INTERVIEWEE: Hello my name is Joey Ciccone and I have been in Las Vegas since
2004. My birthday is August 13, 1960.
INTERVIEWER: Analyze how jazz impacted the culture of Las Vegas.
INTERVIEWEE: Well when you back to the original roots of jazz, which was back many
years, starting in New York, Chicago, and some of the great clubs in LA, when it came
to Vegas it really influenced Vegas a lot with the style of jazz. As you’ve heard, some of
the great vocalists and musicians of that era, starting from Duke Ellington on down, as
we grow into Sinatra, as we grew into Kelly Smith and Louis Prima, it really influenced
a lot. That was the sound at the time and that’s what people came to Vegas to see that
style of music. It has changed along the years obviously, but it was so popular in all those
different areas that’s what they came to Vegas to see live shows, jazz music, and that
field of Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, the rat pack, the whole field.
INTERVIEWER: What was your significance in the entertainment industry?
INTERVIEWEE: Well it’s pretty interesting because at twenty-one years old I was
signed with Miles Davis, the main man of jazz, to me, the main trumpet player of all
time. Out of Chicago, I was with Expansion Records and I had my own record deal and
we did a lot of movies together, a lot of soundtracks, let’s put it that way. And at a young
age, it was a big influence on me, not just to learn, but also to see what it was like and to
go on tour and to be signed as an artist with them. It was very important although there
wasn’t, at the end, any distributing for my record, but we still kept a very close personal
relationship. And even though miles has passed away at this time, I’ve been very lucky
to have a lot of stuff on tape that me and him did for a lot of film scores and a lot of
different things. But just to get back to your question, which was your question?
INTERVIEWER: it was, what was your significance in the entertainment industry.
INTERVIEWEE: Well Jazz was and I have taken it into a lot of different other places
obviously, if you look into my background from Los Angeles for twenty-five years doing
all the standards, working all the rooms of the old school sound which is all the standard
music; the sounds of Sinatra, the sounds of Miles, the sounds of so many people that I
have incorporated into my show and what I’ve done really added a lot to me and that’s
what set me out here in 2004 even though I had a lucrative show in Los Angeles.
INTERVIEWER: What attracted you to move to Vegas?
INTERVIEWEE: Well it was actually you. No, I’m just kidding. I was working at the
W hotel in West Wood in California, the Peninsula, and the Beverly Hills’ Hilton. I had
some of the biggest shows with seven pieces in the Los Angeles area for probably over
ten years, working for Tony Danza for fifteen years and you know you listen to a lot of
celebrities and a lot of friends that say you know what? There’s a great strip in Las Vegas
and there’s some entertainers that are out there and we see your show really making a big
dent out there and that’s what really motivated me in 2004 to come out here. My style
of working with Bobby Darin in the sense of using some of his things that I’ve learned
from him, Elvis, Wayne Newton, Miles, we put it all together and it becomes the Joey
Ciccone style in itself. So I did borrow a lot of those things and I felt the confidence of
the celebrities I’ve dealt with and coming out here that I could have my own made show
on the Strip, and again, we’re talking 2004, a lot’s changed during that time and you
know, I keep at it 24/7, but the industry has changed a lot.
INTERVIEWER: What was the difference between the industry in Vegas and the
industry outside of Vegas, such as Chicago or California?
INTERVIEWEE: Well that’s a good question you know, in New York, Chicago, LA,
as far as Louisiana, there was always live music. Wherever you would go, you would
find a band that would perform live, people would come out and have drinks and listen
to live music night and day. Okay, live music was what it was all about and along with
all the different things that has happened in the government’s budget, a lot of things has
happened in Las Vegas. There’s not the trend of a live band anymore or paying a live
musician. You can go the easy way and go with karaoke, playing tracks, you notice here
in Las Vegas with the Circus Sole, that has stepped in all through the strip. Okay if you
really go down the strip, you aren’t going to see many live performers that would step
into lounges. We would work 5, 6 different shows a night. Not personally myself, but
musicians that I know would work in lounges and different places and make a nice living.
INTERVIEWER: How has the music changed over your lifetime?
