Paul Vanacore

Paul Vancore, baritone sax player, has an extensive musical background, dating back to the age of thirteen, when he started playing professionally in Connecticut. Members of Paul’s family have been an integral part of the national music scene.  His brother Victor has been the musical director for many national performers, such as Johnny Mathis, Barry Manilow, and most notably Ray Charles.  Victor received a Grammy Award for his work on Ray Charles’s last album. Paul’s brother David is a composer, who composes all the musical scores for television shows, such as Survivor, The Apprentice, American Chopper, and many other top rated TV shows.  At the age of seventeen, Paul was a member of a house band that backed up James Brown and the Flames.  After being discharged from the military, Paul made California his home, where he performed with many horn groups, until moving to Buffalo. Paul’s inspiration has always been the one and only Tower of Power, and, when Paul picked up the baritone sax in 1971, it became, and still is, his passion and main instrument.  Upon arriving in Buffalo in 1994, Paul joined a local blues band where, according to Paul, “the best thing that could have happened” to him did:  he met Bobby Serette, tenor sax player.  The connection between them was immediate; almost as though they were born to perform together.  Bobby’s soulful sound, combined with Paul’s thoughtful and complimentary backup, make them an integral and powerful part of the commanding stage presence of the Patti Parks Blues Band.