Growing up in Yugoslavia, in Kotor, Montenegro, Larry Vuckovich studied classical piano.  There he also developed an interest in jazz, listening to it on our Armed Forces radio and experimenting with it himself.

When he was just fourteen, he and his family emigrated to San Francisco.  That was 1951 and the jazz scene here was flourishing.  San Francisco clubs hosted jazz stars from all over the country.  Famous jazz musicians including Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Evans, Milt Jackson, and many others appeared at clubs like the Black Hawk and the Jazz Workshop.  The young Vuckovich was an eager listener.  He met Vince Guaraldi at the Black Hawk and Guaraldi took him on as his student.  A student of both classical and jazz piano, Larry went on to get a degree in music at San Francisco State.

He started playing as a full-time professional in 1960.  He had the good fortune to appear with such instrumentalists as Brew Moore, John Handy, and vocalists Mel Torme, David Allyn, and Irene Kral.  In 1965, he began his twenty-year association with vocalist and lyricist Jon Hendricks, who had previously gained fame as a member of the group Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross.  With Hendricks, Larry toured the U.S., Canada, and Europe, performing at major festivals and clubs.  He appeared on two recordings with Hendricks, Cloud Burst and Tell Me the Truth, and in Hendricks' exceptional musical stage production, Evolution of the Blues.

In addition to touring with Hendricks, in the late 60's Larry led the house band at what was then Germany's top jazz club, The Domicile in Munich.  In that role, he backed visiting jazz greats including Lucky Thompson, Slide Hampton, Pony Poindexter, and Clifford Jordan.  It was also in Munich where Larry met master drummer Philly Joe Jones, with whom he went on to tour Europe. 

Later, in the late '70's, Larry was to meet up with Jones again, in San Francisco.  Larry was the house pianist at the Keystone Korner club here.  At the club, he performed with jazz masters Arnett Cobb, Buddy Tate, Charles McPherson, Leon Thomas, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, and Scott Hamilton.  The Keystone Korner closed in 1983, ending Larry's long-time gig there.

Larry moved to New York, the jazz capital of the world, in 1985.  He appeared at most of the major jazz clubs there, including the Village Vanguard, the Blue Note, Bradley's, Zinno, and others.  Some of his musical associations in New York included Billy Higgins, Charles McPherson, Cecil Payne, Al Cohn, Curtis Fuller, Milt Hinton, Mel Lewis, Michael Moore, and Tom Harrell (who appears on Larry's CD Tres Palabras).

In 1990, Larry returned to San Francisco, where he is one of the mainstays of the jazz scene.  He has appeared on many recordings by Bay Area jazz musicians, including four that are now available through Five Spot, Nika Rejto's Bridge Weaver, Al Molina's Straight From the Heart, and his own Deja Vuk and Tres Palabras.  Also, you can often catch him live in The City.  Check his Upcoming Appearances page.