Take Five with Rocco Ventrella

Meet Rocco Ventrella:

Rocco Ventrella was Jazztrax's "Artist Of The Year" in 2015 and received a Grammy Awards Pre-Nomination for Contemporary Jazz Best Album for his 2007 release Give Me The Groove. In 2005, Ventrella recorded, arranged, and produced the Tribute To Grover Washington, Jr. album in memory of the late, great saxophonist. 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 Best of 2005."

Instruments:

Alto and soprano saxophone.

Teachers and/or influences?

Influenced by Grover Washington, Jr., David Sanborn, Cannonball Adderley, Johnny Hodges, and Maceo Parker.

I knew I wanted to be a musician when...

When I listened Johnny Hodges's sound and lately Grover Washington, Jr. and David Sanborn.

Your sound and approach to music:

I always thought that the most important thing about a wind instrument was the sound. The saxophone in particular is very close to the human voice so "Would you hear a singer with a bad voice sing?"

A Teaching Story:

I was once contacted by the mother of a 12-year-old student who begged me to give lessons to her son who was meanwhile studying with another teacher and was not stimulated to study saxophone so much so that he was deciding to give up studying. The first lesson I gave the student was, "What music do you listen to and would you like to play?" The answer was, " I really like jazz but my teacher makes me study classical music!"

Your dream band:

I would love to play with Bob James and I would have liked to have known and shared the stage at least once with Grover Washington, Jr. and David Sanborn.

Road story: Your best or worst experience:

In 2008, I was invited to play at the James Brown Music Festival in Augusta, Georgia. While I was performing a group of young people threw a paper ball at me shouting, "Yeah Man!" and I said to myself, "How rude!" I finished my performance and as I was drying my saxophone I noticed that there was something peculiar about that paper ball and as I got closer to get a better look at it I noticed that it was made up of dollars, exactly $70!

Favorite venue:

All venues I performed were very nice!

Your favorite recording in your discography and why?

Give Me The Groove album is my favorite because it was my first official album, recorded in Los Angeles with my producer Bruce Nazarian (R.I.P.) and it got a Grammy Awards Pre-Nomination Contemporary Jazz Best Album 2007 with 50 other artists/albums (Herbie Hancock won with the album River: The Joni Letters.)

The first Jazz album I bought was:

Stan Getz Meets Gerry Mulligan (Verve, 1957) in HiFi.

What do you think is the most important thing you are contributing musically?

The most important thing for me is to help spread my music, which is an expression of myself, my past and present life.

I don't know what to say about this question...sincerely speaking.

Music you are listening to now:

Andy Snitzer: Higher (Goose Song Music) amd Everette Harp: First Love (Shanachie)

Desert Island picks:

Mmmm...I can't think of any particular album but I can say that definitely old school jazz albums.

How would you describe the state of jazz today?

Well, living in Italy I can only speak regarding the situation in Italy which is not so good...There are good jazz players but the problem is the jazz clubs that are lacking that is why most jazz players "take refuge" in teaching or playing commercial music to survive.

What are some of the essential requirements to keep jazz alive and growing?

Educating kids to listen to jazz music! These days young people listen to too much junk music which, from my point of view, should be abolished and there should be more strict controls before releasing and disseminating certain music. We hear very little jazz music around!

What is in the near future?

New recording projects will come in the future. As for tour dates, I decided to stop a while for now.

What's your greatest fear when you perform?

I have no fear when I perform.

What song would you like played at your funeral?

I am making horns as a sign of superstition with my hands reading this question!!! My music for sure!!!

What is your favorite song to whistle or sing in the shower?

Well, I can list hundreds of songs...

By Day:

I don't have another job, I live only by music.

If I weren't a jazz musician, I would be a:

Physician/researcher to help mankind defeat cancer, especially in children.

If I could have dinner with anyone from history, who would it be and why?

I would love to have dinner with Sonny Rollins because I think he would have a lot of great stories to tell!

What is your setup?

I play Yanagisawa saxophones, Beechler (metal #7 on alto and rubber #8 on soprano) mouthpieces, Légère reeds #2.5 and BG France ligatures and a ZEN strap.

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