INTERVIEWEE: Well being born in 1960, obviously it’s changed in a whole different
direction, obviously. You know, I was raised on everything from the Beatles on down to
Elvis, on down to Sinatra, things I listened to, the opera stuff I listened to. I want to say
one statement. To me as a musician, and an artist, and an actor, that’s when music was
music. The lyric and the melody spoke very highly and I want to make this very clear
to you, in my mind, the lyric, the melody, and the whole message does not make sense
anymore. It’s not where it was at one time. And that’s why we go back to the American
standard you know, the American songbook they say. Gershwin, some of the greatest
writers, porter, some of the greatest songs I’ve sang. Those were writers. Those lyrics
spoke a story. When Sinatra sang a song, and told a story, he made it like it was your
own. Those songs are gone. I find it in my heart to try to re-write some of those type of
feels songs you know, feelings of songs where I can capture that. It’s very important with
some of my shows coming up now; I think the whole message is with the piano player
and just me singing with the piano vocally. It’s to get the song across, not vocally, but
to get the message of the song. What is he singing about? What story is he telling me?
That’s what you want to leave the fan or person that comes to see you with. What is he
telling me? The melody is beautiful, but what is he saying? Can he get that message
across to the audience or can he just get up there and just sing a song? Okay and I believe
getting the message across to the people that come to see you. I want you to know what I
mean when I say, “Smile though your heart is aching, smile even though it’s breaking.”
It’s the feeling of the song or the billions of songs that have been written that were great
songs at one time. So you’ve asked me the question, where has it changed? It’s changed
in a whole other direction. I don’t think the songs of yesterday are here today.
INTERVIEWER: What’s your favorite part about performing?
INTERVIEWEE: Well Jayson, I think the biggest thing after doing it for 35-40 years,
although I don’t look my age, the point of the matter is the response of the looking at
your face or looking at this young lady’s face and looking at the response as I do generate
the song vocally and the message that I give across, have I touched that lovely muscle
that’s inside of us. Have I touched that somehow? Have I made a difference? Have I sung
the song different than maybe you’ve heard it before? But I touched a nerve they say.
And we all know that feeling. And if you don’t know, I can explain it to you. It’s goose
bumps. You get something that’s called goose bumps that run down your back and it’s
just a weird feeling and that’s when that singer has really hit that nerve that has tapped
into your heart. It tapped into somewhere and he’s touched you or she’s touched you and
I think that’s what it’s all about. I thrive on that, I worked very hard on doing that and if
you come and see me on October 11th
INTERVIEWER: How have the women in the entertainment industry changed?
INTERVIEWEE: Well it’s pretty simple. We’ve brought more sex and sex appeal into
the music. Sex sells so that has become more of a main issue than actual the melody of
what you’re singing about and if we go back in time and we talk about some of the classy
women that sang some of the great song book songs that were incredible, they did it
with class and with sex appeal. But they were able to pull the song off and pull it off in a
classy way and do it in a classy way but with a little bit of sex appeal. But just to finally
answer your question, we went a little to in the sex part and away from the melody, the
music, the strong-ness of the song, and I believe as long as we can sell records through
sex, in 2013, that seems that’s what its all about.
INTERVIEWER: How has the economy affected your career?
INTERVIEWEE: Well you know, Jayson, that’s a great question because I came out here
in 2004 and gave up a lucrative career in the Beverly Hills area, all over Los Angeles
and as they call it in Vegas, “rolling the dice”. And as I came out here and I have had
many celebrity friends like Nicholas Cage, Haile Berry, a lot of people that would come
to my shows on Sundays at the W Hotel. That kind of gave me the push you know, go
out to Vegas, there’s a gentlemen out there, Danny Ganz, he’s got his own show on the
strip. You know, Joey you can do very well out there. Well as we’ve learned after all the
years, how the entertainment has decreased and the payment of the musician is not worth
you know what’s the word I want to say like basically its time its like we will give you
a meal, we’ll buy you a drink. That’s not what musicians worked on. They worked on a
, I’ll be happy to show you that in person.
paycheck. They came out here to work and I’m sorry to say, but my move hasn't shown
me the signs that I thought it was and I will, if we close on this, if we don’t, I will say
this, Vegas has changed, its not the same Las Vegas it’s been before, whether when the
Mob had it, or whether it’s been controlled by anyone else, its controlled my corporate
people right now, that are pushing circus sole, its all about the money and your live
entertainment in your lounges, tell me where you can go and find a live band that’s going
to be kicking it until 6 or 7 in the morning because that’s how it used to be.
