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Born and raised in Utica NY, John Piazza Jr. began his trumpet studies when he was a junior in high school at the age of 16. Soon after John went on to study music at Onondaga Community College, received a BM in Music Education from the Crane School of Music and later earned his masters degree in Jazz studies at the University of Massachusetts. John was fortunate throughout his formative years to have been taken under the wing by so many local jazz legends including JR Monterose, Jack Palmer, Rick Montalbano, Danny D'Imperio, Sal Alberico Sr. & Jr. and his mentor Sal Amico. Although Sal Amico was an inspiration to many musicians over the years including Joe Magnarelli, John managed to capture the unique phrasing of his mentor without sounding like a carbon copy. After earning his masters in 1995 John spent 11 years working as a Musical Director for Carnival Cruise Lines where he managed all aspects of live musical entertainment. As a full time working musician and conductor, John has supported countless musical and variety acts including John Davidson, Charo, Nipsey Russell, Chris Vidala, Ernie Watts, Duke Daniels of the Platters and the Temptations to name a few. A well-rounded musician, John has performed all styles of music on a daily basis and although classically trained and quite capable of holding his own in the genre, John is most at home performing American jazz.
John has studied jazz with Yusef Lateef, Jeff Holmes, Billy Taylor, Archie Shepp, Brett Zvacek, JR Monterose and his mentor Sal Amico. John has studied trumpet with Bill Adam, Bob Slack, Jack Palmer, Jim Mosher, Dr. Jon Ellis and Walter Chesnut. Although influenced by all of his teachers, John's teaching style is of the Bill Adam School.
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