| Bill LaVorgna | |
| Birth Name: | William A. LaVorgna |
| Birth Date: | 1933 6, mf=yes |
| Birth Place: | Paterson, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Stuart, Florida, U.S. |
| Genre: | Jazz, pop, folk, soul, rhythm and blues, country, American standards |
| Occupation: | Musician (drums), musical director |
| Years Active: | 1950s–2000s |
| Label: | Capitol --> |
William A. LaVorgna (1933–2007) was an American traditional pop and jazz musician (drums) who for many years was musical director for American actress, dancer and singer, Liza Minnelli.[1]
LaVorgna took up the drums as a child. He attended Paterson Central High School, from which he graduated in 1951. He then studied at New York University, where he earned degrees in music education and music.
According to his wife, LaVorgna was never without work as a studio musician, having performed in an estimated 10,000 recording sessions over his career. His first recordings were made in the early 1960s with jazz guitarist Tony Mottola. Beginning with Pat Boone, LaVorgna began a long career in the pop music field, working with singers such as Eddie Fisher, Bobby Darin, Judy Garland, James Brown, the Four Seasons, and The Toys, ringing up 19 million-sellers and many number one records.[2]
In the field of jazz LaVorgna was involved in 35 recording sessions between 1961 and 1987. He performed with Sam Most, Stan Free, Toots Thielemans, Phil Woods, Spanky McFarlane, Marvin Stamm, Patrick Williams, Gary McFarland, and Paul Desmond. In the 1970s he also recorded with Gary Burton, Urbie Green, Joe Thomas, Kimiko Kasai, Bobby Scott, Barbara Carroll, and Ralph Burns.[3] LaVorgna won two jazz Grammys with Gary Burton and Patrick Williams.
With Ted Sommer, LaVorgna released two easy-listening LPs in 1961.[4]
Lifelong friends, LaVorgna served as musical director for Liza Minnelli for more than 30 years.
The two first met in the mid-50s when Minnelli was a child[5] and he was under contract to her mother, Judy Garland. LaVorgna worked with Garland in her 1961 Carnegie Hall appearance and her 1963 television series.
One of LaVorgna's earliest live collaborations with Minnelli was a week-long engagement at the Latin Casino in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, in January 1977. They previously had worked together on her soundtrack for the 1977 motion picture "New York, New York."
LaVorgna went on to serve as Minnelli's exclusive musical director and conductor from 1978 through 1999. For Minnelli's September 1979 Carnegie Hall appearance, musical director Lavorgna was described by John S. Wilson in his New York Times review of the concert as "a dynamic drummer who presided from the upper regions of the stage, casting down percussive commandments like a musical Moses."[6]
Other LaVorgna credits include Minnelli's 1986 concert at the London Palladium; her three-week concert series at Carnegie Hall in May–June 1987; her 1992 performance at Radio City Music Hall; the 1993 television special "The Day After That"; and "Minnelli on Minnelli," her concert that ran at the Palace Theatre on Broadway from December 8, 1999, through January 2, 2000.[7]
LaVorgna retired in 2000, but returned to work with Minnelli as her drummer and musical conductor in 2002.[8]
Over the period spanning a half-century, LaVorgna was said to have become a true member of Minnelli's family. Minnelli claims she and LaVorgna developed a fast friendship when he espied her, at age 13, driving her mother's car around Las Vegas and smoking, and yet he never told on her. The episode remained their secret, and they became best friends. She nicknamed him "Pappy."[9] Once when Minnelli played Atlantic City, the casino arranged for her to stay in a home on the water near the hotel. She had "Pappy" stay in one of the guest rooms. In March 2002, LaVorgna escorted Minnelli down the aisle for her wedding to David Gest.[10]
In 2008, the year following LaVorgna's death, Minnelli appeared in a month-long concert at the Palace Theatre, "Liza's at The Palace....." Her performances were dedicated "in loving memory of Bill ‘Pappy' LaVorgna."
LaVorgna was a veteran of the Korean War. A New Jersey native, he lived in Princess Anne on the Eastern Shore of Maryland for twenty years, where he raised and trained sporting dogs. Prior to that, he and his family lived in Walton, NY and Sussex, NJ. He was living in Stuart, Florida, with his wife of 54 years, Joan, at the time of his death in 2007.[11]