Skip to content
Support local, fact-based journalism today and
you could win a $500 Green Acres gift card.
Support essential local journalism for your community.
2021 Spring News | Green Acres
Donate Now

View thank you gift options

CapRadio

CapRadio

signal status listen live donate
listen live donate signal status
listen live donate signal status
  • News
    • beats
    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
    • California Dream
    • Videos
    • Photos
  • Music
    • genres
    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Roots
    • Eclectic
    • Videos
    • Daily Playlist
  • Programs + Podcasts
    • news
    • Morning Edition
    • All Things Considered
    • Marketplace
    • Insight
    • California State of Mind
    • The View From Here
    • music
    • Acid Jazz
    • At the Opera
    • Classical Music
    • Connections
    • Excellence in Jazz
    • Hey, Listen!
    • Insight Music
    • K-ZAP on CapRadio
    • Mick Martin's Blues Party
    • Programs A-Z
    • Podcast Directory
  • Schedules
    • News
    • Music
    • ClassicalStream
    • JazzStream
    • Weekly Schedule
    • Daily Playlist
  • Community
    • Events Calendar
    • CapRadio Garden
    • CapRadio Reads
    • CapRadio Travels
    • Ticket Giveaways
  • Support
    • Evergreen Gift
    • One-Time Gift
    • Corporate Support / Underwriting
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Gift
    • Legacy Gift
    • Endowment Gift
    • Volunteering
    • Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • e‑Newsletter
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Close Menu

Speak No Evil Jazz blog

Capital Public Radio's discussion of an art form born in America and celebrated worldwide.

subscribe

 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 

Falling In Love Supreme: A Village Vanguard Visit Sealed The Deal For Rob Tocalino

Thursday, February 12, 2015
  

Rob Tocalino is the Director of Marketing  at the Mondavi Center for Performing Arts, UC Davis


By ROB TOCALINO

I was a teenager in the 1980s. My main musical points of reference were MTV, what was then called “college” rock radio, and, to a lesser degree, the mighty classic rock station KZAP.

Music did not run in my family, so when I started taking guitar lessons, I had to forge my own path. What started with acoustic noodling moved quickly through hair metal and riff-based rock. At some point in this exploration, my guitar teacher thought I should get hip to jazz, and brought in some Wes Montgomery tracks. I loved the sound, but didn’t know how to make it.

So I signed up for Stanford Jazz Camp, and spent warm summer evenings jamming and talking and soaking up jazz. But even after that, it still just all seemed too much for me. I couldn’t find my way in.

The first real spark came through the airwaves. It was my final year of college. Sitting in my apartment, writing a paper, with jazz on as background music, John Coltrane’s “Blue Train” came steaming into the room and made me stop. At that moment, I stopped hearing the music through the lens of my limited musical talent, and it started to open up for me.

But the real thing -- the ga-ga moment -- happened live. I was in New York and decided to hit a jazz club for the first time. I walked downstairs to the Village Vanguard, right at show time, and a gruff woman (who I later figured out was the owner of the club, Lorraine Gordon) dragged me to an empty seat up against the stage.

Towering above was a chandelier of resonators. And soon, Bobby Hutcherson was sweeping, dancing, and exclaiming across the instrument, moving his band and the room through a range of emotions and sounds that seemed limitless. I felt the music go right through me. I understood that night the physicality of the music, the fact that at its best it was a music made in the moment and then gone, and that what made it precious was that it could all fall apart at any minute.

Just like life.

Just like love.

 

 


This is part of a series about falling in love with the artform of jazz. 

We're inviting you to share your story of how you came to love jazz, in 200 words or less. Email your essay to jazz@capradio.org before February 14. We’ll read the top submissions on air and award several prizes.

    More about Falling In Love Supreme

  • Falling In Love Supreme

    Our music hosts contemplate the performances, songs and artists which sent them into a life time love affair with jazz as part of our series "Falling In Love Supreme." Listener-submission contest finalist essays are now posted.

 Falling In Love Supreme

Coronavirus Newsletter

Get answers to your questions, the latest updates and easy access to the resources you need, delivered to your inbox.

 

Want to know what to expect? Here's a recent newsletter.

Thanks for subscribing!

We'll send you weekly emails so you can stay informed about the coronavirus in California.

Browse all newsletters

More Jazz Posts

ARTEMIS

Celebrating Blue Note Records During Jazz Appreciation Month

April 14, 2021

More From CapRadio Music

NPR

A Melting Pot Of Traditions: Regina Carter Talks With Lara Downes

April 10, 2021
Florian Thoss

New Classical Tracks: Pat Metheny Enters The World Of Classical Guitar

April 14, 2021
We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter

More From CapRadio Music

NPR

A Melting Pot Of Traditions: Regina Carter Talks With Lara Downes

April 10, 2021
Florian Thoss

New Classical Tracks: Pat Metheny Enters The World Of Classical Guitar

April 14, 2021

Back to Top

  • CapRadio

    7055 Folsom Boulevard
    Sacramento, CA 95826-2625

    • (916) 278-8900
    • Toll-free (877) 480-5900
    • Email Us
    • Submit a News Tip
  • Contact Us

  • About Us

    • Contact Us / Feedback
    • Coverage
    • Directions
    • Jobs & Internships
    • Mission / Vision / Core Values
    • Press
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
  • Listening Options

    • Mobile App
    • On Air Schedules
    • Smart Speakers
    • Playlist
    • Podcasts
    • RSS
  • Connect With Us

    •  Facebook
    •  Twitter
    •  Instagram
    •  YouTube
  • Donate

  • Listen

  • Newsletters

CapRadio stations are licensed to California State University, Sacramento. © 2021, Capital Public Radio. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Website Feedback FCC Public Files: KXJZ KKTO KUOP KQNC KXPR KXSR KXJS. For assistance accessing our public files, please call 916-278-8900 or email us.