2004. My birthday is August 13, 1960.
INTERVIEWER: Analyze how jazz impacted the culture of Las Vegas.
INTERVIEWEE: Well when you back to the original roots of jazz, which was back many
years, starting in New York, Chicago, and some of the great clubs in LA, when it came
to Vegas it really influenced Vegas a lot with the style of jazz. As you’ve heard, some of
the great vocalists and musicians of that era, starting from Duke Ellington on down, as
we grow into Sinatra, as we grew into Kelly Smith and Louis Prima, it really influenced
a lot. That was the sound at the time and that’s what people came to Vegas to see that
style of music. It has changed along the years obviously, but it was so popular in all those
different areas that’s what they came to Vegas to see live shows, jazz music, and that
field of Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, the rat pack, the whole field.
INTERVIEWER: What was your significance in the entertainment industry?
INTERVIEWEE: Well it’s pretty interesting because at twenty-one years old I was
signed with Miles Davis, the main man of jazz, to me, the main trumpet player of all
time. Out of Chicago, I was with Expansion Records and I had my own record deal and
we did a lot of movies together, a lot of soundtracks, let’s put it that way. And at a young
age, it was a big influence on me, not just to learn, but also to see what it was like and to
go on tour and to be signed as an artist with them. It was very important although there
wasn’t, at the end, any distributing for my record, but we still kept a very close personal
relationship. And even though miles has passed away at this time, I’ve been very lucky
to have a lot of stuff on tape that me and him did for a lot of film scores and a lot of
different things. But just to get back to your question, which was your question?
INTERVIEWER: it was, what was your significance in the entertainment industry.
INTERVIEWEE: Well Jazz was and I have taken it into a lot of different other places
obviously, if you look into my background from Los Angeles for twenty-five years doing
all the standards, working all the rooms of the old school sound which is all the standard
music; the sounds of Sinatra, the sounds of Miles, the sounds of so many people that I
have incorporated into my show and what I’ve done really added a lot to me and that’s
what set me out here in 2004 even though I had a lucrative show in Los Angeles.
INTERVIEWER: What attracted you to move to Vegas?
INTERVIEWEE: Well it was actually you. No, I’m just kidding. I was working at the
W hotel in West Wood in California, the Peninsula, and the Beverly Hills’ Hilton. I had
some of the biggest shows with seven pieces in the Los Angeles area for probably over
ten years, working for Tony Danza for fifteen years and you know you listen to a lot of
celebrities and a lot of friends that say you know what? There’s a great strip in Las Vegas
and there’s some entertainers that are out there and we see your show really making a big
dent out there and that’s what really motivated me in 2004 to come out here. My style
of working with Bobby Darin in the sense of using some of his things that I’ve learned
from him, Elvis, Wayne Newton, Miles, we put it all together and it becomes the Joey
Ciccone style in itself. So I did borrow a lot of those things and I felt the confidence of
the celebrities I’ve dealt with and coming out here that I could have my own made show
on the Strip, and again, we’re talking 2004, a lot’s changed during that time and you
know, I keep at it 24/7, but the industry has changed a lot.
INTERVIEWER: What was the difference between the industry in Vegas and the
industry outside of Vegas, such as Chicago or California?
INTERVIEWEE: Well that’s a good question you know, in New York, Chicago, LA,
as far as Louisiana, there was always live music. Wherever you would go, you would
find a band that would perform live, people would come out and have drinks and listen
to live music night and day. Okay, live music was what it was all about and along with
all the different things that has happened in the government’s budget, a lot of things has
happened in Las Vegas. There’s not the trend of a live band anymore or paying a live
musician. You can go the easy way and go with karaoke, playing tracks, you notice here
in Las Vegas with the Circus Sole, that has stepped in all through the strip. Okay if you
really go down the strip, you aren’t going to see many live performers that would step
into lounges. We would work 5, 6 different shows a night. Not personally myself, but
musicians that I know would work in lounges and different places and make a nice living.
INTERVIEWER: How has the music changed over your lifetime?
