John Serry

Genres: jazz piano

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About John Serry

John Serry (b. 1954) was nominated for a Grammy [Best Instrumental Arrangement] for his composition, Sabotage, on his debut album, "Exhibition" (Chrysalis, 1979). His second album, "Jazziz" (Chrysalis, 1980), received 4 stars in Downbeat, feature review of the month in Keyboard magazine and inspired the naming of JAZZIZ magazine. In 1995, John was awarded the Grand Prize in the JAZZIZ magazine Keyboards on Fire pianist/composer competition (Dave Brubeck and Bob James, judges; grand piano from Steinway.) John Serry's CD, "Enchantress" (Telarc, 1996) received the following comments in reviews by major publications: "He has a strong sense of melody, his touch is confident, his ideas are sensible and his playing is beautifully controlled " --Downbeat; "What a pleasure to find that he is back, still turning out charts that turn heads by turning corners." --Keyboard. Serry has performed at Birdland, the Blue Note, the Montreux Festival, the 606 Club (London), Covent Garden (featured on BBC “Jazz Legends Live”), Steinway Hall and many other festivals, clubs and venues in the U.S and abroad. Players which have appeared in his groups and recordings include John Riley, Peter Erskine, Carlos Vega, Anthony Jackson, Jimmy Johnson, Bob Sheppard, Gerry Niewood, Ted Nash, Mike Sembello, and Barry Finnerty, among others. His new album is The Shift (SPCo Records, 2013, distributed by CD Baby), with his London quartet, Dave O'Higgins - sax, Mark Mondesir - drums, Sam Burgess - bass / Mike Mondesir - elec. bass. Album excerpts can be heard at myspace. His classical works, featuring percussion, have been played at Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center and numerous concert venues and recital halls in the U.S., Europe, Japan and other places. John is a native New Yorker and has lived in Europe since 2004 - London, Spain, Prague, Italy. Additional activities: In the 1990s, while living in Manhattan, John wrote music for several documentary films and television commercials (e.g., for Grey Advertising); he also played in numerous Broadway shows (e.g. Saturday Night Fever, Cats, Les Miserables) and conducted at Radio City Music Hall. In the 1980s, while living in Los Angeles, he played on film and television soundtracks (e.g., The Stunt Man, Vegas) and wrote numerous soundtracks for documentary and corporate films. He has sometimes played with well known artists, e.g., piano with Patty Austin, BBC Big Band, Doc Severinsen, Kyle Eastwood and duets with Marian McPartland and Julian Joseph; also percussion with Liza Minnelli and Aretha Franklin. He has arranged music for albums (e.g., Canadian Brass Gabrielli and Monteverdi CD), orchestra concerts (Marian McPartland) and network television and movie soundtracks (e.g., Alfred Hitchcock Presents.) John has taught, given seminars and coached ensembles at Juilliard, Peabody, University of South Carolina (1988-91, Associate Professor and Director of Jazz), The Royal Academy of Music (London) and other schools of music. He has BM (with Distinction) and MM degrees from the Eastman School of Music (Profs. Bill Dobbins, Chuck Mangione, John Beck, Rayburn Wright; workshops/concerts with Joe Farrell, Keith Jarrett, Bill Watrous.) While at Eastman, he was awarded Best Pianist, Best Composer and (as a member of Auracle) Best Group at the 1975 Notre Dame Jazz Festival (Sonny Rollins, Jack DeJohnette et al, judges.) He then recorded and toured with Auracle, including the LP, Glider (Chrysalis, 1978) which was co-produced by Miles Davis producer, Teo Macero. In his teens, John studied percussion with Juilliard faculty member, Gordon Gottlieb and was soloist for concerts of the Creston Marimba Concerto (Europe tour) and Milhaud Percussion Concerto. He played percussion in the 1980s at Lincoln Center for Varese Ionization and Stravinsky Les Noces (Robert Kraft, Musicmasters CD), as well as in Los Angeles for the Bartok Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion (California Chamber Symphony.) He has received commissions (e.g., from Leigh Howard Stevens), worldwide publishing and distribution (Alfred Music, Studio 4, Marimba Productions) and an award (Percussive Arts Society) for his classical compositions which include percussion and marimba solos, duos, a percussion ensemble and 2 concertos. The most recent is Groundlines, commissioned by an international consortium of marimba soloists and premiered (Ji Hye Jung) at Percussive Arts Society International Convention 2010. An art enthusiast and frequent traveler, John performs regularly as pianist/composer with his jazz trio (currently based in Italy.)

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