(strictly) vonce

[Benjamin Zimmer]

"Vonce" is one of the more polysemous terms in jazz slang. I've seen
references to "vonce" as a euphemism for marijuana, and also for sex (in
the phrase, "do the vonce"). In these examples from the _New Pittsburgh
Courier_, "(strictly) vonce" is used as a general term of approbation for
skillfully performed bebop music:

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New Pittsburgh Courier, Mar 26, 1960, p. 23, "Data 'Bout Discs"
Strictly vonce is the stick work of Blakey behind Ken on "Lady Be Good"
and Roland Hanna's extremely active right hand gets a great piano workout
on "Hallelujah."
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New Pittsburgh Courier, May 28, 1960, p. 22, "Data 'Bout Discs"
This is truly a "hip" album and strictly on the vonce side.
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New Pittsburgh Courier, Jun 25, 1960, p. 8, "The Cats and Chicks Dug
Thelonious Monk's Homecoming the Most!"
It was the ultimate in epistrophe. It was vonce, strictly.
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New Pittsburgh Courier, Dec 30, 1961, p. 19, "Data 'Bout Discs"
Such notables as Harold Land, Johnny Griffin, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis,
Junior Mance, Charlie Rouse, Blue Mitchell, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Red,
Yusef Lateef, Walt Benton, Fred Hubbard, Wynton Kelly and John Lytle are
on the "vonce" tracks.
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New Pittsburgh Courier, Mar 24, 1962, p. 21, "Data 'Bout Discs"
The MGM affiliate lined up an all star crew of journeymen for this
promotion under the skillful baton of Gary McFarland. The results were
"vonce."
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New Pittsburgh Courier, May 26, 1962, p. 18, "Data 'Bout Discs"
To say the least the arrangements here are strictly vonce in fashion and
Morgan manages to shout somewhat lustily.
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The 6/25/60 cite suggests that "vonce" was associated with Thelonious
Monk. In Monk's first recording session in Oct. 1947, he recorded a song
called "Evonce", cowritten by tenor saxophonist Ike Quebec and trumpter
Idrees Sulieman. A Billboard article explains the title:

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Billboard, Jun 27, 1998, p. 52, "Let's call this"
Many of Monk's titles are almost surely the reply given in the studio to
the question, "what's the name of that?" For example, the title used to
head this sidebar. Other are "Think Of One," "Ask Me Now," "Worry Later,"
"We See." There is also "Evonce." "Vonce" is one of the thousand names for
marijuana.
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But "(e)vonce" wasn't *just* a name for marijuana. It apparently started
as a nonsense word in jazz circles, credited both to Lester Young and to
Jo Jones:

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http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0819562874/
_Upside Your Head!_ (1993) by Johnny Otis, p. 75
LESTER: "So, the Little Esthereenie kittie was a good lick o'reenie for
you, huh?"
J.O. "Yeah, the little chick was a blessing for us. She's raisin' sand all
over the country."
LESTER: "Y'all eatin' regular now ... dig." [chuckle]
J.O. "Yeah, and payin' the rent too, sometimes."
LESTER: "They'll be tryin' to copy her song, evonce -- that's the stuff
you gotta' watch, dig."
"EVONCE" was another Lester Young secret punctuation word that nobody knew
the actual meaning of.
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http://print.google.com/print?id=kpGL3TQuiJ4C
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0306811146/
_Myself Among Others_ by George Wein (2003), p. 92
Jo Jones had his own vocabulary--less extensive but no less cryptic than
that of Lester Young. He used two choice phrases: "the vonce," and "the
ding-ding." "Man when I was with Basie," he'd say, "we'd come up on the
vonce, and the man would put the ding-ding here."
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This quote from pianist Herbie Nichols comes the closest to the sense used
in the _New Pittsburgh Courier_:

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http://print.google.com/print?id=i_ldXE_MGWkC
_Four Lives in the Bebop Business_ (1966), reprinted as _Four Jazz Lives_
by A. B. Spellman (2004), p. 158
The President [Lester Young] never coasted in those days. He was an eager
beaver. Kenny Kersey used to play an extremely fast and modern octave
style at the keyboard. At the time my head was chock full of 'classical
vonce' and I, too, was fast and wild as lightning at the piano in my
fascination of the competition around me.
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--Ben Zimmer