Side Man, Warren Leight’s love letter to jazz musicians, won a Tony Award for best play on Broadway in 1999. Now playing at Very Little Theatre, this drama inspired by Leight’s upbringing unveils the highs and lows in the lives of talented but under-appreciated jazz musicians from 1953 to 1985.

The tale, directed with heart-wrenching tenderness by Carol Dennis, is told by Clifford, the adult son of Gene and Terry, on a rare visit home to check in on his separated parents. His father’s career as a professional fill-in musician is winding down as jazz is being replaced by rock music. Always low paid, and always refusing to take a regular job that his family badly needed, Gene now has little to live on. His wife, Terry, so young and innocent when he married her, has become a hopeless alcoholic over the years. 

Gene’s three best friends are trumpeters like him, barely scraping by. Their gigs start at night and they don’t get home until dawn. Nobody can have a normal family life, and all are addicted to drugs or alcohol to various degrees. Although they live in poverty, their music enriches their lives.

The cast, ranging from a professional actor to a first-time performer, work together as if they were good musicians, taking the spotlight as needed or harmoniously forming an ad hoc ensemble. Keach Siriani-Madden shows that Clifford clearly loves his parents but he can’t help rolling his eyes at their follies. 

Seth Wayne (the professional) is wonderful at conveying how much he loves music and how limited he is in developing an equal understanding and love of his family. Nina Soldati’s Terry has the most transitional life, taking her from a joyful bride to a life of misery caused thoughtlessly by Gene. 

The three other trumpeters are all likable friends. Larry Fried as Al considers himself a ladies’ man. Larry Leverone as Ziggy is a natural jokester who gets the most laughs, and Kevin Allen Kerber as Jonesy is a sweet-tempered heroin addict. Kali Kardas is fun as a waitress who likes men as much as Al likes women.

With the help of set and sound design by Darian Soderquist, Dennis has staged the show as a multimedia radio drama, taking it a step away from the realistic style in which it was written. As a memory play, this interpretation works quite well and allows most props to be eliminated. There are no trumpets or plates of lasagna onstage, but we can almost imagine they are there. 

You won’t need to imagine the music, however. Stan Coleman has gathered a fine collection of outstanding jazz recordings that weave evocatively throughout the play. Mesmerizing.

Side Man plays at Very Little Theatre through Nov. 24; times and tickets through the VLT ticket office at 541-344-7751, or BoxOffice@theVLT.com.