Biography​
Jazz clarinetist Allan Vache was born December 16, 1953 in Rahway, New Jersey. Vache grew up in a musical family as both his father, renowned bass player Warren Vache Sr., and his brother, cornet and flugelhorn expert Warren Vache Jr., were talented musicians. Mentored by both, Vache became a talented musician at a young age. Vache graduated from Rahway High School in 1971. He then attended Jersey City State College in Jersey City, New Jersey from 1971 to 1975. Throughout his time in Jersey City, Vache studied with David Dworkin of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and independently with jazz icon Kenny Davern. Vache sees Davern as an important figure in his life, from whom he learned a great deal; "...he would show me certain fingerings, some of the upper register fingerings that I use, that I've become kind of like himself, known for my upper register ability. And most of that stuff is things that he showed me, that he developed himself. So I owe a lot to Kenny."

While in Jersey City, Vache played with other jazz greats such as Bobby Hackett, Wild Bill Davison, Pee Wee Erwin, Gene Krupa, Dick Hyman, and many others. He also performed several professional engagements with his brother Warren Jr. Sometimes scrutinized for being a white musician playing with African-Americans, Vache stuck to the music and refused to let racism impact his performances. In his interview with Monk Rowe, Vache spoke about one instance in which a man claimed jazz "is an African-American art form" and not for whites; “And I really had to say to the guy, you know, your history’s a little off. Because jazz is not an African-American art form. What it is that makes it uniquely American is it’s a merging of African-American music and European music, and that’s what made it more unique,...that’s what made it uniquely American. I said it’s not just the music of one race. That’s what’s so great about it.”

From 1974 to 1975, Vache appeared in the Broadway musical “Doctor Jazz” at the Winter Garden Theater. In late 1975, at the age of 21, Vache joined “The Jim Cullum Jazz Band” of San Antonio, Texas and began performing throughout Europe, Australia, Mexico, and the United States. He recorded nine albums with this band, including the only jazz CD of the entire score of Gershwin’s "Porgy and Bess," which was released on CBS Masterworks records. Vache and his band performed concerts of “Porgy and Bess” for many years at venues including The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and “The Cervantino Arts Festival” in Mexico City. The band also performed in several “World Series of Jazz” concerts in San Antonio alongside well-known jazz musicians Benny Goodman, Pete Fountain, Teddy Wilson, and many others. In the summer of 1992 Allan Vache left San Antonio and “The Jim Cullum Jazz Band” to pursue a freelance career. Since that time he has appeared as a solo performer at several jazz festivals around the country and abroad.

Allan Vache on Mentorship


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Table of Contents
1. Evolution of Jazz Mentorship
2. Introduction
3. History of Jazz Education and Mentorship
4. Buster Williams
5. Germaine Bazzle
6. Bob Schulz
7. Allan Vache
8. Claude Williams
9. Race in Jazz Education and DH
10. Modern Mentorship
11. Our Other DH Method
12. Conclusion
13. Additional Works Cited ​
14. Annotated Bibliography
15. Process
16. Rubric​