INTERVIEWEE: Well being born in 1960, obviously it’s changed in a whole different
direction, obviously. You know, I was raised on everything from the Beatles on down to
Elvis, on down to Sinatra, things I listened to, the opera stuff I listened to. I want to say
one statement. To me as a musician, and an artist, and an actor, that’s when music was
music. The lyric and the melody spoke very highly and I want to make this very clear
to you, in my mind, the lyric, the melody, and the whole message does not make sense
anymore. It’s not where it was at one time. And that’s why we go back to the American
standard you know, the American songbook they say. Gershwin, some of the greatest
writers, porter, some of the greatest songs I’ve sang. Those were writers. Those lyrics
spoke a story. When Sinatra sang a song, and told a story, he made it like it was your
own. Those songs are gone. I find it in my heart to try to re-write some of those type of
feels songs you know, feelings of songs where I can capture that. It’s very important with
some of my shows coming up now; I think the whole message is with the piano player
and just me singing with the piano vocally. It’s to get the song across, not vocally, but
to get the message of the song. What is he singing about? What story is he telling me?
That’s what you want to leave the fan or person that comes to see you with. What is he
telling me? The melody is beautiful, but what is he saying? Can he get that message
across to the audience or can he just get up there and just sing a song? Okay and I believe
getting the message across to the people that come to see you. I want you to know what I
mean when I say, “Smile though your heart is aching, smile even though it’s breaking.”
It’s the feeling of the song or the billions of songs that have been written that were great
songs at one time. So you’ve asked me the question, where has it changed? It’s changed
in a whole other direction. I don’t think the songs of yesterday are here today.
INTERVIEWER: What’s your favorite part about performing?
INTERVIEWEE: Well Jayson, I think the biggest thing after doing it for 35-40 years,
although I don’t look my age, the point of the matter is the response of the looking at
your face or looking at this young lady’s face and looking at the response as I do generate
the song vocally and the message that I give across, have I touched that lovely muscle
that’s inside of us. Have I touched that somehow? Have I made a difference? Have I sung
the song different than maybe you’ve heard it before? But I touched a nerve they say.
And we all know that feeling. And if you don’t know, I can explain it to you. It’s goose
bumps. You get something that’s called goose bumps that run down your back and it’s
just a weird feeling and that’s when that singer has really hit that nerve that has tapped
into your heart. It tapped into somewhere and he’s touched you or she’s touched you and
I think that’s what it’s all about. I thrive on that, I worked very hard on doing that and if
you come and see me on October 11th
INTERVIEWER: How have the women in the entertainment industry changed?
INTERVIEWEE: Well it’s pretty simple. We’ve brought more sex and sex appeal into
the music. Sex sells so that has become more of a main issue than actual the melody of
what you’re singing about and if we go back in time and we talk about some of the classy
women that sang some of the great song book songs that were incredible, they did it
with class and with sex appeal. But they were able to pull the song off and pull it off in a
classy way and do it in a classy way but with a little bit of sex appeal. But just to finally
answer your question, we went a little to in the sex part and away from the melody, the
music, the strong-ness of the song, and I believe as long as we can sell records through
sex, in 2013, that seems that’s what its all about.
INTERVIEWER: How has the economy affected your career?
INTERVIEWEE: Well you know, Jayson, that’s a great question because I came out here
in 2004 and gave up a lucrative career in the Beverly Hills area, all over Los Angeles
and as they call it in Vegas, “rolling the dice”. And as I came out here and I have had
many celebrity friends like Nicholas Cage, Haile Berry, a lot of people that would come
to my shows on Sundays at the W Hotel. That kind of gave me the push you know, go
out to Vegas, there’s a gentlemen out there, Danny Ganz, he’s got his own show on the
strip. You know, Joey you can do very well out there. Well as we’ve learned after all the
years, how the entertainment has decreased and the payment of the musician is not worth
you know what’s the word I want to say like basically its time its like we will give you
a meal, we’ll buy you a drink. That’s not what musicians worked on. They worked on a
, I’ll be happy to show you that in person.
paycheck. They came out here to work and I’m sorry to say, but my move hasn't shown
me the signs that I thought it was and I will, if we close on this, if we don’t, I will say
this, Vegas has changed, its not the same Las Vegas it’s been before, whether when the
Mob had it, or whether it’s been controlled by anyone else, its controlled my corporate
people right now, that are pushing circus sole, its all about the money and your live
entertainment in your lounges, tell me where you can go and find a live band that’s going
to be kicking it until 6 or 7 in the morning because that’s how it used to be.