John Serry
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John Serry is a lesser-known jazz pianist who has been praised as an excellent keyboardist and composer by musicians and critics alike. His distinct sound as a composer has been remarked as having been ahead of the times and singular in composition. He is also a talented percussionist who overlayed himself playing drum set and keyboard percussion on his albums.
[edit] Biography
John Serry (originally Serrapica) was born in New York City to John Serry, Sr. He is half Sicilian and half Campanese. He was only a student of Eastman School when he entered the Notre Dame Jazz Festival and won Best Composer and Best Pianist. In 1978, he joined a jazz-fusion band called Auracle and recorded and toured its album, Glider. The group won the Columbia Records Battle of the Bands, and was equally well received by the public, who, in the USA, Europe, and Japan, praised the band in magazine polls.
As a professional composer, he signed on with Chrysalis Records in 1979 to create his first album, Exhibition. This album, a mix of all sorts of jazz and fusion, was remarkable in its use of keyboard and electric sounds, and had much compositional integrity. It received a Grammy nomination that year. Its follow-up Jazziz in 1980, was also a success. A well received and equally well-made album, the acclaimed Jazziz Magazine took its name from this album, while Downbeat Magazine gave the album a full four-star rating.
John Serry soon left Chrysalis Records to explore other fields of musical composition. The bulk of his work has been in production, arrangement, conducting, composing, and performing with or for other artists. As a film scorer, his works ranged from music for Columbia Pictures, Universal Studios, ABC, CNN, and many other documentaries and television advertisements.
Much of his work has been based in New York. He has taken much work a conductor, arranger, and eventually music director for Graciella Danielle at the Radio City Music Hall in New York. Amongst the musicians he has worked with at Radio City are Doc Severinsen, The Canadian Brass, Leigh Howard Stevens, and Aretha Franklin. He has also done extensive work for Broadway shows including Les Misérables, Beauty and the Beast, Cats, Jekyll & Hyde, and Jesus Christ Superstar. He has also had a career as an educator, clinician, and music professor for several universities across New York.
In 1995, Serry won the grand prize in Jazziz Magazine in the "Key Players" competition, which was a serious keyboard/composer contest judged by Dave Brubeck and Bob James.
In 1996, Serry released a new album, Enchantress. Compared to the previous, turn-of-the-80's albums, this was a lot more subtle and refined. Tracks like Heartfelt display Serry's musical background with a definite New York jazz sound.
Today, a traveler and dual citizen of Italy, Serry resides in London.
