John Serry Jr.

Quick Facts

Full Name	John Serry Jr.
Occupation	Jazz Pianist
Date Of Birth	Jan 19, 1954(1954-01-19)
Age	70
Birthplace	New York
Country	United States
Horoscope	Capricorn

John Serry Jr. Biography

John Serry Jr. is one of the most popular and richest Jazz Pianist who was born on January 19, 1954 in New York, United States. John Serry Jr. (born John Serrapica Junior; January 19 1954, in New York City) is a jazz composer and pianist and writer of modern classical compositions that incorporate percussion, in which he doubles. He is the son of the composer and accordionist John Serry. The album he released as his debut solo effort was “Exhibition” (1979 Chrysalis Records), which earned him an Grammy Nomination (Best Instrumental Arrangement) for his composition “Sabotage”.

Career in academia (as educator as well as in education): Serry has taught lessons, classes, ensembles workshops, seminars, and seminars at various music schools. He was a percussion coach in the Peabody Conservatory (1986, Jonathan Haas conductor) as well as in The Juilliard School (1988, Roland Kohloff, conductor) for performances of his composition “Intrusions”. He led an workshop on his compositions in The Musicians Institute (Los Angeles, 1982). He also completed two artist residency in Wichita State University, one in 1985, where the student group he was coaching on the composition ‘Concerto for Percussion, Brass, and Percussion’ and performed a jazz concert as composer/pianist Rufus Reid bass and Steve Houghton drums. The second was in 1996 where the lecture was on the business of music and his jazz compositions. He also taught jazz piano as well as jazz combo. He also taught the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s wind ensemble in his “Concerto composed for the Marimba and Wind Ensemble’ and gave a talk about the composition. Serry gave classes on jazz theory arrangement music electronic/MIDI, film scoring and jazz combo at the University Columbia, South Carolina (1988-91). From 1994 until 1996, he taught drums for a semester at Jersey City State College. In the 90s when he was an instructor on the business of music within CUNY (Manhattan) as well as Queens College, a substitute instructor (jazz jazz improvisation) in NYU and was a coach for his Brooklyn College percussion ensemble on “Intrusions” (Morris Lang as conductor). In the UK the course he taught was an introductory course on music and jazz at Royal Academy in 2004/5 and presented a talk on his jazz compositions to Cardiff University in 2005. In 2011/12, he was a teacher of an improvisation course for jazz at the Music Academy 2000 in Bologna, Italy. Serry is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music. He holds BM (with distinction) as well as MM from the Eastman School of Music (Professors Bill Dobbins, Chuck Mangione, John Beck, and Rayburn Wright ); lessons in the presence of Marian McPartland; workshops and performances that included the drums of Keith Jarrett and piano with Joe Farrell and Bill Watrous).

Serry moved back to New York City in 1991. There he performed with his quartet at numerous jazz venues, including The Blue Note, Birdland, Visiones, Steinway Hall and others. Members of his groups included drummers John Riley and Marvin ‘Smitty’ Smith, saxophonists Gerry Niewood, Ralph Bowen and Ted Nash, bassists Anthony Jackson and Tom Brigandi and percussionist Gordon Gottlieb. During the 1990s, Serry also composed music for television commercials (e.g., for Grey Advertising). He also played the piano/keyboards and percussion, in several Broadway shows (e.g., ‘Saturday Night Fever’, ‘Cats’ and ‘Les Misérables’) and conducted at Radio City Music Hall. He was Music Director and pianist for the Gateway Playhouse production of the Broadway jazz musical, ‘Swing’, featuring the music of Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller and others. In 1992, Serry played percussion on Stravinsky’s ‘Les noces’ at Lincoln Center, conducted by Robert Kraft (released on the Musicmasters CD, ‘Stravinsky, the Composer’, Vol. II). In 2002/3, Serry toured on piano/keyboards with several shows, including a U.S. tour of ‘Saturday Night Fever’ and European tours of ‘Fame’ and ‘Grease’, for which he was Assistant Music Director.

