Tucson musicians host their annual ‘rendezvous’

Rendezvous’ annual winter concert has become a tradition for the Tucson musicians.
This year’s gig — Saturday, Dec. 23, at the Hotel Congress Plaza — will feature favorite songs of drummer Nick Tkachyk, keyboardist Chris Peña, saxophonist/keyboardist Greg Stanley, bassist Sean McEvoy, guitarist Johny Vargas and violinist/guitarist Katie Vargas. Percussionist Tom Beech is their honorary seventh member.
Tkachyk, Johny, McEvoy and Stanley have known each other since they attended Salpointe Catholic High School. They were in jazz and marching band in school and extracurricular jazz groups.
Tkachyk, McEvoy and Stanley were in the rock/reggae group Kool Shades. With Rendezvous, they could collaborate eight additional times.
“We just loved playing music together, and we didn’t want it to end after high school, so we started doing this project. It’s like the highlight of my year. I love it,” Tkachyk said.
Rendezvous’ members also play with other groups, such as Soda Sun, Dos Sueños, the Road Warriors Spafford and Steff and the Articles.
Peña’s group, the Road Warriors, recently released an album that includes the song “Rendezvous,” a tribute to his annual run. Rendezvous has performed the track.
Rendezvous’ concerts generally feature guests artists, and this year they are trombonist AJ Lepore, baritone/alto sax player Martin Deymier, trumpeter Anthony Gibes, guitarist Randy Lopez, and vocalists Trent Castillo, Steff Koeppen, Lexa Raquel, Alassane Diarra, Charlie Hall and Marcus Rushmore.
“We try to showcase as many of our friends, Tucson musicians as we can. It’s a big logistical orchestra,” Stanley said.
“It’s people from all walks of life who end up on the same stage. We would never have been on the same stage in any other circumstance,” Tkachyk said.
Together, they’ll create renditions of their favorite songs — Daft Punk; Radiohead; Beyonce; the Beastie Boys; Peso Pluma; the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs; Coldplay; Odesza; Yellowcard; Mon Laferte and Manchester Orchestra.
“Definitely our genre selection and vibe selection are very eclectic,” Tkachyk said.
“We’re doing a song this year that I’m singing called ‘The Maze’ by Manchester Orchestra. It sounds like an emo church song. We’re playing a song by Radiohead called ‘National Anthem,’ which is really bass-heavy, rocking drums. We’re playing a Coldplay song. We’re playing Latin-inspired songs, which have that rhythmic thing going on. It runs the gamut. We are the ones who choose the songs. Each band member chooses two songs each year. It just depends on where we’re at.”
They acknowledge the season with a mixture of holiday tunes.

Pandemic break
Rendezvous took a two-year break due to the pandemic. However, they didn’t stay away from music, as they collaborated on the music video “Safety disDance.”
The parody of Men Without Hats’ “The Safety Dance” focused on COVID-19-related events.
“It was definitely like a Weird Al Yankovic-style parody. When we shot it, I felt influenced by Edward Wright ‘Flight of the Conchords’-style filming, a lot of quick shots, quick close ups,” Stanley said.
The video was mostly filmed at Johny and Katie’s home, with dance segments shot throughout Tucson.
“It was nice to feature our hometown while making this. Chris and I sat down and edited the whole thing in a hotel room and then also remotely,” Stanley said.
“Chris did such an awesome job mixing the song so that every part was present. It accidentally had a Nine Inch Nails feel to it at certain points.”
After restrictions lifted, the band started performing live again.
McEvoy said he never expected Rendezvous to have legs.
“People seemed to really like it. I’ve been really surprised and impressed that every year is bigger than the last. I thought as we got older, people would stop coming and drop off, but it just keeps getting bigger and bigger,” McEvoy said.
The key is to engage the audience and encourage them to sing along and dance. In the past, they changed the lyrics of “Christmas in L.A.” by Vulfpeck to focus on Tucson.
Last year, they threw candy out into the audience. The six core members all wore track suits and letterman-style jackets with letters spelling out RNDZVS.
“That was definitely a game-changer with our visual appeal,” Peña said. “We definitely got a lot of compliments on that. This year, we’re sort of doing the same thing, but more with a Western theme with bollos, vests and long-sleeved shirts. We’ll still have the letters on there, but a different style and colors.”
In the past, they have paid homage to artists such as George Michael by singing “Last Christmas,” “Faith” and “Careless Whisper.”
McEvoy said the band members represent various levels of experience and music knowledge, but everyone contributes to the creative process. The biggest thing is to have fun together and not take themselves too seriously.
“We all communicate really well, know our parts, and then we put it together and talk about what would sound great…There’s nothing really better than building a show like that and getting to make it how we want it to sound,” McEvoy said.