Charles Colizza

Born and raised in Montreal, Québec, Charles Colizza is a New York based guitarist rooted in jazz. Established in the city since 2018, he has recorded alongside jazz saxophone legend Billy Drewes and has performed alongside Grammy winning arranger and trombonist Alan Ferber. He has performed in various world-renowned establishments and jazz venues across North America, notably at The Blue Note NYC, Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, The Bitter End, Upstairs and the Williamsburg Music Center. He is also the recipient of the Oscar Peterson Jazz Scholarship Competition.

Charles draws his musical influences from all styles and genres, from Stravinsky to John Coltrane and from Milton Nascimento to Young Thug. His sound ranges from modern jazz to avant-garde/free-improvised music. He recorded his up and coming debut album Hug The Devil in December 2019 with his quintet featuring Billy Drewes, Jake D’Ambra, Nick Panoutsos and Lukas Akintaya, recorded by Tyler McDiarmid.

Charles’ passion for music started at an early age, once acquainted to punk music. He took piano lessons at age 6 and started playing guitar at 12 years old. At 17, he enrolled at Cégep de Saint-Laurent where he studied guitar, harmony and arranging with Montreal’s top musicians (Jean-Nicolas Trottier, Jean-Pierre Zanella, Michel Héroux) before attending Concordia University. During the completion of his bachelor’s degree, he studied with Gary Schwartz and Charles Ellison and started to develop his original repertoire. Simultaneously, he created his jazz quartet which performed at the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal and also won the Oscar Peterson Jazz Scholarship Competition.

In 2018, he moved to New York City after being accepted in the Jazz Instrumental Performance Master’s Program at New York University. His time spent studying with jazz legends Alan Broadbent, Alan Ferber, Peter Bernstein and Wayne Krantz greatly influenced his musical tastes and propelled him towards new sonic dimensions.

Awards

Winner of The Oscar Peterson Jazz Competition 2018 4 Times recipient of a scholarship from The Art's Foundation of Laval (Fondation au Soutien des Arts de Laval)

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