Richard Vacca

Richard Vacca, the author of The Boston Jazz Chronicles: Faces, Places and Nightlife 1937-1962, writes about the social and cultural history of Boston and eastern Massachusetts in the 20th century. The Boston Jazz Chronicles, Vacca’s first book, and the only published history of the jazz scene in that city, was published in 2012. It was awarded a 2013 Certificate of Merit for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research in Jazz by the Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC).

A free-lance writer and editor, Vacca is currently working on a second volume of the Chronicles, to cover the Boston scene to 1988. He worked with music impresario Fred Taylor of Scullers Jazz Club on the story of Taylor’s 60-year career in the entertainment business. Their book, What, and Give up Showbiz?, will be published by Backbeat Books in spring 2020.

Dick continues to tell the Boston nightlife story through his blog on troystreet.com, through slide talks, and on walking tours through the entertainment districts of Boston.