was the past instrumentalist to play alongside Mancuso, astatine Ronnie’s house. He brought his sax over. and plugged successful a keyboard for Gus. The 2 performed a fewer of the thousands of tunes they knew, among them “But Not For Me,” ““Bye-Bye Blackbird,” and “Polka Dots and Moonbeams.”
“When we started playing, helium would travel live and beryllium close determination with me, talking astir the aged days,” Hall said of his person of 70 years. “He would support up, past get mislaid a little, past travel close backmost to it. The euphony kept him going.”
Cool Hang Alert
Staying with Bootlegger Bistro, it’s pianist Doug Taylor connected Tuesday, harpist Mariano Gonzalez connected Wednesday and Thursday; and pianist/singer George Bugatti followed by Joey Melotti Jazz Duo connected Friday and Saturday. All successful the main eating room. No cover, but extremity successful the Mancuso spirit.
John Katsilometes’ file runs regular successful the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast tin beryllium recovered astatine reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him astatine jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats connected Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 connected Instagram.
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