Steve Salerno's Biography
"When You're Smiling, the Whole World Smiles With You," Steve Salerno sings on his latest CD. This is exactly the sentiment that the Jazz Vocalist & Pianist wants us to feel when he performs the music he loves the most.
The long-awaited second release, "my favorites" welcomes us into Steve's world of Jazz Standards and classic Italian love songs. "I recorded these songs because they are not only my favorites, but each one personally means something to me."
On "my favorites", Steve chose a wide selection of Jazz Standards from the Great American Songbook. "I try to touch upon every style of Jazz." Steve accomplishes this in two ways: his smooth, romantic style of singing and his swingin', straight-ahead style of playing piano.
These different styles are quite evident on Steve's recording. "Where Or When" is reminiscent of the Count Basie Orchestra. "Count Basie made everyone sound better...artists ranging from Tony Bennett to Frank Sinatra were suddenly swingin' harder!"
Steve loves to sing many of the classic Italian love songs. They come from his heart. "Anema E Core" is one of his favorites. "Although I speak pure Italian, I love to sing the Neapolitan love songs in their native dialect. The "dialetto Napoletano" is as beautiful as the music itself".
Being a romantic, Steve's true emotions are felt on beautiful ballads such as "My Funny Valentine" and "Embraceable You". "My Funny Valentine is personally my favorite song on the whole recording!" It was also the most difficult of the recording sessions. Steve wanted this song to be done "live" like "Anema Core"...even though there were many musicians in the studio that day. He wanted the listener to feel the beauty of the string section and the band as if they were sitting in the room with him. In order to ahieve these results, Steve sang, played piano, and conducted the string section...simultaneously! As he does on performances, Steve wanted to record "Embraceable You" alone to really emphasize the lyrics and feature his piano playing.
"When You're Smiling" and "Walkin' My Baby Back Home" swing hard! The strong influences of Louis Prima and Frank Sinatra are felt on "When You're Smiling". Steve wanted this song to be the swingin', feel-good song on the CD. He was also influenced by Nat "King" Cole while recording the duet "Walkin' My Baby Back Home" with the incomparable Keaton Douglas.
"All Alone" is another personal favorite. A sad, yet beautiful song, it reminds Steve of a difficult period in his life. "The songs of Irving Berlin are very special to me". As far as the diversity of Jazz styles, the two instrumentals are quite different. "Summertime" has a very funky edge, while "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" has a nice swingin' feel accomplished by the quartet.
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Born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, Steve Salerno grew up with a strong musical background. He began his musical studies on guitar at 7 years old. "My father gave me an album by Les Paul back then," Steve says. "This was my first exposure to Jazz, and I can thank him for that!" At 13 years old, Steve began to play piano. "At that point, I was playing guitar, piano, violin and mandolin," Steve continues, "I quickly realized that I had found my true love in the piano."
Steve's musical influences are two giants of Jazz, one a singer and the
other a pianist: Tony Bennett and Oscar Peterson. "Everything I strive to do in music is best exemplified by these two incredible men!" Steve also grew up with a healthy dose of singers like Frank Sinatra and Nat "King" Cole, and pianists such as Art Tatum and Erol Garner. Outside the realm of Jazz, you can find Steve constantly listening to artists like Elvis, Bobby Darin, Perry Como, Jimmy Roselli, Jerry Vale, Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, and Giuseppe DiStefano. Steve jokes, "It's not too hard to figure out that I grew up in an Italian household!!"
Steve has performed in numerous clubs and restaurants in the New York/New Jersey area. Just to name a few in New Jersey: Trumpets Jazz Club, The West Orange Manor, The Highlawn Pavilion, Palazzo, The Marlboro Inn, Sonoma Grill, Frankie & Johnnie's, I Fratelli, Milan, Bruschetta, The Bernards Inn and many, many more! Some of the New York spots where Steve has performed include: The Monkey Bar, Bondini's, The Madison Bistro and Southern Comfort just to name a few. Steve has performed at outdoor Jazz Festivals and has made an appearance on Fox's Good Day New York. He has even performed at several venues in Rome and Sorrento, Italy!
We have a lot to look forward to from Steve Salerno. He has touched us with his style of Jazz music, both swinging and romantic. "I'm already thinking about the next CD!" We can expect the best from this artist who continues to share his love and passion of Jazz music with us, now and always. |
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