Mr. Anthony Pinciotti

I am deeply saddened by the loss of drummer Anthony Pinciotti. Here’s a brief obituary.

I loved his playing. I learned something from him every time I saw him. Especially in the last year, I made a point of hearing Anthony at Bar Bayeux in Brooklyn, most often with two brilliant and poetic musicians, saxophonist Adam Kolker and bassist Jeremy Stratton.

Unlike virtually every musician in jazz today, Anthony was not a product of the conservatory or the academy. His opinions, like his music, came from his imagination, from the music and the musicians. There was much to learn from Anthony Pinciotti.

I felt a real drum/music kinship with him, though others knew him much better than I. Respect and gratitude, always and forever.

Aside from a few, the folks who play jazz night after night are unrecognized. But that’s not their concern. These sensitive hearts and brilliant minds are passionate, evolving artists who seek only to do great work, without a thought for recognition or acclaim. The music they make speaks for itself. We should listen. My god, but we should listen.

Perhaps you don’t recognize their names, but the musicians know. Word spreads, and word is maintained: if Anthony Pinciotti was on the gig, no questions were asked. His reputation was unimpeachable.

This is a more-than-significant achievement. This is Anthony Pinciotti.

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I assembled this playlist to memorialize him, but I’m no expert on Anthony’s discography. I’m just getting acquainted with these records. If you have a favorite, please share.

Let’s listen to Anthony, and have our world and heart opened up just a little bit.

James Moody: Homage (Savoy, 2004). Anthony’s entry in the Lord Discography starts with this album, a strong statement from James Moody of which I was completely unaware. That’s on me, but then I’ve never heard anyone mention this record, least of all Anthony Pinciotti. It’s bad for society for an album this good to be unknown.

• “Main Title: Glengarry, Glennross” (James Newton Howard, arranged by Bob Belden). Howard’s beloved movie theme is basically modal jazz, we should all be playing this tune. Moody sounds great, gets off some real poetry, while Pinciotti is in the mix, keeping the water boiling, yet never runs toward the spotlight. This is musicianship and maturity. When it spills over into a drum solo, it’s part of the song, Anthony stays right in the flow of the tune. Love Moody and Pinciotti on the ending vamp. Badass.

• “Moody Tune” (Chick Corea). The rhythm section of Pinciotti, pianist David Hazeltine on Rhodes, bassist Hans Glawischnig, and magic percussionist Don Alias, create a perfect texture for a gem of a track.

• “And Then Again” (Kenny Barron). With Moody’s long-time bassist Todd Coolman joining Pinciotti and Hazeltine, we’re lucky to hear Moody stretching out and getting comfy on a blues. Anthony’s buoyant, supple beat and gorgeous sound lead the rhythm section, and I’ll treasure his two-chorus brush solo forever.

Lynne Arriale: Nuance (Motema, 2009). Pianist Lynne Arialle should be heard more often around NYC, we need her. She and Pinciotti were a natural team.

• “I Mean You” (Thelonious Monk/Coleman Hawkins). Quartet of Arriale, Pinciotti, Randy Brecker, George Mraz. Love Arriale’s arrangement, and she sounds wonderful. Big fun to hear Randy Brecker and Pinciotti get into it.

• “Longing” (Arriale). Gorgeous tune from Arriale, glad to have it. I love how committed Anthony is to simplicity and beauty. No ego, just music.

Vic Juris: Free Admission (Steeplechase, recorded 2011). I remember going to hear Vic, bassist Jay Anderson, and Anthony at the 55 Bar, 7 PM on Sundays for no cover. (There are some home movies of this on YouTube.) We need to learn more about Vic Juris, who died at the end of 2019.

Please, please, let us notice the beauty right in front of us.

