Charles Giordano (born October 13, 1954) is an American

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instr ...

and

accordionist Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed i ...

. Giordano is known primarily for his work with

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

as a member of the

E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band, and has been musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. For the bulk of Springsteen's recording and performing caree ...

, replacing

Danny Federici Daniel Paul Federici (January 23, 1950 – April 17, 2008) was an American musician, best known as the organ, glockenspiel, and accordion player and a founding member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. In 2014, Federici was posthumously induct ...

as the band's organist following the latter's serious illness and death in 2008 and as a member of Springsteen's

The Sessions Band The Sessions Band is an American musical group that has periodically recorded and toured with American rock singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen in various formations since 1997. History The Sessions Band was first formed in October 1997. That ...

. He is also known for playing keyboards with

Pat Benatar Patricia Mae Giraldo (''née'' Andrzejewski, formerly Benatar; born January 10, 1953), known professionally as Pat Benatar, is an American rock singer and songwriter. In the United States, she has had two multi-platinum albums, five platinum alb ...

in the 1980s. With Benatar he was usually billed as Charlie Giordano and played for five albums, beginning in 1983; his role in the band was praised by ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine. With Benatar he was identifiable by his glasses and distinctive array of berets, blazers and 1980s-style ties. Giordano also was a member of

The David Johansen Group David Roger Johansen (sometimes spelled ''David Jo Hansen''; born January 9, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the seminal proto-punk band the New York Dolls. He is also known for his work unde ...

and went on to perform with Buster Poindexter and The Banshees of Blue. As a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

Giordano's playing has included

Madeleine Peyroux Madeleine Peyroux (born April 18, 1974) is an American jazz singer and songwriter who began her career as a teenager on the streets of Paris. She sang vintage jazz and blues songs before finding mainstream success in 2004 when her album ''Carele ...

's 1996 album '' Dreamland'' and

Bucky Pizzarelli John Paul "Bucky" Pizzarelli (January 9, 1926 – April 1, 2020) was an American jazz guitarist. He was the father of jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli and double bassist Martin Pizzarelli. He worked for NBC as a staffman for Dick Cavett (1971) ...

's 2000 album '' Italian Intermezzo''; the latter's mix of opera, Italian folk, and swing presaged his appearance in the similarly genre-mashing Sessions Band Tour with Springsteen. Giordano also participated in a 2002 revival of

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

band ? and the Mysterians. In 2008, he accompanied British singer

Barb Jungr Barb Jungr (born 9 May 1954) is an English singer, songwriter and theatre writer, who has recorded versions of songs by Bob Dylan, Sting, Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen and Leonard Cohen. Career Barb Jungr was born in Rochdale, Lancashire ...

for a short stand in a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

Tours with Bruce Springsteen

* Seeger Sessions Tour with the Sessions Band (2006) * Magic Tour with the E Street Band (2007–2008) *

Working On A Dream Tour The Working on a Dream Tour was a concert tour by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which began in April 2009 and ended in November 2009. It followed the late January 2009 release of the album '' Working on a Dream''. This was the first ...

with the E Street Band (2009) *

Wrecking Ball Tour The Wrecking Ball World Tour was a concert tour by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to promote Springsteen's seventeenth studio album, ''Wrecking Ball'', which was released on March 5, 2012. It was the first tour for the E Street Band with ...

with the E Street Band (2012–2013) *

High Hopes Tour The High Hopes Tour was a concert tour by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band with special guest guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine. The tour was seen as a continuation of his previous tour and was in support of eighteenth st ...

with the E Street Band (2014) *

The River Tour 2016 The River Tour was a concert tour by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in support of Springsteen's 2015 '' The Ties That Bind: The River Collection'' box set and in celebration of the 35th anniversary of Springsteen's 1980 album, '' The ...

– Summer '17 with the E Street Band (2016–17)

Discography

With James Carter *'' Chasin' the Gypsy'' (Atlantic, 2000) With

*'' We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions'' (2006) *'' Bruce Springsteen with The Sessions Band: Live in Dublin'' (2007) *''

Magic Tour Highlights ''Magic Tour Highlights'' is an EP by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which consists of four live audio tracks and their accompanying videos, and was released for digital download on July 15, 2008. The performances were recorded durin ...

'' (2008) *'' London Calling: Live in Hyde Park'' (2010) *'' Live from the Carousel'' (2011) *''

Wrecking Ball A wrecking ball is a heavy steel ball, usually hung from a crane, that is used for demolishing large buildings. It was most commonly in use during the 1950s and 1960s. Several wrecking companies claim to have invented the wrecking ball. An e ...

'' (2012) *'' High Hopes'' (2014) *'' ''American Beauty'''' (2014) *''

Western Stars ''Western Stars'' is the nineteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on June 14, 2019, by Columbia Records. It was produced by Ron Aniello, who worked with Springsteen on his two previous albums: ''Wrecking ...

'' (2019) *'' Western Stars: Songs From The Film'' (2019) *''

Letter to You ''Letter to You'' is the twentieth studio album by Bruce Springsteen. Released in October 2020, it was Springsteen's first new studio album with the E Street Band to be released since 2014's '' High Hopes''. ''Letter to You'' was met with ...

'' (2020) With Pat Benatar *''

Get Nervous ''Get Nervous'' is the fourth studio album by American rock singer Pat Benatar, released in October 1982. It debuted on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart the week ending November 20 and peaked at No. 4, staying on the charts for 46 weeks. Thr ...

'' (1982) *''

Live from Earth ''Live from Earth'' is the first live album by American rock singer Pat Benatar, and was released in October 15, 1983. The album was recorded during Benatar's sold out 'Get Nervous' world tour in late 1982 and early 1983. It also contains two ...

'' (1983) *'' Tropico'' (1984) *''

Seven the Hard Way ''Seven the Hard Way'' is the sixth studio album by American singer Pat Benatar, released on October 30, 1985, by Chrysalis Records. It debuted on the US Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200 for the week of December 14 and peaked at number 26, spaw ...

'' (1985) *''

Wide Awake in Dreamland ''Wide Awake in Dreamland'' is the seventh studio album by American rock music, rock singer Pat Benatar, and her eighth album overall, released in 1988. After a string of successful albums, this was her last rock-oriented album of the 1980s, bef ...

'' (1988) *'' True Love'' (1991)

References

1954 births Musicians from Brooklyn Living people American people of Italian descent E Street Band members 20th-century American keyboardists American male organists American accordionists 21st-century accordionists 21st-century American keyboardists 21st-century organists The Sessions Band members American organists {{US-rock-musician-stub