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 Greg Piccolo, after thirty years of recording and touring, continues to present his unique style and sound all over the
U.S., building an impressive following by turning on new fans, every step of the way. Rhode Island based Piccolo has never once wavered in his desire to write and perform his own music.
"There is simply nothing I would rather do." As a New Jersey festival promoter recently exclaimed, "The performance by Greg Piccolo and his band raised our festival standard to a whole new
level."
Piccolo's solo recording, Homage (Emit Doog Music), released in February 2001, is an all instrumental offering that pays tribute to a group of 40's sax legends who played a major role
in the style Piccolo has honed through the years. Piccolo carefully selected the tracks for Homage from his treasure trove of vintage 78's, including such gems as Red Prysock's
"Handclappin'", Ben Webster's "Over the Rainbow", Lester Young's, "Lester Smooths It Out",
and Illinois Jacquet's, "Illinois Blows the Blues". Bob Porter from "Portraits in Blue" states,
"Few players would have the courage to attempt what Greg Piccolo has done here. Fewer still would find the ability to pull it off as well as Greg Piccolo has done here." With equal
ability and care, Piccolo rounded out the quartet by selecting acclaimed Nashville session pianist, Reese Wynans, Las Vegas based, touring drummer for Sam Butera, Bobby
Ruggiero, and upright bass master from Providence RI, Marty Ballou. Without prior rehearsal, the group assembled and a "real swing" session was captured. Piccolo's current
stage performance includes many selections from this session.
Piccolo's credentials include 25 years with the Grammy nominated, world renowned,
Roomful of Blues, where he served as bandleader, lead singer, and tenor sax man from 1978 until his departure in 1994. His impressive catalog of more than fifty recordings includes
sessions with Pat Benetar, Colin James, "Big" Joe Turner, the Fabulous Thunderbirds and Stevie Ray Vaughan, to mention a few. Piccolo's debut solo recording, Heavy Juice
(Blacktop Records, 1990), received universal acclaim. His second solo effort, the first of two for Fantasy Records, Acid Blue (1995) was selected by "CD Review" magazine as one of
their top 10 blues recordings in 1995. Piccolo's third solo recording Red Lights, (Fantasy Records, 1997) features eleven songs, seven of them, including the title cut, from Piccolo's
pen. The remaining tracks are emotive Piccolo covers of classic recordings from Eddy Vinson, Ray Charles, and Freddie Mitchell. Red Lights is also Greg's debut recording on
alto saxophone as heard on "Acid Blue" and "Blue Pepper"; Piccolo's rendition of Duke Ellington's "Blue Pepper" deserves a special listen. Nineteen ninety-eight brought releases
by Jimmy Vaughan and Colin James, both featuring Greg Piccolo on sax. Notable was Jimmy Vaughan's Grammy nominated instrumental "Ironic Twist", from his Epic release, Out
There. In that same year Greg was called to duty by Canadian rock star Colin James to assist in the horn section arrangement for James' Little Big Band II release on
Warner-Canada. Piccolo is the featured tenor on most tracks and co-wrote, with James, "Triple Shot".
Piccolo's unique musical style challenges those compelled to categorize and
compartmentalize. His music is the clever fusion of the simplicity of blues, the freedom of jazz, and the rhythm of reggae, all on a solid, traditional R&B foundation, forever keeping the
music fresh, exciting, and polished for commercial appeal. The intensity and complexity of each Piccolo song is ever present in both his recorded works and live performances.
Watching Piccolo on stage is an experience, much like a gentle, but exhilarating roller coaster ride. Fans easily float from the swinging style of Buddy Johnson to the emotion
packed slow sax instrumentals of Lester Young and Jimmy Forest. The groove is as solid as bedrock, the foundation Piccolo builds upon as he moves from the rollicking honkers of
Red Prysock, to the steamy guitar licks honoring the Kings - Earl and B.B. For Greg, his music is all about great songs, as witnessed by the critically acclaimed, clever lyrics and
uncategorized "gotta-move" rhythmic arrangements of Piccolo's compositions. As Greg says with characteristic resolve, "I just play good music that will move your soul". And that he does!
Visit Greg Piccolo’s web site
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