In 2004, Serry moved to London where he formed a quartet with Dave O’Higgins saxophone, Mark Mondesir drums and, variously Mike Mondesir or Sam Burgess on bass. The group played several times a year at The 606 Club (in Chelsea), as well as at other venues. In 2006, Serry recorded the album, ‘The Shift’ with that quartet, but it was not until 2013 that ‘The Shift’ (SPCo Records) was released, after a remix in Bologna, Italy. Also while living in London, Serry played a solo and duo piano concert, in 2005, at Covent Garden (Floral Hall) with pianist Julian Joseph. The concert was broadcast by BBC Radio 3 on ‘Jazz Legends Live’, and was the second ‘Jazz Legends’ program done by BBC Radio 3 on Serry, the first having been in 2004. Along with these activities, Serry taught at the Royal Academy of Music (Autumn 2004) and played keyboards in the London production (2005) and UK tour (2006) of ‘Saturday Night Fever’. In addition, he played piano with Patti Austin, the BBC Big Band, Kyle Eastwood and The 606 Big Band.

The album he released as his debut solo effort was “Exhibition” (1979 Chrysalis Records), for which he was awarded an Grammy Nomination (Best Instrumental Arrangement) for his composition “Sabotage”. The band members comprised Carlos Vega drums, Jimmy Johnson bass, Gordon Johnson bass, Bob Sheppard saxophone/woodwinds, Gordon Gottlieb drums as well as Barry Finnerty guitar. The second album”Jazziz” (1980 Chrysalis Records) received four stars from Downbeat Magazine and feature review of the month in Keyboard magazine. It was also the basis for the name, which was adopted in 1983 in 1983, of JAZZIZ magazine by its publisher Michael Fagien. The band was exactly the same as the one on “Exhibition,” except for Mike Sembello on guitar. The album that Serry released was “Enchantress” (1996 Telarc) on that Downbeat Magazine wrote: “He has a strong sense of melody, his touch is confident, his ideas are sensible and his playing is beautifully controlled.” In the case of ‘Enchantress’ Jim Aikin wrote in Keyboard magazine: “What a pleasure to find that he is back, still turning out charts that turn heads by turning corners.” as well Hilary Grey wrote in JazzTimes: “Serry’s fleet fingered runs on songs like the jaunty, catchy ‘DYT it’ are both technically impressive and subtle.” “Enchantress” was recorded following Serry was given an award of the Grand Prize in the 1995 JAZZIZ magazine’s ‘Keyboards on Fire’ competition for composers and pianists, that was judged by Dave Brubeck and Bob James (grand piano prize awarded to Steinway). The performers were John Riley drums, Gerry Niewood on sax, Ralph Bowen sax and Tom Brigandi on bass. All the arrangements (and arrangement) for the three albums were written by Serry as well as he served as also the Producer for the albums ‘Exhibition’ and “Jazziz’.

John Serry Jr. Net Worth

John Serry Jr. is one of the richest Jazz Pianist from United States. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, John Serry Jr. 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

Serry was able to begin his musical training at the age of four on the accordion under the guidance from his father John Serry, a noted organist and concert accordionist. The studies continued until the age of 11 at which point he decided to focus on drums and piano. As a teenager, Serry studied percussion with Juilliard instructor Gordon Gottlieb and performed the Darius Milhaud Percussion as well as the Paul Creston Marimba concertos. The latter was performed during a European concert tour in the Long Island Youth Orchestra (Summer 1973). In 1975, as studying in the Eastman School of Music, Serry was recognized as the the distinction of Best Pianist and Best Composer/Arranger (Combo) and as part with the ensemble Auracle (then named Inner Vision), Best Combo at the year 1975’s Notre Dame Jazz Festival. The judges included Sonny Rollins and Jack DeJohnette along with other people. Auracle became a record label Chrysalis Records and recorded ‘Glider’ (1978) on which Serry played keyboards and piano and wrote four of the songs. The album was produced by Miles Davis’ producer, Teo Macero. The group played during the 1998 Montreux Jazz Festival. In the year 1980, Serry’s first classical compositions were included in Studio 4’s catalogue. Studio 4 catalogue, including “Conversations for Timpani Duo’, “Duet for Piano and Percussion” and later (1988) Therapy (for soloists with multiple percussion). “Rhapsody for Marimba” (“Night Rhapsody”) was released in 1980 by Marimba Productions in 1980.

