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Glenn Zottola

Nearly four decades ago, a precocious young brassman who played a Leblanc trumpet caught the attention of Vito Pascucci, then president and now chairman and CEO of G. Leblanc Corporation. A blurb in the March, 1960, Leblanc Bandsman, a forerunner to the Leblanc Bell, reported: “Young Glenn [Zottola] has certainly begun to carve a lasting mark for himself in the trumpet world, and it goes without saying that talent such as this is bound to make itself known on an even wider scale in the near future. Remember this young artist’s name! You’ll be hearing it often in years to come as Glenn Zottola’s abundance of talent becomes tempered with that invaluable ingredient called experience.” These words proved prophetic indeed. Pascucci followed Zottola’s career and watched as the hot young phenomenom who captured so much attention went on to become one of the most respected, versatile and in- demand trumpet players—and saxophonists—in the music world. Born and raised in Port Chester, New York, Glenn started playing trumpet at age three. By virtue of his musical household, this seemed almost as natural as learning to speak. His big brother, Bob, was also a gifted trumpeter who went on to play with the bands of Charlie Barnet and Maynard Ferguson. His mother, Marie, played piano, and his sister was a gifted singer. But it is his father, Frank, to whom Glenn points as his primary influence and teacher. “He was a great trumpet player in the Louis Armstrong and Conrad Gozzo style,” says Glenn. “As a child, he was taught by a music professor in the strict style of La Scala, Milan, and he was required to study theory, harmony and solfeggio before he was allowed to even touch the trumpet.” Later, Frank Zottola made a name as an arranger, writing charts for the innovative Claude Thornhill orchestra, among others. “Dad also has an impeccable hand at writing music notation, and music publishers used his manuscripts to make their printing plates.” When the score for Stravinsky’s Petrouchka was smuggled into the U.S., it was Frank who prepared the autograph, or printer’s manuscript. The multitalented Frank Zottola eventually became a maker of world class trumpet mouthpieces. To his son, Frank passed on a love of swing music and a legacy of the big warm tone for which Glenn is well known, as sound that has been described as reminiscent of Louis Armstrong, who was also an early hero.

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Album Review

Glenn Zottola, Romero Lubambo, Pamela Driggs: Summer Samba

Read "Summer Samba" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello


2023 news reports and events acknowledged and celebrated 50 Years Of Hip-Hop. While noteworthy, it is doubtful that hip hop classics such as “Get Ur Freak On," “Sucker M.C.'s and “Nuthin' But a G Thang" will ever find themselves in the Great American Songbook. The genre simply cannot compare with the vast extent of musical influence emanating from that 1960s period in which Stan Getz, Astrud Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim, et al, took the popular and jazz worlds by storm ...

5
Album Review

Glenn Zottola & Chick Corea: The Legend & I

Read "The Legend & I" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello


With his untimely passing in February 2021, accolades emanated worldwide from musicians, critics and fans about multi-Grammy winner Chick Corea. What was less known then is the fact that Corea and multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire Glen Zottola were not only longtime close pals, but frequently interacted musically. The Legend & I is an artistic culmination of that friendship and professional relationship. And, as might be expected from artists of this caliber, the result is spectacular. The album offers a ...

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Album Review

Glenn Zottola & Chick Corea: The Legend & I

Read "The Legend & I" reviewed by Edward Blanco


There have been several musical tributes to the late great Armando Anthony “Chick" Corea since his untimely passing in February, 2021, mostly from fellow musicians. However, The Legend and I is an intimate musical portrait from LA multi-instrumentalist Glenn Zottola who just happened to be one of Corea's best long-time personal friends. As Zottola affirms “He was my best friend and is dearly missed, but I know he will continue to create as that was his relentless purpose in life." ...

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Album Review

Glenn Zottola: Charlie Parker with Strings Revisited

Read "Charlie Parker with Strings Revisited" reviewed by Edward Blanco


Saxophonist and trumpeter Glenn Zottola came out of retirement from a long distinguished career, for the specific purpose of paying tribute to jazz artists who influenced his life and his music. The tribute series of albums which, include homages to Miles Davis, Clifford Brown and Stan Getz among them, concludes with a tip of the hat to the legendary Charlie Parker with a reprise of his classic Charlie Parker with Strings sessions of 1949 and 1950 capturing the romantic and ...

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Album Review

Glenn Zottola: Miles Davis Remembered

Read "Miles Davis Remembered" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello


A young musician's mind can be so very impressionable, so capable and available to lock onto a recording, a phrase or texture and hold it. The effect is almost nuclear--one note, perfectly placed by the performer and into a young listener's ear, can set into play a chain of music-driven events that can spawn professional careers, if not a lifelong interest in the art. Such was-and is--the case with trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist, Glenn Zottola. A phenomenon in his own right. ...

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Interview

Glenn Zottola: A Jazz Life - Hollywood, the World and the Stars

Read "Glenn Zottola: A Jazz Life - Hollywood, the World and the Stars" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 World-renown trumpeter, saxophonist, musical director, producer and entrepreneur. These are but a mere handful of words that describe the vast talent in Glenn Zottola's bag of musical marvels. There are others: child prodigy, creative genius, “musical natural" and aural savant also percolate rapidly to mind. Now in his sixth decade of playing professionally as a rare and masterful “Triple Threat"--he plays and has recorded on trumpet, alto and tenor saxophones--Zottola's ...

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Interview

Glenn Zottola: A Jazz Life - On the Road and In Demand

Read "Glenn Zottola: A Jazz Life - On the Road and In Demand" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 World-renown trumpeter, saxophonist, musical director, producer and entrepreneur. These are but a mere handful of words that describe the vast talent in Glenn Zottola's bag of musical marvels. There are others: child prodigy, creative genius, “musical natural" and aural savant also percolate rapidly to mind. Now in his sixth decade of playing professionally as a rare and masterful “Triple Threat"--he plays and has recorded on trumpet, alto and tenor saxophones--Zottola's ...

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Louis Armstrong
trumpet and vocals
Miles Davis
trumpet
Stan Getz
saxophone, tenor
Charlie Parker
saxophone, alto

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Summer Samba

Audioverse Music
2023

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The Legend & I

Self Produced
2022

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Miles Davis Remembered

Classic Jazz Records
2015

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Charlie Parker with...

Classic Jazz Records
2015

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The Bossa Nova Story,...

Classic Jazz Records
2014

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Getting Sentimental

Classic Jazz Records
2014

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What Is This Thing Called Love?

From: Reflections Of Charlie Parker
By Glenn Zottola

Yesterday's

From: Clifford Brown Remembered
By Glenn Zottola

Videos

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