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Vinnie Colaiuta

After attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston for a year, Colaiuta relocated to Los Angeles and made a mediocre living playing with lounge bands. His break came in April 1978 at the age of 22, when he auditioned for Frank Zappa, an audition that involved performing the notoriously difficult piece entitled "The Black Page". The audition was successful and Colaiuta went on to work with Zappa as his principal drummer for studio and live performances. Colaiuta's performances on Zappa's albums Tinsel Town Rebellion, Joe's Garage and Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar are considered by many drummers to be among the most astounding ever recorded. Joe's Garage was named one of the top-25 drumming performances of all time in a 1993 Modern Drummer article.

After leaving Zappa, Colaiuta went on to work with a long list of notable rock and pop artists, including Gino Vannelli, Joni Mitchell, Barbra Streisand, Sandy & Junior, Clannad, Wang Chung, Chaka Khan, and Jeff Beck. He has also appeared with many notable jazz musicians, including Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Jimmy Haslip, Quincy Jones, the Buddy Rich Big Band and Buell Neidlinger.

In 1990, Colaiuta successfully auditioned for the drum spot in Sting's touring band in support of his album The Soul Cages. Colaiuta remained as a member of Sting's band for the next seven years. He declined the offer to go out on the road for the Brand New Day tour in 1999 due to the unusually grueling amount of time that Sting prefers to cover the globe. Colaiuta's studio work with Sting can be heard on Ten Summoner's Tales (1993), Mercury Falling (1996), three songs on Brand New Day (1999) and two songs on Sacred Love (2003). In September of 2003, Vinnie returned to Sting's touring lineup in a brief promotional tour of Sacred Love, but once again declined the offer to participate in the world tour.

Colaiuta released a self-titled solo recording in 1994, and still remains one of the most in demand studio musicians playing on countless albums[2], film soundtracks, TV and radio jingles. His dedication to self-improvement is legendary: Dom Famularo, a famous drum educator and Colaiuta's friend, once told a story about Colaiuta opening his door while practising on a drum pad; after a few minutes of a chat on the door step, Colaiuta said: "I'm such a bad host, I haven't offered you anything! Do you want a pad?"

Todd Mosby: Land of Enchantment

Read "Land of Enchantment" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
October 25, 2023

As Land of Enchantment is New Mexico's state motto, it is not hard to ascertain the motive behind Missouri-bred guitarist Todd Mosby's latest album. As for its target, that would seem to be the light or smooth jazz market, as there is an abundance of rhythmic flow but a lack of what could be considered improvisational focus. Yes, saxophonist Tom Scott does venture an ad-lib or two, as do Mosby and pianist Dapo Torimiro, but these are ...

Liner Notes

Dewa Budjana: Surya Namaskar

by John Kelman
May 11, 2023

There was a time when artists were able to release albums on their own schedule rather than that of the record label. While most jazz artists release, at most, one album a year these days, for some there's an even longer gap between recordings. For the most part, the days when an artist like Miles Davis was releasing two, three, sometimes even four albums in the space of a single year are long gone. There are a number of reasons ...

Album Review

Jeff Richman: XYZ

by Jim Worsley
April 17, 2023

XYZ could perhaps reference any number of things. Sparing us that rabbit hole, in this case it references boundaries pushed to their fullest extent with some exceptional new music from fusion guitarist Jeff Richman. Richman's previous release, Sizzle (Nefer Records 2017) was/is a record that lives up to its name. There is something to be said about not putting out a record every eighteen months, twenty-four months, or any other calendar-driven period. It would seem that Richman threw away the ...

Album Review

Marilyn Scott: The Landscape

Read "The Landscape" reviewed by Jim Worsley

by Jim Worsley
June 16, 2022

Some artists feel obligated to put out a new record every one-point-three years, or whatever their factory warranty calls for (mileage may vary). Others are more interested in quality than quantity. On her first record since Standard Blue (Prana, 2017), jazz vocalist Marilyn Scott has something to say about The Landscape. More than the title track, Scott's concerns with our landscape is the scope and focus of seven original compositions, all co-written with pianists Russ Ferrante or Scott Kinsey. Scott ...

Album Review

MONK'estra: MONK'estra Plays John Beasley

Read "MONK'estra Plays John Beasley" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
November 6, 2021

The MONK'estra is actually a number of groups of various shapes and sizes, from duo to big band, assembled under the guiding hand of composer, arranger & pianist John Beasley to—wait for it!—"play John Beasley," an artist whose admiration for Thelonious Sphere Monk is clear throughout this buoyant and resourceful album, as it was on Volumes 1 and 2 of the series, in which the MONK'estra “played Monk." Beasley wrote eight of the album's fourteen genial numbers ...

