John Colianni - Ahead of the Crowd (2021)

If you have John Colianni’s previous albums on Patuxent, you know from my liner notes that we go way back. In the notes to After Hours I relate how I first heard John perform in the final round of the first Thelonious Monk Piano Competition in 1987. What I didn’t mention was the earlier connection where my “day gig” intersected with my jazz life. Until I retired in 2013, I was a union representative with the American Federation of Government Employees working with locals at various federal agencies, one of which was the State Department. I don’t remember if it was during an administrative hearing or negotiations but during a break I got into a conversation with Carl Sosebee, the attorney representing the agency. I somehow steered the topic to my favorite subject, jazz. I told him that I did a radio show and taught jazz history at Georgetown and American universities, probably implying that I would rather devote my time to those activities than the somewhat contentious labor-management issue we were confronting. Carl sure brightened up and told me his brother-in-law was a jazz pianist and would be in a competition at the Smithsonian that was coming up. Carl is still with the government, currently senior counsel at the Peace Corp. He gets his musical satisfaction through his guitar.

The Thelonious Monk Piano Competition held at the Baird Auditorium of the Smithsonian Institution was a fascinating experience for those of us in the audience. The judges, including Sir Roland Hanna, Barry Harris and Hank Jones, insisted that there be no applause. It was weird sitting in silence when you wanted to applaud the marvelous performances you were listening to. John didn’t win first place, but he sure came close. When I introduced myself to him, I did so by saying I knew his brother-in-law Carl and, oh, by the way, I do a jazz radio show. It turns out he was familiar with me because he grew up in the Washington area before his family moved to New Jersey, and as a young teenager performed in such clubs as Pigfoot, One Step Down and Blues Alley. He was mentored by my friends John Malachi and Keter Betts in the 1970s.

By the time he participated in the Monk Competition, John had spent three years touring with Lionel Hampton. Our paths crossed in 1982 when Hamp performed at the Kennedy Center for George Wein’s Kool Jazz Festival and I was the MC. After the competition, he worked with Mel Torme for four years. In the early 2000s, his swinging piano accompanied the legendary guitarists Les Paul and Larry Coryell. In the liner notes for the Patuxent album On Target, Coryell said, ”John is not only ‘cool’ but he’s got energy to burn and chops that flair up into explosive note-clusters that boggle the mind.” He tagged him with the nickname “Johnny Chops.”