Instruments
Piano, Hammond Organ, Fender Rhodes & Wurlitzer Electric Pianos, Clavinet, Accordion, Melodica, Balafon, Djembe & Dundun, Talking Drum, Auxiliary Percussion, Backing Vocals
Gianni Staiano: Bio
Gianni Staiano
Gianni was born and raised near Salinas, CA and is currently based in Santa Cruz. He is an alumnus of Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA and has a Bachelor of Music degree with a specialty in Jazz Piano Performance from San Diego State University.
His performances on concert and club stages over the past 15 years have ranged in style from classical music and traditional jazz to rock and roll, hip hop, funk and traditional West African music. He has performed at some of the world's largest and most prestigious music festivals including the North Sea Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz and Blues Festivals, Notting Hill Carnival in London, High Sierra World Music Festival, Earthdance Laytonville (featuring the largest drum circle in history), and Reggae on the River to name a few. He has shared the stage with such notable musicians as Adam Deitch from John Scofield's band, Cheme Gastelum and Dave Carano from Robert Walter's 20th Congress as well as Michael Franti and Radioactive of Spearhead fame. He has shared the bill with the likes of Medeski, Martin and Wood, John Scofield Band, Ozomatli, Robert Walter's 20th Congress, and Karl Denson's Tiny Universe.
As a recording artist he has appeared as a guest on a wide selection of albums; from Bolga Zohdoomah's highlife/afro-pop beat to Epicure's hard-edged punk/reggae, and who can forget the smooth latin sounds of Universal Language? Songs from these CD's have been used for Rob Machados (MTV) surf videos and frequently featured on local TV and radio (Blue Torch, KUSI, KSDS in San Diego; KAZU, KZSC, KPFA and KPIG in Santa Cruz). He also played live on Euro MTV once like 10 years ago... so that's kind of a big deal... I'm sure you heard about it...
And someday he's going to make it big... you just watch.
Lessons
Gianni has been teaching private and group lessons for over 10 years in all styles and is currently accepting students at any level ages 6 and up. Lessons are taught in his home studio in Santa Cruz and at Gadsby's Music in Salinas. Gianni creates customized programs to fit the goals of each individual student, be it improvising in any style, playing written music, honing classical technical skills, improving knowledge of music theory, or composing and arranging.