John Colianni

Jazz Pianist

Reviews

 

John Colianni, Press Quotes -

"Tremendous piano jazz; a phenomenal show stopper; technical skill, warmth, application and understanding." Jazz Journal International (London)

"Intriguing, eclectic" Billboard

"He has a smooth, light-touch style. He flies easily through intricate right-hand melodic lines, and improvises on them, and roams the bass clef with his left hand, combining basic and offbeat rhythms with rich, melodic chord patterns. His left hand harmonic structures are most impressive." San Francisco Examiner

"Consummate piano virtuoso, truly individual voice, sophisticated swing." Jazz Times

"He is the essence of a swinging pianist, a sudden flurry of complex runs can be finished before the listener is fully aware of what is happening." The New York Times

"Impeccably disciplined, a limitless cauldron full of ideas, eye-opening intensity; effortless swing - Tatumesque." Toronto Star

"The best you'll ever hear." Mel Torme

"Acoustic modernist absorbing the pianism of Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson." Jazziz
"A brilliant pianist, composer, arranger with exquisite taste, great technique, charming, witty, he has much to bring to the table.....and he's got rhythm. Who could ask for anything more?" Jimmy
Woode, bassist with Duke Ellington

"Just dig it" Lionel Hampton

REVIEW FROM Moors Magazine, Holland, OF "AHEAD OF THE CROWD" June, 2021

The John Colianni Trio "Ahead Of The Crowd" (Patuxent Music CD 355)

I love a great jazz-trio, and I really love Colianni:
I have a soft spot for the classic jazz piano trio – a pianist, a drummer and a bassist. If they play a little good and adventurous I'm completely sold, and I even keep playing Ahmad Jamal and Ramsey Lewis albums from the fifties and sixties because I've become forever attached to them.
John Colianni is also such a pianist who, with a sublime subtle bassist, Boots Maleson and an equally subtle, perfect drummer Bernard Linnette, knows how to perform small miracles on the square centimeter. The three men are completely attuned to each other, but do not play routine for a moment – ​​they listen carefully to each other, complement each other, talk musically with each other and continue to swing gently in between in a delightful way.
Ahead of the Crowd contains 45 minutes of music from the American Songbook like Cole Porter's I Get a Kick out of You, jazz classics like Count Basie's One O'Clock Jump, blues, some old R&B hits like One Mint Julep and a few of Colianni's own compositions as Thing Thing. Everything fits together seamlessly, and the entire CD feels like one beautiful, continuous performance. If, like me, you like a really good jazz piano trio, this is an absolute must.
Holly Moors (Moors Magazine, Jazz-Blues Reviews, Holland)

Jersey Jazz Journal Review

Pianist JOHN COLIANNI has a nicely swinging and original sound going on I Never Knew (Patuxent – 309). He leads a sextet with tenor saxophonists John David Simon and Grant Stewart, guitarist Matt Chertkoff, bassist Ralph Hamperian and drummer Bernard Linnette. You do not often hear selections by Beethoven and Thelonious Monk on the same album, but Colianni has chosen an eclectic mix of tunes that includes an adaptation of Beethoven’s “Für Elise,” “I Never Knew,” “I Didn’t Know About You,” “Achtung” by Illinois Jacquet, and Monk’s “Little Rootie Tootie, plus two originals by Colianni, “Blues for Naomi” and “Sunset in Santa Fe,” and one by John David Simon, “See Saw.” Simon and Stewart carries on a jazz tradition, a two tenor front line, and they do so with exciting results. Colianni’s charts open lots of blowing room for all the players, and he takes his solo moments to demonstrate why his pianism is so widely admired. Fun musc is a good description of what you will find on I Never Knew. (www.pxrec.com)

-Joe Lang, Jersey Jazz Journal