The New York Times > Arts > Music > Warren Vach� Sr., 90, a Mainstay of Jazz in New Jersey, Is Dead

The New York Times > Arts > Music > Warren Vach Sr., 90, a Mainstay of Jazz in New Jersey, Is Dead: "February 20, 2005
Warren Vach Sr., 90, a Mainstay of Jazz in New Jersey, Is Dead
By PETER KEEPNEWS
February 20, 2005
Warren Vaché Sr., 90, a Mainstay of Jazz in New Jersey, Is Dead
By PETER KEEPNEWS

Warren Vaché Sr., a bassist, author and historian who was long a mainstay of jazz in New Jersey, died on Feb. 4 in Rahway, N.J. He was 90.

The cause was complications of pneumonia and prostate cancer, said his son, the jazz cornetist Warren Vaché Jr.

Mr. Vaché, the father of two jazz musicians (his other son, Allan, plays clarinet), was an accomplished musician himself and an indefatigable advocate of traditional jazz.

Early in his career he was a frequent participant in jam sessions at Nick's, a Greenwich Village nightclub that was home base to the guitarist Eddie Condon, the clarinetist Pee Wee Russell and other traditionalists.

He later worked throughout New Jersey as a sideman, with the trumpet player Doc Cheatham among many others, and as the leader of his own group, the Syncopatin' Seven. He continued to perform until his early 80's.

Never a full-time musician, he serviced jukeboxes and sold electronic appliances, among other jobs, to support his jazz activities, which also included writing about jazz and promoting it.

He was the author or co-author of several books and a frequent contributor to jazz magazines. His last completed book, a biography of the trumpet player Chris Griffin, is scheduled to be published this year by Scarecrow Press.

Mr. Vaché was also a founder of the New Jersey Jazz Society and editor of its magazine, Jersey Jazz, for about a decade.

He is survived by his wife, Madeline, and his two sons.