He toured with famed rock and roll singer, Frankie Avalon and performed at the White House. Locally, he drew crowds of jazz lovers into establishments and only recently, released his debut CD to critical acclaim.

Come August however, popular jazz pianist, Vic Glazer, will be forced to leave his beloved Bermuda and return to the United States in search of work.

"We gave it a shot but reluctantly, (my wife and I) will be leaving,'' he told The Royal Gazette . "There are places where I do work or have been working, that have decided it's more cost-effective to buy a CD rack because their guests are not there to listen to music or to be entertained. They are there to conduct business -- to extend whatever business they did earlier in their meetings. I worked at the Hamilton Princess for four years. When I first started there, I was doing six nights a week. When Canadian Pacific took over the hotel, they decided to strengthen the focus of the business side of their clientele, which meant less emphasis on music and entertainment. I can't work here anymore. For four years I worked 52 weeks a year and now I have a hard time getting a job. So I'm going back to the Miami area where I already have work lined up until the summer of 2002.'' Mr. Glazer, who is married to a Bermudian, first visited the Island back in the 1970s while on tour with singer, Frankie Avalon.

"We actually opened the Southampton Princess Hotel back in the summer of 1972. We were the first entertainers to work there. It was so new they didn't even have the carpet down yet. I still have the key to the hotel. We came back every summer after that for about six years but were eventually replaced by Greg Thompson's Follies.'' The pianist said that he returned to perform during the 1980s when entertainment and tourism, were plentiful. However, it wasn't until six years ago that he and his wife decided to make Bermuda their home.

"We decided to move back although I had no lack of work in Florida. We left because I was bored and for our dream, Bermuda. As a spouse of a Bermudian, I figured it would be easy for me to find a job and I had lots of friends here from the 70s. So I didn't have to work at becoming part of the community. I started to work right away and work was plentiful.

"In fact, up until recently there was enough work for everybody. Two years ago, the climate changed, when tourism started to drop. It seems odd to me when tourism (is declining) and a new Government comes in, that some policies are changed which were set up to encourage (entertainers). Generally what's happening island-wide is that there is less tourism so there is less entertainment.

"It used to be that entertainment was provided as a service of the hotel just as you have a maid put a mint on the pillow. When you cut back entertainment, you cut back basic guest services. In the 70's, there were numerous steel bands and (night) clubs like The 40 Thieves. Hotels were bringing in foreign acts because there just were not enough local acts to go around. But now the whole entertainment industry has fallen off. I'm not an R&B player. I don't do hip hop or reggae. It's just not my thing. The locals (that do that kind of music) will work but jazz musicians, cocktail singers, dinner entertainment is gone and that's what I do.

"Fortunately, the money that entertainers get paid is still very good here but it hasn't increased. The world gets more expensive to live in and every service industry seems to raise their (pay in all other areas) but music.

We're expected to live on last year's salary. But that's part of the business.

You go into it knowing that.'' A conductor, arranger, pianist and composer, Mr. Glazer is a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences as well as the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers.

He honed his skills at New York's prestigious Julliard School of Music, where he spent seven years before attending the School of Music at North Texas State University. In addition to his many appearances with Frankie Avalon, he has worked with a host of big names including Debbie Reynolds, Red Buttons, Glen Campbell and the Dallas Symphony. He also has several television credits under his belt -- Sonny & Cher, the Tom Jones Show and Dick Clark and HBO specials are but a few.

"There are only a handful of us left (on the Island). When I say `us', I'm arrogantly referring to those of us who are good enough to work at any venue and play not just one kind of music -- which increases our worth,'' he said.

"Especially piano players, there's only two of us left of a certain calibre.

James Richardson moved to England, Andrew Morrison passed away, Andrew Chamberlain moved to England. Less musicians are going to want to come here and the locals that should be doing a lot of the work, the good ones who know they're better, leave.

Such is his range, that when first approached to do a CD, Mr. Glazer decided to stay away from the jazz that has made him such a popular entertainer, locally.

"I'm a lot more than a jazz player,'' he said.

Jazz man Vic is set for his final Island encore "I didn't do jazz because it's a small island and everybody knows I do jazz and they know they can come and listen to me play wherever I am. I wanted to leave a different legacy and wanted local singers to have a chance to record and sing original melodies -- music and lyrics that aren't cover songs -- original, good songs. I wanted to leave a legacy by Bermudians as all of the people on the CD are Bermudians except Ron (Campbell) and myself and we're both married to Bermudians. It was something they could be proud of as locals and it also shows me off. The reason for the album was to show whoever listens, my range. I can play, I can write and I accompany it. I am a conductor. I have been one for Frankie Avalon and for Debbie Reynolds. But there's none of that here unless you're doing Philharmonic and there's a lot more fulfilling work for me back in Florida.

"I still love this place but we can't live here. There are a variety of other reasons (for us leaving) -- we both miss our children, my wife's friends are slowly being ex-patriated and let's face it, Bermuda is not a place to retire unless you're wealthy. I'm 53 and while that's not old, it is time for us to think about the future.'' It was Selena Lambert, wife of Randy Lambert, who heads local band, Tempo, who encouraged him to put his music on disc, said Mr. Glazer.

"Selena Lambert decided to manage local musicians. She felt they were not getting enough money. She started with her husband and branched out. I was one of the people she managed and then she came to me one day and asked if I would like to do a CD. I've been on hundreds of CDs back in the States -- producing, writing music and playing in the background but never with my name on the cover.

"(Selena) said she'd let me do whatever I wanted to do and I was afforded the opportunity to use some of the best music on the Island and I used singers. I chose five I'd personally worked with on a number of occasions.

"I decided to do a thematic album. All (except two) are original songs where I wrote the music and the lyrics or just the music and someone else wrote the lyrics. They're basically all original, all ballads and all thematic. In other words, if you went to the movies, each of them could be a song from the movie.

(For example), At Ferry Reach. Basically it's about (murdered Canadian teenager) Rebecca Middleton and the problems she had there.

"I kept trying to picture her horror and let my mind wander a bit and came up with it. But here we are, there are Bermudians making and spending money making CDs and if you listen to local radio stations, you're hard pressed to hear a Bermudian cut. Larry Thomas plays my stuff and Cousin Juicy plays my stuff. We all go through this trouble, but if nobody hears it, you didn't make a CD.'' Mr. Glazer's CD, Inside My Mind, is available at the Swan Gallery in Dockyard, Music World and Music Box. Interested persons may also get a copy from Mr.

Glazer or Selena Lambert. Also featured on the CD are Ron Campbell, Deletta Gillespie, Sondra Choudhury, Gita Blakeney, Leyoni Junos and Sheila Smith.