Vinnie Colaiuta

Last updated

Vinnie Colaiuta
Vinnie Colaiuta crop.jpg
Colaiuta with Jeff Beck at the Palais Theatre in Australia, 2009
Background information
Born (1956-02-05) February 5, 1956 (age 68)
Brownsville, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres Rock, pop, jazz, funk, country, heavy metal
OccupationDrummer
Years active1977–present
Labels Stretch, Moonjune
Website vinniecolaiuta.com

Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer known for his technical mastery who has worked as a session musician in many genres. [1] He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1996 [2] and the Classic Drummer Hall of Fame in 2014. [3] Colaiuta has won one Grammy Award and has been nominated twice. [4] Since the late 1970s, he has recorded and toured with Frank Zappa, Joni Mitchell, and Sting, among many other appearances in the studio and in concert.

Contents

Career

Colaiuta was given his first drum kit when he was seven. He took to it naturally, with little instruction. When he was fourteen, the school band teacher gave him a book that taught him some of the basics. Buddy Rich was his favorite drummer until he heard the album Ego by Tony Williams and The Tony Williams Lifetime, an event that changed his life. Colaiuta was also listening to organ groups, notably Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff and Don Patterson. [5]

While a student at Berklee College of Music, when jazz fusion was on the rise, he listened to and admired Alphonse Mouzon and Billy Cobham. [6]

After leaving school, he played local gigs in Boston. He joined a brief tour organized by Al Kooper, then worked in California on an album by Christopher Morris, which Kooper was producing. Although he returned to Boston, Colaiuta was drawn back to California by friends. He took the bus from Boston to Los Angeles during the Great Blizzard of 1978.

After performing in jazz clubs, he won the audition to play drums for Frank Zappa. He toured with Zappa and appeared on the albums Joe's Garage , Tinsel Town Rebellion , and Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar . [7] Modern Drummer magazine chose Joe's Garage as one of the top 25 drum performances of all time. [8]

Colaiuta with Kenny Garrett in the Five Peace Band, 2008 Kenny Garrett & Vinnie Colaiuta.jpg
Colaiuta with Kenny Garrett in the Five Peace Band, 2008

In 1981, he ceased touring with Zappa to become a studio musician, recording for the band Pages and pop singer Gino Vannelli. Opportunities arose with saxophonist Tom Scott and bassist Larry Klein, who invited Colaiuta to play on a record by Klein's then-girlfriend, Joni Mitchell. When Klein and Mitchell got married, Colaiuta was the best man at their wedding. During the 1980s, he toured with Mitchell.

In 1986, he became the house drummer of The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers . [9] The band, called the Party Boys and the Tramp, was led by Mark Hudson.

By the end of the 1980s he was recording albums, TV and film work during the day, and playing clubs at night. [7] In addition to pop acts, he has worked with jazz musicians Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Buell Neidlinger, and the Buddy Rich Big Band. [8]

In 1990, Colaiuta got a phone call from Sting, flew to England, and won the audition to become a member of his band. [7] He remained with Sting for much of the 1990s, touring and recording the albums Ten Summoner's Tales (1993), Mercury Falling (1996), Brand New Day (1999) and Sacred Love (2003). [8] In 1994, Colaiuta released his debut solo album. [10]

On November 12, 2016, he played with Sting in the first concert to be held at the Bataclan in Paris since the terrorist attack a year earlier. [11]

He has won over fifteen Drummer of the Year awards from Modern Drummer magazine's annual reader polls. These include ten awards in the "Best Overall" category. [12] [8]

Partial discography

As leader

With Jing Chi

(with Robben Ford and Jimmy Haslip)

  • 2002 Jing Chi
  • 2003 Jing Chi Live at Yoshi's [13]
  • 2004 3D
  • 2017 Supremo

With Mark Isham

  • 2019 Hard Candy (A-Tone Recordings)

As sideman

With Joni Mitchell

With Tom Scott

  • 1982 Desire
  • 1987 Streamlines
  • 1988 Flashpoint
  • 1999 Smokin' Section

With Sting

With Frank Zappa

Colaiuta on drums with Frank Zappa at the Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, NY. October 25, 1980 Frank Zappa.jpg
Colaiuta on drums with Frank Zappa at the Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, NY. October 25, 1980

