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Rocco Ventrella

"One can only smile and enjoy when hearing the music of Rocco Ventrella. The joy of his music that exudes from his soul is undeniable. His passion for smooth jazz is so obvious with every note he plays". - Everette Harp

About Me

Rocco Ventrella has been “Artist Of The



Year 2015” nominated on JazzTrax,com



and invited to perform at Catalina



JazzTrax Festival by Art Good.







Ventrella received a Grammy Awards



Pre-Nomination for Contemporary Jazz



Best Album 2007 cd “Give Me The



Groove”.







On the 2005 Ventrella recorded, arranged



and produced the “Tribute To Grover



Washington,Jr.” CD in memory of the late,



great saxophone player. This







remarkable recording originally contained



just five tracks: “Winelight”, “Let It Flow”,



“Make Me a Memory”, “Mr. Grover”



(original by Ventrella) and “Come







Morning”. However, it was “Winelight”



that made Rocco a household name on



Smooth Jazz stations across the



Internet.”Winelight” track was selected by



Jimi







King(Sky.fm) as one of “The BestOf



2005,” along with other 14 tracks.



Ventrella continued to create new



recordings featuring his own



compositions, including the soulful and



haunting “I Receive Your Love”. The



“Tribute To Grover”







and “I Receive Your Love” CDs brought



Ventrella to the attention of American



producer Bruce Nazarian (he played the



synclavier on the “Giving you the best







that I got” Anita Baker's CD, Millie Scott,



The Automatix), and an international



alliance was born.







Ventrella's “Give Me The Groove” CD,



produced by Bruce Nazarian and recorded



with the collaboration of his friend pianist



Renato Falaschi scored Top 20







smooth jazz radio stations with 5 tracks of



the CD: Soulful Strut, Winelight, Alleria,



On The Night and Give Me The Groove.







Ventrella also received positive reviews



from Dave Koz, George Duke, Everette



Harp, Marion Meadows, Chris Standring



and more. Also “Soulful Strut” track







placed #1 in Jimi King's prestigious 2006



year-end countdown.







“Sweet Temptation” new single released



on March 2012 and placed #46 on Top



100 of 2012 Groove Jazz Music.com.







On January 2013 released “Sweet



Temptation” whole CD featuring a nice



and interesting version of “Summertime”



(G.Gershwin)featuring Everette Harp on







saxophone. Also Paul Brown and Nils on



guitars and Gerry Brown and Sergio



Bellotti on drums are other featured



artists.







Rocco Ventrella was born in Bari, Italy and



began playing saxophone at age of



twelve.







Rocco Ventrella appeared in selected jazz



festivals include the “James Brown



Festival” in Georgia; the “1° Annual



Smooth Jazz Festival” in Austria; the “The



Cube Smooth Jazz Festival” plus with



Brian Culbertson in Austria; the



“Augsburg Smooth Jazz Festival” plus



with Gerald Albright , Paul Brown, Jessy J.



in Germany; the “Mallorca Smooth Jazz



Festival 2013” plus with Rick Braun; the

“Algarve Smooth Jazz Festival” in

Algarve(Portugal)2018.







Also, Rocco shared stages with most

respected artists such as Peter White,

Marion Meadows, Candy Dulfer, Mindi

Abair, Jessy J., Brian Culbertson, Nick

Colionne, Jackiem Joyner, Nils, Paul

Brown, Gerald Albright, Otto Williams,



Jonathan Fritzen, Eric Darius, Brian



Simpson, Rick Braun, Marc Antoine,



Michael Lington, Dave Koz and more.







Actually Ventrella is a proud endorser of

Yanagisawa Saxophones, Beechler

mouthpiece, Légère reeds and BG France

products(sax strap, ligature and more).







Contact Me

My Jazz Story

The first jazz album I listened to was by Duke Ellington, and I was captivated by the sound of saxophonist Johnny Hodges!

My House Concert Story

I played at 1st Annual Smooth Jazz Festival in Bregenz, Austria; Augsburg Smooth Jazz Festival 2011 Germany; Mallorca Smooth Jazz Festival in Spain 2013; Lago Maggiore Jazz Festival Italy 2015; Algarve Smooth Jazz Festival in Portugal 2018.

My Favorites

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