Daniel Janin – Vade Retro (1974)

He never really felt comfortable anywhere. He never got comfortable with himself. Always worried that it was his role or maybe his destiny to feel alone. Even among friends and those that said they loved him, Daniel was difficult and and he was difficult to understand. For this reason, he seemed to always be on the move.  

Most of the time, Daniel was a small-time night club manager, running A-list casinos and clubs. He was great at turning properties around and making investors happy with his management style. When legitimate work eluded him, Daniel wasn’t above a hustle or scam with certain underworld friends. These gray-area choices may seem unstable or even unjustified to most people, but Daniel had a certain cool detachment. Satisfied with his two choices of vocation. He was provided with a relatively high degree of income with a minimal amount of actual work. Growing up poor in a working-class community in Michigan, Daniel had vowed to avoid the soul-destroying daily labor of his father, whom he admired and hated in equal measures.

Currently, Daniel was pleased with his position as the general manager of the Vade Retro Nightclub. An old school, Parisian-style club located just outside the Las Vegas City limits, the type of place that represented the last of old-school Vegas clubs. The Vade got its name from an ancient benedictine exorcism phrase; “vade retro satana”. Or, simply, “back off satan”. Daniel loved the hidden meaning and liked the idea of excoriating a few demons from his own past.  

The club itself had absolutely nothing to do with the Benedicts or Satanism, for that matter. In fact, The Vade Retro was only “French” in the sense that it was a reasonable facsimile of what most Americans imagined a Paris night club may look like. Practically speaking, that meant waitresses in semi-inappropriate uniforms and the hottest lounge-jazz assembly in Nevada, maybe even the world. They were Daniel’s proudest achievement.  

Daniel had managed to put together a stellar set of musicians to become the house-band at the Vade Retro. These were the kind of musicians that had once been the toast of the town in Vegas. As the city moved from the mod-style corruption of the 40s, 50s, and 60s to the soulless corporate corruption of the 90s, most of the talented players found they weren’t wanted by the Wallstreet bankers and big-tech investors running the town bloodless.  The tourists wanted workout rooms and exotic local brewed beers that were actually owned by Anheuser-Busch. The way Daniel saw it, Las Vegas became as cold and sterile as a high-end shopping mall. Vade Retro Satana!
 
Under Daniel’s guidance, The Vade Retro Nightclub had become a refuge for all the top-notch musicians and entertainers. Eventually the Vade Retro house-band earned a reputation as playing the finest groove in town. Daniel set a few rules for his musicians; Rat Pack was great, but the music should feel more like Sammy Davis then Frank or Dino. That was the music that fueled the after-hours parties of classic Vegas. Under Daniel’s leadership, the band updated that sound with a sassy and smooth 70s European vibe that turned each tune into a swinging dance. Over time, the audience began to develop- tourists started to appreciate the authentic atmosphere and the amazingly crafted music being played each night.

When the Vade Retro players strutted onto the stage with a classic like Ce N’est Pas Un Au Révoir, they transformed the old, darkened theater into the swing/lounge center of the universe. Capturing the best of the past by adding funky-groove and rhythm to their particular brand swing. Carefully navigating the intersection of cool, cheesy and retro. 

Daniel took pride in the success of the Vade Retro house-band. And although he couldn’t read or play music, all the musicians respected Daniel opinion. Most importantly, he made them feel part of something. Many of them would likely have never worked professionally again, if not for his leadership in creating a sound that is both modern and retro, funky and with a swing.   
Maybe we shouldn’t call Daniel efforts noble or even important. Fair enough. Still, he had accomplished the noble goal of creating a safe haven for musicians to innovate. Creating a new tradition of sleek, big band and killer French funky music.  

by Shawn Ciavattone

*Daniel Janin is a legendary French Big Band leader that helped create a unique brand of 70’s lounge-jazz with a surprising groove to the music.  Hidden amongst the album’s cover versions and lounge tracks are some truly amazing finds; library-funk of ‘Black Night’ and ‘Saramina‘. Vade Retro is the type of album that Club DJs enjoy keeping silent about. In other words, they prefer to use those hidden gems within their own sets, and it helps them that Vade Retro is difficult to find in the wild.