With others

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Bozzio</span> American drummer (born 1950)

Terry John Bozzio is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons, U.K., and Frank Zappa. He has been featured on nine solo or collaborative albums, 26 albums with Zappa and seven albums with Missing Persons. Bozzio has been a prolific sideman, playing on numerous releases by other artists since the mid-1970s. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Phillips (drummer)</span> English drummer (born 1957)

Simon Phillips is an English jazz fusion and rock drummer, songwriter, and record producer, based in the United States. He worked with rock bands during the 1970s and 1980s, and was the drummer for the band Toto from 1992 to 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren Cuccurullo</span> American musician (born 1956)

Warren Bruce Cuccurullo is an American musician, songwriter, restaurant owner and former bodybuilder who first worked with Frank Zappa during the 1970s. He was also a founding member of Missing Persons in the 1980s. In 1989 Cuccurullo joined Duran Duran, becoming a long-term member of the band until 2001. In 2022, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Duran Duran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominic Miller</span> British musician

Dominic James Miller is a British guitarist. With much of his career as a sideman and guitarist for singer Sting, he has also released several solo albums.

Neil Stubenhaus is an American bass guitarist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chad Wackerman</span> American drummer

Chad Wackerman is an American jazz, jazz fusion and rock drummer, who has played with Frank Zappa and Allan Holdsworth. He has worked as a band member, session musician, sideman, and leader of his own ensembles. He is the older brother of drummers John Wackerman and Brooks Wackerman.

David Sancious is an American musician. He was an early member of Bruce Springsteen's backing group, the E Street Band, and contributed to the first three Springsteen albums, and again on Human Touch (1992), Tracks (1998), and Western Stars (2019). Sancious is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known as a keyboard player and guitarist. He left the E Street Band in 1974 to form his own band, Tone, and released several albums. He subsequently became a popular session and touring musician, most notably for Stanley Clarke, Narada Michael Walden, Zucchero Fornaciari, Eric Clapton, Peter Gabriel, Jack Bruce, and Sting among many others. In 2014, Sancious was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the E Street Band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ike Willis</span> American vocalist and guitarist (born 1955)

Isaac Willis is an American vocalist and guitarist who was a regular member of Frank Zappa's studio and touring bands from 1978 until the last tour in 1988. He did not tour with Zappa in 1981 and 1982 because he wanted to be at home for the birth of his two children, and returned to touring with Zappa for his final two tours in 1984 and 1988. He currently tours with the Frank Zappa tribute bands Bogus Pomp, Ossi Duri, Project/Object, Pojama People, Ugly Radio Rebellion and ZAPPATiKA. He also performed several times with the Brazilian Zappa cover band, The Central Scrutinizer Band, The Muffin Men, and with the Italian bands Ossi Duri and Elio e le Storie Tese. Additionally, he has appeared multiple times at the annual Zappanale Festival in Bad Doberan, Germany. He is most recognized for his involvement in Zappa records such as playing Joe in Joe's Garage, providing vocals on Tinsel Town Rebellion, You Are What You Is, and The Man from Utopia, and as the title character and narrator in Zappa's off-Broadway-styled conceptual musical Thing-Fish.

Dann Lee Huff is an American record producer, studio guitarist, and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the Musician of the Year award in 2001, 2004, and 2016 at the Country Music Association Awards and the Producer of the Year award in 2006 and 2009 at the Academy of Country Music. He is the father of American singer and songwriter Ashlyne Huff, a member of Giant and White Heart and brother of drummer David Huff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dean Parks</span> American guitarist and record producer (born 1946)

Weldon Dean Parks is an American session guitarist and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas. Parks has one Grammy nomination.

William Frank Reichenbach Jr. is an American jazz trombonist and composer. He is the son of Bill Reichenbach, who was the drummer for Charlie Byrd from 1962 to 1973. He is best known as a session musician for television, films, cartoons, and commercials. He primarily specializes in playing the bass trombone, however, he is also proficient in playing other instruments such as the tenor trombone, contrabass trombone, euphonium, and tuba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Pisano</span> American jazz guitarist (1931–2024)

John Pisano was an American jazz guitarist.

