Virgil Gonsalves

He was born on September 5, 1931 in Monterey, where he grew up and attended elementary and high school. He later enrolled at the San Francisco State University. After graduating in 1952, he began touring with the bands of Alvino Rey, Jack Fina and Tex Beneke. Between seasons, Virgil introduced an artfully arranged sextet at concerts and club dates, contributing to the development of a nascent modern jazz scene in San Francisco, notably represented by the Dave Brubeck Trio.

Brubeck’s trio was the hottest musical thing in town, since they began playing at Ciro’s and at the Black Hawk in 1950. Disc jockey ace Jimmy Lyons, the local high priest of modern jazz, in his “Lyons Busy” KNBC radio show, said of Brubeck’s trio that “they’re the finest exponents of modern music today...”

The newspaper coverage of jazz was more extensive in the Bay Area than in any other metropolitan area in the...

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Virgil Gonsalves Vinyl

1 record