Miscellaneous

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    Glenn Zottola and Chick Corea

    Chick was a jazz legend and my best friend of 23 years. We had so many great moments together I still miss him very much.

    Glenn Zottola and Chick Corea

      I have been so fortunate in my career to become friends with and make music with many legends. Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme, Gerry Mulligan just to name a few. There is one living legend in Jazz who is still at the top of his game and who is also a dear friend, Chick Corea, who is up for 5 Grammys this year 2013 and 62 lifetime nominations tied with John Williams just behind Quincy Jones and Henry Mancini which for someone who has dedicated himself to art and jazz his whole life is beyond belief.  I am quite honored that Chick approved posting of these tracks below that I would like to include someday  in an anthology of my life’s work.  Interesting story on this first tune “But Not For Me”, and why jazz is such an amazing art form.  I get a call one night from Chick late and he says “what are you doing?”, I say I am tired and going to bed.  He says “why don’t you grab your horns and come over the house”, which I did as when someone at the level of Chick Corea requests your presence you don’t say no as it is like getting a call from Mozart !  So I show up at his house and he has his trio there who I never met before and he has been rehearsing for a tour.  He says graciously “what do you want to play” and I say how about “But Not For Me” the Miles Davis arrangement.  We do one take and then a second tune “Walkin” and I pack up and go back home and go to bed.  The next day Chick hands me a tape as he recorded it and this is what I hear below.  This music is of the highest level aesthetically. Enjoy! Glenn

  • Glenn Zottola and Suzanne Somers

    I went to a rehearsal Suzanne Somers was having a friend who played in her band invited me. Half way through I asked her if I could sit in. She looked surprised and said ok. We played this song “But Beautiful” and she literally melted in front go me and said “I want you as my bandleader”. The rest is history but as her husband called it we had instant “Simpatico”.

  • Count Basie

    I am walking past Count Basie’s dressing room after my set and I hear this voice ‘young man come in here”. I walk in and there he is a jazz icon and beautiful man and he says “you sound great you have been listening to pops” and I says yeah. He says “don’t change anything. just keep doing what you are doing”. I walk out of there on cloud 9 !!!!!

  • Mel Torme

    What a joy working with Mel Torme a true icon and musician. He wrote a lot of the arrangements for the big band.

  • Glenn Zottola Carnegie Hall

    Channel 2 News Video

    This is that night in 1988 an arrangement by Harry James he was 22 years old. I am playing lead trumpet and jazz.

    Life Goes To A Party

    I didn’t know Harry James was a huge Louis Armstrong Fan he asked Benny Goodman if he could do a short tribute so they did one of Louie’s famous songs.

    Shine

  • Glenn Zottola and Freddie Cole

    I did a project with the great Freddie Cole brother of legendary Nat King Cole for Oceanlight Records. Freddie was a wonderful artist I met him years ago in the area where I grew up we were performing in the same jazz club and I hired him later for some performances I was producing. Sadly he passed shortly after this recording. Bernadette Brown the owner of Oceanlight Records produced this album and wrote this beautiful song a true lover and creator of music.

  • Glenn Zottola and Bobby Rosengarden

    Bobby and I were dear friends we met on Benny Goodman’s septet. I started a very successfully music production company with Bobby and we were partners. To some degree he was a mentor for me as a bandleader and business man. He was the drummer on the Johnny Carson Tonight Show in NY and Bandleader on the Dick Cavett show. I built the company to over 300 gigs a year we had a ball together and he was a great player we were neighbors in Connecticut. This is a local cable show in Connecticut we did.

    Bob Rosengarden and Glenn Zottola Orchestra

  • Greenwich Connecticut High School Concert

    This was a concert and clinic I did featuring Derek Smith piano , Link Millimin Bass and my parter in my music production company Bobby Rosengarden Drums.

  • Glenn Zottola and Peter Appleyard Elkhart Jazz Festival

    Elkhart was the center of many instrument companies in the past and I did several jazz festivals there. This one was with the great Peter Applyard of Benny Goodman fame. They put him in my band to co-lead I never met him before what a great player and nice guy. Also the great Butch Miles on drums.

    This is with my Quintet with the great Red Holloway on Tenor from the Count Basie Band

  • My Quintet at Elkhart Jazz Festival 1991 with Frank Foster ,Red Holloway and Butch Miles. Frank was on the bill leading the Count Basie Band also Gary Burton. When Frank finished his set with the Basie Band he came in to hear me. When I saw him I invited him up on stage. I play the first solo then Red Holloway on alto he was an alumni of the Basie band great player and then Frank on Tenor. I got so inspired at the end I picked up my alto and we are dueling with 3 saxophones 2 tenor and me on alto and all hell breaks loose as you can hear from the audience response. I don’t you think will hear this kind of energy again.