* En anglais uniquement
Born and raised in Rhode Island, Joe Parillo is a highly melodic and expressive pianist who isn't well known nationally but has kept busy playing and teaching in New England. Think of Keith Jarrett and Bill Evans at their most lyrical and reflective, and you can get an idea what Parillo's playing is like on his Neoga CDs of the 1990s. The classically trained musician (who cites those pianists and Oscar Peterson as main influences) studied jazz and classical growing up before studying with a number of jazz greats in the 1970s and 1980s, including Marian McPartland in 1978 and Pat Metheny and Dave Holland in 1980. From 1977-83, Parillo played piano with Telos 3, the swing band of Dr. Arthur Motycka (a trumpeter/vibist who played with Benny Goodman and Doc Severinsen), and in 1984, he toured Hawaii and New Zealand as a member of the Glenn Miller "ghost orchestra." Parillo's first LP as a leader, Songbook was recorded in 1983, followed by Clouds in 1988, Almost Carefree in 1994, Block Island Summer in 1996 and the introspective trio date Morning in the Garden in 1997. Since 1985, he has led his own group, the Joe Parillo Ensemble.
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