Charley Socci grew up in a home surrounded by all types of music from Mario Lanza, showtunes and Edith Piaf from his Mother and Grandmother to Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis from his Father. He learned how to read treble clef and basic chord symbols well enough to plink out songs on the piano by the time he was 11. When his mother moved the family out of town after the parents divorced, Charley began spending a great deal of time at the library checking all the books and recordings they had about jazz music and especially the saxophone players.
He had a recording of Benny Goodman he liked, with Buddy Tate. The first records that really caught his attention were Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz, Lester Young and Charlie Parker. Over the years he studied, and was going to late night jam sessions in Hartford, CT bars by the age of 16.
Around that time he met Jackie McLean, who invited him into his home and prepared him to enter his Jazz Studies music program at the University of Hartford Hartt School of Music. After completing his B.Mus.
degree he graduated in 1988. In 1994 he produced the compact disc "For Joey" and in 1997, "The Visit". He has also toured the world playing on cruise ships and with musical theatre touring companies.
He currently works in Information Technology Management and is an avid photographer. Charley Socci grew up in a home surrounded by all types of music from Mario Lanza, showtunes and Edith Piaf from his Mother and Grandmother to Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis from his Father.
News RSS