John Cocuzzi
   HOME
*





John Cocuzzi
John Cocuzzi (born 1964) is an American jazz, blues, and swing musician who specializes in the vibraphone and piano, as well as drums. His primary influences on vibraphone are Lionel Hampton and Red Norvo, while his piano playing is influenced by piano greats from both the jazz and blues worlds. Cocuzzi is originally from Maryland but is best known in the Washington, D.C. area. He has been a member of Big Joe & the Dynaflows, and of the Big Three Trio with Big Joe Maher and John Previti in Washington, D.C. He also performs at jazz festivals nationwide (and sometimes in Europe). While on tour, he has shared the stage with jazz musicians including Harry Allen, Houston Person, Eddie Locke, Barbara Morrison, Peter Appleyard, boogie-woogie piano great Bob Seeley, Howard Alden, Dick Hyman, John Pizzarelli, Johnny Frigo, Jake Hanna, Butch Miles, Russell Malone, Joe Wilder, Red Holloway, Bob Wilber, George Masso, Chuck Redd, and a host of others, including Louis Bellson, Barrett Deems, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major form of musical expression in traditional and popular music. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, complex chords, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in European harmony and African rhythmic rituals. As jazz spread around the world, it drew on national, regional, and local musical cultures, which gave rise to different styles. New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass band marches, French quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation. But jazz did not begin as a single musical tradition in New Orleans or elsewhere. In the 1930s, arranged dance-oriented swing big bands, Kansas City jazz (a hard-swinging, bluesy, improvisationa ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Dick Hyman
Richard Hyman (born March 8, 1927) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Over a 70-year career, he has worked as a pianist, organist, arranger, music director, electronic musician, and composer. He was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters fellow in 2017. His grandson is designer and artist Adam Charlap Hyman. As a pianist, Hyman has been praised for his versatility. ''DownBeat'' magazine characterized him as "a pianist of longstanding grace and bountiful talent, with an ability to adapt to nearly any historical style, from stride to bop to modernist sound-painting." Early life Hyman was born in New York City on March 8, 1927 to Joseph C. Hyman and Lee Roven, and grew up in suburban Mount Vernon, New York. His older brother, Arthur, owned a jazz record collection and introduced him to the music of Bix Beiderbecke and Art Tatum. Hyman was trained classically by his mother's brother, the concert pianist Anton Rovinsky, who premiered ''The Celestial Railroa ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Snooky Young
Eugene Edward "Snooky" Young (February 3, 1919 – May 11, 2011) was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known for his mastery of the plunger mute, with which he was able to create a wide range of sounds. Biography Young was lead trumpeter of the Jimmie Lunceford band from 1939 to 1942. He played with Count Basie (three stints totalling eight years), Gerald Wilson and Lionel Hampton, among others, and was an original member of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band. His longest engagement was with NBC, where, as a studio trumpeter, he joined The Tonight Show Band, ''The Tonight Show'' Band in 1967 and remained with them until 1992, when the band was replaced by a new, smaller group. He was part of the touring ensemble, the "Now Generation Brass" that traveled with Doc Severinsen, an ensemble that included other jazz greats such as reed man Lew Tabackin, drummer Ed Shaughnessy, saxophonist & arranger Tommy Newsom as well as singer Robert Ozn. Young went on to performing live concert d ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Barrett Deems
Barrett Deems (March 1, 1914 – September 15, 1998) was an American swing drummer from Springfield, Illinois, United States. He worked in bands led by Jimmy Dorsey, Louis Armstrong, Red Norvo, and Muggsy Spanier. In ''High Society'', a 1956 film, performing drum solo during a scene on the back of the bus. Louis Armstrong and His All Stars play the song "Now You Has Jazz", the movie's star, Bing Crosby, introduces the band members, including Deems, who then performs a short drum solo. Deems was married twice. He died of pneumonia in Chicago aged 84 in September 1998. He left behind his wife, Jane Johnson who is living as of 2022 and resides in Illinois."Obituary; Barrett Deems"; ''The Times''; 28 September 1998, p. 23 References External links Barrett Deems page at DrummerworldBarrett Deems Interview
NAMM Oral History Library ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Louis Bellson
Louie Bellson (born Luigi Paulino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni, July 6, 1924 – February 14, 2009), often seen in sources as Louis Bellson, although he himself preferred the spelling Louie, was an American jazz drummer. He was a composer, arranger, bandleader, and jazz educator, and is credited with pioneering the use of two bass drums.National Endowment for the Arts biography of Louis Bellson
, January 1994; accessed January 2009.
Bellson performed in most of the major capitals around the world. Bellson and his wife, actress and singer Pearl Bailey (married from 1952 until Bailey's death in 1990), had the second highest number of appearances at the

Chuck Redd
Chuck Redd (born September 10, 1958) is an American jazz drummer and vibraphonist. Career Redd began touring and recording when he joined the Charlie Byrd Trio at the age of 21. He also joined The Great Guitars (Barney Kessel, Charlie Byrd, and Herb Ellis). To his credit are 25 European tours and six tours of Japan with the Barney Kessel Trio, Ken Peplowski, Terry Gibbs and Conte Candoli.Feather, Leonard and Gitler, Ira (1999''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', p. 550. Oxford University Pressat Google Books. Retrieved 1 May 2013. Redd was the featured vibraphonist with the Mel Tormé All-Star Jazz Quintet from 1991 until 1996. While appearing in New York with Tormé, Ira Gitler of ''Jazz Times'' wrote: "Redd's vibes were equally notable for vigor and melodiousness." Redd's career highlights include a concert with the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet in Africa for the Namibian Independence Celebration, a recital at the White House with the Barney Kessel Trio, concerts at Carnegie ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




