Giovanni Vicari

Mandolin, banjo and guitar virtuoso. A child prodigy on violin in Sicily, he came to the U.S. in 1925. He mainly recorded mazurkas, tangos, and folk melodies from Naples and Sicily, but also Vivaldi concertos conducted by Leonard Bernstein for a 1958 session. In the 1940s, Vicari had a parallel career, recording Latin American music for Harmonia Records (2) under the name “Juan Vicari y su Genial Orquesta”. In 1972, he was part of the live music band in the movie "The Godfather". Vicari also taught mandolin. Among his students was filmmaker and 78 collector Terry Zwigoff. b. May 19, 1905 Catania, Sicily, Italy d. Oct. 15, 1985 Hempstead, NY