From 1976 to 1979 during his time from 1976 to 1979, in Los Angeles, Serry played piano and keyboards in motion pictures and TV music videos (e.g., The Stunt Man, Vegas). From 1981 until 1987, while still living in Los Angeles, he composed scores for a variety of documentaries and commercials. The majority of which were produced through Armand Hammer Productions (a division of Occidental Petroleum) and many of them won Cine Golden Eagle awards (e.g.”From to the Gardens of the Middle Kingdom’, 1982). The year 1983 saw him performed across his native U.S. as pianist with Doc Severinsen’s Quintet, Xebron. From 1983 to 1985 Serry created the soundtrack for Bard Productions videos of the Shakespeare plays, including ‘The Tempest’ (starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) and ‘Othello’ (William Marshall Jenny Agutter, William Marshall) as well as Antony and Cleopatra (Lynn Redgrave, Timothy Dalton, Bravo Channel). The year 1979 was the first time Serry received a commission from the marimba musician Leigh Howard Stevens, to compose a piece for the solo marimba. The result, ‘Rhapsody to marimba’ (aka “Night Rhapsody”) was performed by Stevens in 1979 during the performance at Town Hall, New York City. The year 1985 was the time Serry received a commission from percussionist Steve Houghton, to compose the “Concerto for Percussion Brass and Percussion’. It was performed at the 1985’s Percussive Arts Society (PAS) International Convention and for which Serry was awarded the Third Prize at the time of 1985’s PAS competition. The following year, Serry revise his work , ‘Intrusions (for Ten percussionists) to be performed in the Aspen Music Festival (Jonathan Haas as conductor). The year 1987 was the time he again was requested to compose a work by Leigh Howard Stevens, this time to compose a “Concerto for Marimba & Wind Ensemble’. It was performed by the Kennedy Center with Stevens as soloist as well as members of the Madison University Wind Ensemble. In 1988, the work ‘Intrusions was performed in Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center and performed by the Juilliard Percussion Ensemble with Roland Kohloff conducting. In the year 1988 Serry composed a number of works by Gabrieli to the Canadian Brass and also the album Gabrieli/Monteverdi (1989 Sony/CBS). Serry was the principal percussionist for an evening performance of the Bartok Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion (California Chamber Symphony, Los Angeles, 1985) together with Gordon Gottlieb and pianists John and Antoinette Perry. In his time within Los Angeles (1976-1988), Serry performed piano in a variety of jazz clubs that included The Light House, Donte’s, The Baked Potato, Carmello’s and the Laguna Beach Jazz Festival.

From 1988 to 1991, Serry was Associate Professor of Music and Director of Jazz at the University of South Carolina, Columbia. While there, he instituted several new courses and revised the curriculum for the bachelor’s and master’s degrees with jazz emphasis. He also formed and conducted concerts of a jazz and studio orchestra, and produced semi-annual jazz festivals with guest artists, including Marian McPartland, Bill Watrous, Bob Sheppard and others. (Saxophonist Chris Potter, who was then a high school student, participated in the festival concerts and also played in Serry’s quartet.)

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

John Serry Jr. height Not available right now. John weight Not Known & body measurements will update soon.

Who is John Serry Jr. Dating?

According to our records, John Serry Jr. is possibily single & has not been previously engaged. As of December 1, 2023, John Serry Jr.’s is not dating anyone.

Relationships Record : We have no records of past relationships for John Serry Jr.. You may help us to build the dating records for John Serry Jr.!

Facts & Trivia

John Ranked on the list of most popular Jazz Pianist. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in United States. John Serry Jr. celebrates birthday on January 19 of every year.