George Masso
George Masso (November 17, 1926 – October 22, 2019) was an American jazz trombonist, bandleader, vibraphonist, and composer specializing in swing and Dixieland. Masso is notable for his work from 1948–1950 as a member of the Jimmy Dorsey band. Masso was born in Cranston, Rhode Island, United States. Masso began learning to play the trumpet, but expanded his diversity by becoming competent on other instruments. He was further inspired by hearing Lou McGarity playing trombone on Benny Goodman's recording of "Yours". Masso secured a two year spell in the late 1940s in Jimmy Dorsey's band, before finding the life of a professional jazz musician financially difficult, and Masso quit performing. He became a music teacher. He returned to music in 1973 and performed with Bobby Hackett and Goodman. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he recorded with Barbara Lea, Bob Haggart, and Yank Lawson. Discography As leader * ''Choice N.Y.C. Bone'' (Famous Door, 1979) * ''A Swinging Case o ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Bob Wilber
Robert Sage Wilber (March 15, 1928 – August 4, 2019) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, and band leader. Although his scope covers a wide range of jazz, Wilber was a dedicated advocate of classic styles, working throughout his career to present traditional jazz pieces in a contemporary manner. He played with many distinguished jazz leaders in the 1950s and 1960s, including Bobby Hackett, Benny Goodman, Sidney Bechet, Jack Teagarden and Eddie Condon. In the late 1960s, he was an original member of the World's Greatest Jazz Band, and in the early 70s of Soprano Summit, a band which gained wide attention. In the late 1970s, he formed the Bechet Legacy Band. Wilber was active in jazz education, including working as director of the Smithsonian Jazz Repertory Ensemble. He wrote for films, including '' The Cotton Club''. In his autobiography, ''Music Was Not Enough,'' he recounts his childhood, meeting his mentor Sidney Bechet, in 1946, and his struggles as a musician in ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Red Holloway
James Wesley "Red" Holloway (May 31, 1927 – February 25, 2012) was an American jazz saxophonist. Biography Born in Helena, Arkansas,Daniel E. Slotnik"Red Holloway, Swinger of the Sax, Dies at 84" ''The New York Times'', February 28, 2012. Holloway started playing banjo and harmonica, switching to tenor saxophone when he was 12 years old. He graduated from DuSable High School in Chicago, where he had played in the school big band with Johnny Griffin and Eugene Wright, and went on to attend the city's Conservatory of Music. He joined the Army when he was 19 and became bandmaster for the U.S. Fifth Army Band, and after completing his military service returned to Chicago and played with Yusef Lateef and Dexter Gordon, among others. In 1948, he joined blues vocalist Roosevelt Sykes, and later played with other rhythm & blues musicians such as Willie Dixon, Junior Parker, and Lloyd Price. In the 1950s, he played in the Chicago area with Billie Holiday, Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Joe Wilder
Joseph Benjamin Wilder (February 22, 1922 – May 9, 2014) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Wilder was awarded the Temple University Jazz Master's Hall of Fame Award in 2006. The National Endowment for the Arts honored him with its highest honor in jazz, the NEA Jazz Masters Award for 2008. Biography Wilder was born into a musical family led by his father Curtis, a bassist and bandleader in Philadelphia. Wilder's first performances took place on the radio program "Parisian Tailor's Colored Kiddies of the Air". He and the other young musicians were backed up by such illustrious bands as Duke Ellington's and Louis Armstrong's that were also then playing at the Lincoln Theater. Wilder studied at the Mastbaum School of Music in Philadelphia, but turned to jazz when he felt that there was little future for an African-American classical musician. At the age of 19, Wilder joined his first touring big band, Les Hite's band. Wilder was one of the first thousand ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Russell Malone
Russell Malone (born November 8, 1963) is an American jazz guitarist. He began working with Jimmy Smith in 1988 and went on to work with Harry Connick, Jr. and Diana Krall throughout the 1990s.Neuroth, Matt. (2008). ''Bio: Russell Malone.'' Retrieved January 13, 200Down Beat/ref> Biography Malone was born in Albany, Georgia, United States. He began playing at the age of four with a toy guitar his mother bought him. He was influenced by B.B. King and The Dixie Hummingbirds. A significant experience was when he was twelve and saw George Benson perform on television with Benny Goodman. He is mostly self-taught. Starting in 1988, he spent two years with Jimmy Smith, then three with Harry Connick Jr. In 1995, he became the guitarist for the Diana Krall Trio, participating in three Grammy-nominated albums, including ''When I Look in Your Eyes'', which won the award for Best Vocal Jazz Performance. Malone was part of pianist Benny Green's recordings in the late 1990s and 2000: ''Ka ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Butch Miles
Butch Miles (born Charles J. Thorton, Jr. on July 4, 1944) is an American jazz drummer. He has played with the Count Basie Orchestra, Dave Brubeck, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne and Tony Bennett Career Miles, who cites Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, and Jo Jones as favorite drummers, began playing snare drum at the age of nine and majored in music at West Virginia State University (1962–1966). After receiving his degree, he went on tour with the Iris Bell Trio. He was Mel Torme's drummer for 3 1/2 years and it was Torme and Buddy Rich who recommended Miles to Count Basie when a drummer was needed. Miles was with the Count Basie Orchestra from 1975 to 1979, returning for ten years from 1997 to 2007. From Count Basie’s autobiography (published in 1985): “Butch came to us from Mel Torme’s outfit. He was a real crowd pleaser, like Buddy Rich and Sonny Payne, and he picked up on things very nicely, and he was also interested in sticking around for a whil ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]