Sergio Salvatore

Since he began recording at the remarkable age of 11, Sergio Salvatore's superb musicianship has led to recordings that have featured such notable players as Chick Corea, Michael & Randy Brecker, Gary Burton, Jay Anderson, Danny Gottlieb and William Kennedy, and shows with - among others - Gary Burton, Dave Grusin, Delfeayo Marsalis, Mel Torme, Tony Bennett, and Grover Washington, Jr.

Sergio began playing at a very early age and was performing in public by the time he was four. His father, Luciano Salvatore, is a music teacher who majored in classical piano at Boston University and the Berklee College of Music. After teaching at Berklee for five years, Luciano created his own music school North Jersey Music Labs, which specializes in teaching improvisation. It wasn't long before Sergio became his father's star pupil.

Early in 1992, a home video of one of Sergio's performances came to the attention of the Director of A&R at GRP Records. A live audition at the Salvatore household followed soon after resulting in the recording of Sergio's self-titled debut album for the label, cutting seven original tunes and receiving critically-favorable response to the record.

The 1994 follow-up on GRP, Tune Up, included compositions by Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Wayne Shorter, and Chick Corea and led to appearances with the American Jazz Philharmonic and to performances in Japan, Italy, Canada and at selected venues in the U.S. including Carnegie Hall and the Ravinia Jazz Festival. In 1996, Sergio recorded Always A Beginning, an all-acoustic album for Concord Jazz Records that featured his keyboard artistry in a trio setting, alongside bassist John Patitucci and drummer Peter Erskine. Subsequently, Always A Beginning was selected as one of JazzTimes magazine's favorite albums of the year.

Following his relationship with Concord Records, Sergio joined the roster of N2K Encoded Music, a New York based media/technology company focusing on music and the Internet. There he recorded his first decidedly contemporary jazz recording produced by Chuck Loeb and including veterans Steve Gadd (drums), Will Lee (bass), John Patitucci (bass), Michael Brecker (tenor saxophone), Bob Mintzer (soprano saxophone), and David Charles (percussion).

In 2008, Salvatore released Dark Sand, a duet project with virtuoso vibraphonist Christos Rafalides to critial acclaim from major jazz press including Downbeat, JazzTimes, and AllAboutJazz.

In addition to performing frequently with Mr. Rafalides throughout the world, Sergio has been writing music for a variety of settings including solo piano, trio, and quintet. Mr. Salvatore also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusettes.

Photo: Ryan Brooks