John Colianni (born 1966) is an American
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 m ...
pianist.
Early life
The son of Patricia Colaianni and journalist
James F. Colaianni, John Colianni was born in
Paterson, New Jersey on January 7, 1966 and grew up in Maryland.
Duke Ellington performed a concert in 1974 at Georgetown University.
Colianni was mesmerized by Ellington's piano work, orchestrations, and stage presence. Weekly lessons began at the age of 14.
Career
![Colianni and Gibson Tour Bus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Colianni_and_Gibson_Tour_Bus.jpg)
Colianni played in jazz clubs in Washington D.C., and appeared as a teen with a traveling group of young musicians known as Jazz Stars of the Future. This group performed under the direction of
Keter Betts
William Thomas "Keter" Betts (July 22, 1928 – August 6, 2005) was an American jazz double bassist.
Early life and education
Born in Port Chester, New York, he was nicknamed "Keter", a short form of the word mosquito. He graduated from Port ...
. During his last year of high school, Colianni moved to New Jersey with his family.
He became a pianist in
Lionel Hampton's big band for three years.
His debut album was released by Concord Records.
In 1987, he came in third in the 1987 Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition in
From 1987–1990 he played with film director and clarinetist
Woody Allen
Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
's Ragtime and Funeral Orchestra. He recorded with
Mel Tormé and toured with him in the early 1990s. From 2003–2009 he was a trio led by guitarist
Les Paul.
From 2010–2013 he toured and recorded with the trio of
Larry Coryell. In 2004 he worked with vocalist
Anita O'Day
Anita Belle Colton (October 18, 1919 – November 23, 2006), known professionally as Anita O'Day, was an American jazz singer and self proclaimed “song stylist” widely admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band app ...
.
He has recorded with
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 h ...
,
Connie Kay
Conrad Henry Kirnon (April 27, 1927 – November 30, 1994) known professionally as Connie Kay, was an American jazz and R&B drummer, who was a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet.
Self-taught on drums, he began performing in Los Angeles in the mid ...
,
Emily Remler
Emily Remler (September 18, 1957 – May 4, 1990) was an American jazz guitarist, active from the late 1970s until her death in 1990.
Early life and influences
Born in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey,Staff"Emily Remler Dies On Australia Tour; Gui ...
,
Mel Lewis
Melvin Sokoloff (May 10, 1929 – February 2, 1990), known professionally as Mel Lewis, was an American jazz drummer, session musician, professor, and author. He received fourteen Grammy Award nominations.
Biography
Early years
Lewis was ...
, and
Lew Tabackin
Lewis Barry Tabackin (born March 26, 1940) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist and flutist. He is married to pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi with whom he has co-led large ensembles since the 1970s.
Biography
Tabackin started learning flute at age ...
.
Discography
As leader
* ''John Colianni'' (Concord Jazz, 1986)
* ''Blues-o-Matic'' (Concord Jazz, 1989)
* ''At Maybeck'' (Concord Jazz, 1995)
* ''Colianni & Company'' (1998)
* ''Swings'' (Amosaya, 1999)
* ''Johnny Chops'' (Patuxent, 2008)
* ''On Target'' (Patuxent, 2011)
* ''After Hours'' (Patuxent, 2015)
* ''I Never Knew'' (Patuxent, 2018)
* ''Ahead of the Crowd'' (Patuxent, 2021)
As sideman
With
Mel Torme
Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to:
Biology
* Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL)
* National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL
People
* Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...
* ''Christmas Songs'' (Telarc, 1992)
* ''Nothing Without You'' (Concord Jazz, 1992)
* ''Sing, Sing, Sing'' (Concord Jazz, 1993)
* ''The Great American Songbook: Live at Michael's Pub'' (Telarc, 1993)
* ''A Tribute to Bing Crosby'' (Concord Jazz, 1994)
With others
*
Muriel Anderson
Muriel Anderson (born June 17, 1960) is an American fingerstyle guitarist and harp guitarist who plays in many genres. She is the first woman to win the National Fingerpicking Guitar Championship.
Career
Muriel Anderson was born in Downers Grove ...
, ''Wildcat'' (Heartstrings Attached, 2005)
*
Larry Coryell, ''Montgomery'' (Patuxent, 2011)
*
Lionel Hampton, ''Made in Japan'' (Timeless, 1983)
* Lionel Hampton, ''Mostly Ballads'' (Musicmasters, 1990)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colianni, John
1963 births
21st-century American male musicians
21st-century American pianists
American jazz pianists
American male pianists
American male jazz musicians
Living people
Musicians from Paterson, New Jersey