Born into a musical family, Jerry started listening to Jazz at an early age. His father, Joseph Costanzo, began his music education early and taught him to play saxophone when he was in the third grade. Jerry's parents played the radio every morning and weekend he and the family would all try out their crooning abilities to the songs of Frank Sinatra, Jerry Vale, Perry Como, Nat Cole and others. Jerry learned all the classic standards through "osmosis."
After high school, Jerry studied acting at the Herbert Berghoff studio in NYC. One of his teachers was William Hickey (You may remember him; he went on to be nominated for best supporting actor in the film Prizzi's Honor). While he attended acting school, Jerry landed a job working for Al Pacino as his personal aid and chauffeur, where he got to rub elbows with a lot of famous people.
Around 1980, Jerry's father started a Big Band called The Memories Of Swing. Around 1985, Jerry started subbing on alto with the band. "I wouldn't say I was ever a very good sax player but I got by" says Jerry. Up until then, he had been playing with the horn section in a classic rock band and did some singing. That all changed the day his father asked him if he would like to sing with the big band. Jerry was never truly happy playing rock or Pop. "My heart was always in Jazz & Big Band Swing".
Jerry is now a full-time vocalist & bandleader. He has recently released his first CD entitled "Destination Moon" and formed his own label Semi-Quaver Jazz. Jerry leads his own big band - The Jerry Costanzo Orchestra, directed by Mike Carubia, and is working with saxophonist, arranger and producer Mr. Andy Farber & his Swing Mavens octet, as well as his smaller ensembles; Trios, Quartets, and Quintets.
Jerry has also been very fortunate to be working with many of the best jazz musicians on the scene today, and continues to work with such names as Steve Ash, Ted Firth, Tardo Hammer, Neal Miner, Joe Cohn, Dave Glasser, Mike LeDonne, Jerry Weldon, Mark Sherman, Ben Wolfe, Jimmy Madison, Alvestor Garnett, Hilary Kole, Amy London, and others.
In another time and
place, Jerry Costanzo wouldn’t be interpreting the Great American Songbook.
It’s likely he’d be conceiving it. Midwest Record deemed the luminous vocalist
and bandleader “A cat that knows how to swing it and grab the Vegas vibe that most
of us never were old enough to experience,” while Jazz.com raved, “As all great
singers do, he tells a story.” Raised in a musical family, Costanzo’s musical
stencil was etched with the likes of Sinatra, Sammy, Dino, Perry Como, Count
Basie, Mel Torme, Jerry Vale and Nat King Cole.
He was playing saxophone by
third grade, and developed chops as a performer studying acting at New York’s
Herbert Berghof Studio. A stint as personal aid and chauffeur for Al Pacino
further apprised Costanzo to the arts, before he joined his father Joseph’s big
band, The Memories Of Swing, first on sax and then as the outfit’s lead
vocalist. While well into his 30s before the New Yorker recognized his calling
card—bringing his musical idols back to life—Costanzo is making up for lost
time. Today, the man behind the mic is a full-time troubadour and bandleader,
surrounded by a Who’s Who of the jazz world.
In 2008, his debut full-length
album “Destination Moon,” produced by Andy Farber and accompanied by Farber
& his Swing Mavens octet, served up a dozen swigin` classics, “Moon” earned
Costanzo a dedicated live following, with gigs including the Annual Sinatra
Birthday Bash at The Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, N.J., Lincoln Centers Mid
Summer Night Swing, New York’s Metropolitan Room, Feinstein’s at The Loews
Regency and Waldorf Astoria, the Long Island, N.Y., Tilles Center for the
Performing Arts, Hofstra University’s Artie Shaw Centennial Concert and dozens
of concert series, festivals and private posh gigs up and down the East Coast.
Costanzo’s follow-up disc, “Can’t We Be Friends”—released on Daywood Drive
Records and executive/co-produced by Costanzo with acclaimed vocalist and
composer Kevin Fitzgerald Burke—raises the torch to fever pitch, featuring a
five-piece rhythm section, that again pays homage to musical heroes who painted
the original brush strokes on American standards, with a vibe he describes as
“George Shearing meets The Nat King Cole Trio meets Milt Jackson.”
In an
interview with All About Jazz, Costanzo was asked to conjure his dream band. He
joked, “They’re all dead. I wish I’d have been in my prime in the ‘30s, ‘40s
and ‘50s.”No doubt, those who have influenced the music of Jerry Costanzo would
offer a collective thumbs up for skillfully preserving their legacy. He is
indeed breathing new life into a venerable chapter of America’s songbook.
Chuck Taylor served as
a writer and senior editor at Billboard magazine for 14 years. He has appeared
on CNN, ABC’s “20/20,” VH1’s “Behind the Music,” A&E’s “Biography,” and
been quoted in the New York Times, USA Today and numerous publications about
music.
Oct 19:GuitaristJoe Cohn, joins Jerry and his
trio. Son of legendary saxophonist Al Cohn and vocalist Marylin Moore, Joe has
steadily risen to the fore and made his mark as one of the most inventive and
catalytic guitarists in jazz. He has toured the US and Europe and played with
groups led by his father, Al Cohn (1979-87), Freddy Cole, Bob Mover, Nick
Brignola, Artie Shaw, Zoot Sims, Buddy DeFranco, Al Grey, Warren Chiasson,
Carmine Leggio, Claude “Fiddler” Williams and Harry Allen to name but a fewhttp://www.joecohn.com/#3
Nov 16: Vibraphonist/recording artistMark Sherman, joins Jerry and
his trio, Mark Sherman has performed vibes around the world, including six
tours throughout Europe, Russia, China, Korea, the Philippines, Australia and
North America. He was named a winner in Downbeat Magazine’s 2007-2010 Critics
Poll for his musical prowess, and has conducted master classes in more than a
dozen nations. Sherman is a faculty member of The Juilliard School and New
Jersey City University.http://www.markshermanmusic.com/
Dec 21:SaxophonistAndy Farber& His 8-pieceSwing Mavens. Jerry will be
performing Andy's original swinging arrangements of classic standards from his
first CD "Destination Moon" Andy Farber is an award winning jazz
composer, arranger and saxophonist and has spent years performing with the
likes of Jon Hendricks and Wynton Marsalis. Since 1994, Farber has been part of
the Jazz @ Lincoln Center stable of writers and performers. Through J@LC,
Farber has toured with the J@LC Orchestra, written originals compositions and
arrangements and been a guest artistic director. His work as an arranger,
conductor and instrumentalist can be heard on numerous recordings, commercials
and television/film scoreswww.andyfarber.com/
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