“Joe De Gregorio took his passion for American jazz and walked straight into the lion’s den of artistic challenge, emerging victorious. Our collaboration has resulted in a jazz album that can stand toe-to-toe with any other piano trio studio recording. To play the piano at this top level requires excellent technique, precise  rhythmic control that still allows for depth of feeling, and a deep vocabulary of this music.”  Two-time Grammy-winner drummer, Peter Erskine, Professor of Music, USC-LA

MY STORY 

Born in Rome, De Gregorio would early on expand his artistic horizons beyond the Eternal City to cultures, countries and compelling musical dialogues in an extraordinary, ever-changing conversation with 88 keys. 

Education

Formal study began at 16 at the Alfredo Casella Conservatory (L’Aquila, Italy) in classical piano, classical percussion, music theory and composition. But jazz quickly became his passion. He would undertake a decade-long journey studying with Europe’s jazz masters, beginning with jazz piano studies at the Amsterdam Conservatory. De Gregorio then won a full scholarship to the Academy of Music and Drama (Sweden) for advanced studies in improvisation, and achieved his diploma in Musical Studies in Jazz at the National Conservatoire in Perpignan, France. Eight years later he would again refine his craft via a full scholarship to New York City’s New School, where he was selected to play with the Coltrane Ensemble. An additional scholarship to Boston’s Berklee College of Music further refined his study in jazz piano. In 2020, DeGregorio formalized his groundbreaking teaching method, Developing Jazz Variations. This original pedagogical approach bridges the classical tradition of theme and variations, and Arnold Schoenberg’s concept of musical analysis, with key principles from the jazz piano pedagogy of master educator Barry Harris.“De Gregorio does not belong to the school of muscular pianists. He does not equate speed with artistic value. His is a poetics of balance… the ability to leave space for silence, to build tension without noise, and to use touch itself as a dramatic  element.” Alceste Ayroldi (Swiss Radio)

Recordings

The Trilogy 

The culmination of two years of work, 60 tracks and recorded within a single year across New York, Los Angeles, and Paris, The Trilogy is a unified artistic journey through jazz history, geography and identity, performed in dialogue with some of the most influential voices in contemporary jazz, including Ron Carter and Peter Erskine.

Awards & Recognition

Winner: Luca Flores International Jazz Competition (Florence, Italy) – 2009Winner: Monte Carlo International Jazz Soloist       Competition – 2015National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences  (US) – Voting Member

Praise for The Trilogy

“The Trilogy proposes an idea of continuity in an age that tends to fragment listening. Joe De Gregorio belongs to that category of musicians for whom jazz is, above all, a language of human connection.”                                                                   

Performance

De Gregorio has taken the stage in renowned venues across Italy, France,  Sweden,    Switzerland, Morocco, Monaco, Estonia and the United States, underscoring his exceptional pianistic and compositional talent, fluency in five languages and his commitment to building cross-cultural community. He has performed at: The Kennedy Center, Washington, DCTeatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, FlorenceRick’s Cafe (artist-in-residence), Casablanca, MoroccoDetroit Jazz Festival, USJazz Voice Festival, FranceJazz au Chellah International Festival, RabatSunside/Sunset Jazz Club, ParisAuditorium Parco della Musica, RomeBiella Jazz Club, ItalyGregory’s Jazz Club, RomeSmalls Jazz Club, New YorkSaint Peter’s Jazz Vespers, New York

Collaborations

Throughout his career, Joe has collaborated with some of the most celebrated jazz musicians from around the world.David Reinhardt, Ari Hoenig, Jonathan Blake, Ray Brown Jr, Ike Sturm, Joel Frahm, Yoni Zelnik, Philippe Soirat, Denis King, Greg Hutchinson, Ron Carter, Peter Erskine.