Joseph Diamond
With the release of Not Your Typical New Yorker, Joseph Diamond – pianist, composer, producer – sees the realization of a long-held dream. Once he had recognized the idea that, "It was about time to do something on my own," Joe pursued his goal with foresight and determination. He rehearsed his band "on and off for a year," while writing music and fine tuning his concept for the CD. He hired topnotch musicians for his rhythm section – Vince Cherico on drums and Leo Traversa on bass – and enlisted the services of his best friend and "main man," the late Drew Francis on keyboards, flutes, and tenor sax. He immersed himself in Latin music, which he had studied with Oscar Hernández. As a result, six of the tunes on Not Your Typical New Yorker – a title which Joseph finds reflective of his own friendly attitude – are Latin in structure and feeling.
Of course, Joseph’s musicianship has a long past. His mother, to whom the CD is dedicated, played piano, which Joseph, who grew up in Liberty, New York, studied as a youngster. Under the tutelage of George Handy, an arranger famed for his work with the Boyd Rayburn Orchestra, Joe was introduced to jazz in junior high school. Joseph furthered his experience in the competitive atmosphere of the University of Miami, majoring in music and gaining confidence. He transferred to the University of Hartford, where the music program is run by famed alto saxophonist Jackie McLean. Some of the fine musicians Joseph learned from are Nat Reeves, James Williams, and the late piano titans, Jaki Byard and Walter Bishop, Jr. After graduating, Joe began gigging in diverse situations: he played with an all-Argentinean show band in Aruba, worked on cruise ships, and was music director of the Broadway road show "Dreamgirls." He moved to St. Louis for awhile, where he worked frequently in duo settings with vocalists, and was inspired to write tunes with lyrics. An apartment offer drew him to New York City in 1994, where his studies at Boys’ Harbor put him in touch with players like Luis Cruz, Ricky Gonzalez, and Papo Luca. The talents of several other players are documented on Not Your Typical New Yorker as well – Emedín Rivera and Joe Barnes on percussion, Norman Hedman and Pocholo Segundo on congas, Rudy Romero on bongos, and Sharon Thorne, who co-arranged for synthesizer along with Drew Francis. But the core is anchored and the spirit sparked by Joseph Diamond, who says of the project, "I feel like I really had something to say, compositionally and melodically, and I think those are my strong points. I think my music is memorable, and it feels good. I wanted to be in charge of every aspect (of the project), and I was. I have a product that I’m really proud of!"
|