Arthur Barrow is a multi-instrumental musician, best known for his stint as a bass guitar player for Frank Zappa in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Paul Nelson Humphrey was an American jazz and R&B drummer.

Michael Thompson is an American guitarist and songwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Landau</span> American musician

Michael Christopher Landau is an American musician, audio engineer, and record producer. He is a session musician and guitarist who has played on many albums since the early 1980s with Boz Scaggs, Minoru Niihara, Joni Mitchell, Rod Stewart, Seal, Michael Jackson, James Taylor, Helen Watson, Luis Miguel, Richard Marx, Steve Perry, Pink Floyd, Phil Collins on "Two Hearts" and "Loco in Acapulco", Roger Daltrey, Stevie Nicks, Glenn Frey, Eros Ramazzotti, Whitney Houston, and Miles Davis. Landau, along with fellow session guitarists Dean Parks, Steve Lukather, Michael Thompson and Dann Huff, played on many of the major label releases recorded in Los Angeles from the 1980s–1990s. He has released music with several record labels, including Ulftone Music and Tone Center Records, a member of Shrapnel Label Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randy Waldman</span> Musical artist

Randy Waldman is an American pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor. He has frequently collaborated with Barbra Streisand, serving as her pianist and conductor since 1984. Waldman has worked with notable artists including Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Beyoncé, Ray Charles, and Stevie Wonder. His 2018 album Superheroes garnered the award for Best Arrangement at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.

Dan Higgins is an American saxophone and woodwind player. He has worked with such artists as John Williams, Seth MacFarlane, Aerosmith, Stevie Wonder, Neil Diamond, Al Jarreau, Maroon 5, Kenny Loggins, Barry Manilow, Elton John, Go West, The Temptations, Lionel Richie, Joe Cocker, Luis Miguel, Lisa Stansfield, and Eros Ramazzotti. He has over 800 motion picture soundtracks to his credit. He is also known as the saxophone sound of Bleeding Gums Murphy from The Simpsons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doug Sax</span> American mastering engineer (1936–2015)

Doug Sax was an American mastering engineer from Los Angeles, California. He mastered three The Doors' albums, including their 1967 debut; six Pink Floyd's albums, including The Wall; Ray Charles' multiple-Grammy winner Genius Loves Company in 2004, and Bob Dylan's 36th studio album Shadows in the Night in 2015.

"A Little Green Rosetta", by Frank Zappa, is the final song on the 1979 concept album Joe's Garage Acts II & III. The main character from this triple-album rock opera is faced with the decline of the music industry, and is forced to work on an assembly line placing little frosted rosettes on top of muffins at the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen facility

References

  1. Staff (July 22, 2010). "Vinnie Colaiuta: Unlike Anybody Else". Modern Drummer . Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  2. "Modern Drummer's Readers Poll Archive, 1979–2014". Modern Drummer . Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  3. "Vinnie Colaiuta Hall of Fame Induction". Classic Drummer. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
  4. "Vinnie Colaiuta". GRAMMY.com. November 19, 2019. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  5. "Percussive Arts Society Interview 1995". vinniecolaiuta.com. February 1995. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  6. Rule, Greg (2002). "Chapter 4: Drums & Drumming" . In Doerschuk, Robert (ed.). Playing from the Heart. San Francisco: Backbeat Books. pp.  264–65. ISBN   0-87930-704-8.
  7. 1 2 3 "Vinnie Colaiuta". vinniecolaiuta.com. Berklee Press. 2001. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Drummerworld: Vinnie Colaiuta". Drummerworld. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  9. tomsaviano.com/saxophonejournal.htm
  10. Yanow, Scott. "Vinnie Colaiuta: Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  11. "Sting reopens the Bataclan in emotional gig a year after Paris terror attacks". sting.com. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  12. Modern Drummer interview Archived December 28, 2005, at the Wayback Machine , vinniecolaiuta.com; accessed October 26, 2014.
  13. "Artist Biography by Wade Kergan". AllMusic. Retrieved September 16, 2017.