Album Review

Denise Donatelli: Whistling in the Dark... The Music of Burt Bacharach

Read "Whistling in the Dark... The Music of Burt Bacharach" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
October 7, 2021

Multi Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Denise Donatelli joins forces with Grammy Award-Winning record producer Larry Klein to offer her first concept album devoted to single composer on the soft-textured Whistling in The Dark... the music of Burt Bacharach. The music from one of the greatest song writers in American musical history, was something both Donatelli and bassist/producer Klein had in common. Klein had stated that Bacharach's music “has been a part of [his] musical DNA...," while the vocalist affirmed that she ...

Album Review

Denise Donatelli: Whistling in the Dark... The Music of Burt Bacharach

Read "Whistling in the Dark... The Music of Burt Bacharach" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
August 22, 2021

The Burt Bacharach canon has always been fertile ground for artists of all kinds to explore. Stan Getz devoted an entire album to his fare. The big Bacharach hits are branded deep in the cultural psyche. Thus, the challenge that Grammy-nominated vocalist Denise Donatelli and producer Larry Klein have here is how to use a different ladle to invite you to imbibe from their recipe for Bacharach's musical champagne. The session offers four Bacharach/Hal David hits--three hits ...

Recording

Happy Note Records Sampler 2016 Compilation Album Feat. Vinnie Colaiuta, Sam Riney, Warren Gayle, Tony Newton & Others

Source: Glass Onyon PR - William James
August 14, 2016

Charles Xavier, aka “The Xman,” is a visionary producer, composer, electronic musician and percussionist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. With a work ethic matched only by his creative madness, Xavier is releasing his sixth full-length album, Happy Note Records Sampler 2016, on October 14, 2016. This powerful new compilation spans 20 plus years of The Xman’s releases, featuring contributions from Satori, The Messengers, and genres including Jazz, Electronic, New Age and Ambient music. In the past 30 years, ...
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Recording

New CD Release By Indonesian Guitar Virtuoso Dewa Budjana Featuring Jimmy Johnson & Vinnie Colaiuta Now Available On MoonJune Records

Source: Glass Onyon PR - William James
March 11, 2014

New York, NY - Dewa Budjana, Indonesian iconic guitar my Johnson & Vinnie Colaiuta Now Available On Moonune Recordslegend of Balinese ethnic heritage, is releasing his 3rd album (his 7th solo effort on his parallel jazz-fusion career) on MoonJune Records; the New York City independent label of progressive music that explores boundaries of jazz, rock, avant-garde, ethno & the unknown, run by its cosmopolitan honcho and executive producer Leonardo Pavkovic. Recorded in Los Angeles by the world renowned engineer Robert ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Vinnie Colaiuta

Source: Michael Ricci
February 5, 2014

All About Jazz is celebrating Vinnie Colaiuta's birthday today!

Vincent Colaiuta is a highly regarded drummer based in Los Angeles. Originally from Brownsville, Pennsylvania, he began playing drums as a child and received his first full drum kit from his parents at the age of 14. After attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston for a year, Colaiuta relocated to Los Angeles and made a mediocre living playing with lounge bands. His break came in April 1978 at the ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Vinnie Colaiuta

Source: Michael Ricci
February 5, 2013

All About Jazz is celebrating Vinnie Colaiuta's birthday today!

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Vinnie Colaiuta

Source:
February 5, 2012

All About Jazz is celebrating Vinnie Colaiuta's birthday today!

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Recording

One Track Mind: Kermit Driscoll with Bill Frisell and Vinnie Colaiuta, "Great Expectations" (2011)

Source: Something Else!
April 2, 2011

By S. Victor Aaron Pardon me as I continue on the topic of Bill Frisell The Sideman on an interpretation of a Miles Davis fusion deep cut. In the back of a Paris taxicab, probably sometime in the mid 1970s, three aspiring musicians were gobsmacked from the music playing on the radio. It was the early fusion side-long jam “Great Expectations" recorded by Miles Davis shortly after Bitches Brew. For one of these musicians, Big Fun, the album that this ...
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137

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Vinnie Colaiuta

Source:
February 5, 2011

235

Recording

Guitarist Jeff Richman Releases "Like That" Feat. Vinnie Colaiuta, Larry Goldings, Mitchel Forman, Will Kennedy, Et Al.

Source: Michael Bloom Media Relations
July 14, 2010

Like That (August 17 release/Nefer Records) is guitarist Jeff Richman's 15th solo release and delivers 10 hard-hitting, playful compositions with catchy melodies and a refreshingly modern sound. Richman continues to shine in his ability to write music with creative intricacy and sophistication, articulating his individual point of view. This time around, his guitar tone is deeper, more resonant, robust, and alive. Richman's style of playing complex changes fluidly over these infectious grooves will satisfy over many listenings. Like a musical ...
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Birthday