• “Floater” (Carla Bley). Pinciotti relishes the open space; gongs, bells, cymbal rolls, and rattles; love this side of his playing. (For a while, every time we talked, Anthony would praise the Gary Peacock album Tales Of Another; “Oh man, that’s one of the most happening albums ever, DeJohnette on that, and Peacock? Forget it, that’s top Gary, some of the best Keith too.” I wonder if Pinciotti was thinking about DeJohnette’s gongs and rolls with Gary and Keith when he set up the gear at Vic’s session.)

David Schnitter: Live At Smalls (SmallsLIVE, 2013). Tenor saxophonist David Schnitter was with Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers in the late Seventies, and has been a stalwart presence in the music ever since. Kudos to Spike Wilner for making this record happen, we’re lucky to have it.

• “Drone Tone” (Schnitter). Schnitter is joined by pianist Spike Wilner, bassist Ugonna Okegwo, and Pinciotti, a legendary Smalls rhythm section. I lighted on this track because it really captures Anthony’s lovely sound, one that effortlessly blended with the band. This was what he sounded like in the room. Pinciotti’s fiery without being over-emotional or too seizing of the moment, a selfless mastery.

Spike Wilner has kept Smalls and Mezzrow thriving for decades. I hope he receives an NEA Jazz Master award soon. He and Mr. Pinciotti shared a profound understanding.

• Spike Wilner: “I’ll See You Again” (Noël Coward), from Koan (Posi-Tone, 2016). Sympathy for Wilner’s art undergirds every choice Pinciotti makes. There’s that flat ride. Love the chemistry Anthony shared with bassist Tyler Mitchell, an important voice who played with Art Taylor in the Nineties, and is currently working with Marshall Allen in the Sun Ra Arkestra.

• Spike Wilner: “Mr. Mags” (Joe Magnarelli) from Dedications (SmallsLIVE, 2018). Free of artifice, Magnarelli, Wilner, bassist Paul Gill, and Anthony inhabit a medium-up minor blues, and imbue it with individuality, truth, and deep beauty. This is what it’s all about.

Stacy Kent: Summer Me, Winter Me (Token, 2023). Vocalist Stacy Kent has crafted a beautiful and serious new album with a slight “French” or international theme, with choice tunes from Jacques Brel and Michel Legrand.

• “Under Paris Skies” (James Gannon-Herbert Giraud). Great to hear Stacy Kent, and her husband, saxophonist Jim Tomlinson. Prior to this album, I wasn’t aware, but I am learning. Love the rhythm section of pianist Art Hirahara, Tom Hubbard on bass, and Anthony, putting just the right amount of grit into this track. Anthony plays with the same intensity and commitment with Stacy Kent as he does everywhere else.

Matt Panayides: With Eyes Closed (Pacific Coast Jazz, 2024). A beautiful and engaging new release from guitarist Panayides, with Anthony and lyrical bassist Steve LaSpina.

• “I Fall In Love Too Easily” (Jules Styne-Sammy Cahn). I enjoy the whole album but this is my current favorite track. Panayides’s arrangement lets us hear the Styne/Cahn tune in a new way. When Anthony enters, he’s singing the song, playing his heart out, hitting some miracle unisons with LaSpina during Steve’s solo, and elevating the moment as only Pinciotti can.

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I wish I’d written this while Anthony was with us, but then, I thought I’d have decades to do so. Typical human short-sightedness.

(I did write his name in this piece, where I contrast the vitality of a gig Anthony played with a mainstream author’s oh-so-reasonable dismissal of jazz after 1960. I also picked a few great Pinciotti tracks he recorded with John McNeil in Hush Point here.)

I look at the mainstream, and I see little to love. I look at my community of musicians and music lovers and I see a tough and thriving bunch of humans in touch with the stuff of life, folks who will never quit caring.

At the head of that table was Anthony Pinciotti. He gave us so much. He was right there with us all along.

Everything we’re looking for, we have. Respect and gratitude.

Drummers bond: L to R: Anthony Pinciotti, yours truly, George Schuller, Oct 17, 2024, backyard of Bar Bayeux. Anthony and I wanted to be serious, but George wasn’t having it. Love and respect.