^{Jazz pianist Joe Delaney has a group of avid fans who have followed him for decades. I recently caught Joe performing at the popular Ft. Myers Barrel Room, part of the Twisted Vine Bistro on Bay Street, for a Sunday soft jazz brunch event. Joe played alongside Don Mopsick on bass fiddle and Rick Costa on percussion. For folks who want to listen to a real jazz pianist live without flying someplace, Joe is the guy you want to hear.}

^{Joe first started visiting musician friends in SW Florida in 2009 before moving to Ft. Myers from the Boston area. He said that he wasn’t sure if he followed his friends down here or if they followed him. Living in Ft. Myers, he said his place overlooks the Caloosahatchee River, which inspires him to sit at his piano and compose music. A few times a year he returns to the Boston area to cut a new CD and visit friends. He has a number of albums out, like  Joe has also played background cuts over the years for radio and TV ads of popular products like Pepsi and Becks Beer.}

^{To me, there is usually a distinct separation between a talented musician and a performer. Joe, over the years, has managed to merge the two. A talented pianist may have been classically trained, but to play great jazz, a musician has to have an eclectic mind and an ear for perfect tone. With jazz, sheet music is not necessary because it is rarely played the same way twice, even by the composer unless by chance. Joe said that he plays 90% by ear. To play true jazz you most definitely need that rare ability to have the “ear.”}

^{I have seen many pianists sit stiffly on the bench while they play, but not Joe. He moves to the music that he creates, feeling every note as if it is created by his soul. You often see great guitarists manipulate the strings to create a change in the tonal pitch. Joe seems to be able to do the same on the keyboard with his polyphonic improvisations. He is an expert using the three pentatonic scales, such as the major, dominant and the minor, in all 12 keys. This is something only musicians who are completely comfortable with their instrument can do easily.}

^{Joe grew up in the Boston area and always had a love for music. He started his career at a very early age and thinks he was about three when he played his first melody. Since local music teachers refused to work with such a young lad, Joe sat and listened to his older sister’s piano lessons, then he toddled up to the bench and played her music lesson from memory. At the age of eleven, he entered Boston’s version of “America’s Got Talent,” won, and then kept winning. At the time, he was considered a child musical prodigy and was interviewed on radio and television programs. From there, his music career took off.}

^{Joe formed his own band called The Joe Delaney Trio, playing venues for years mostly along the east coast. After a while, just beyond his teens, Joe decided that he would rather be a big fish in a little pond, so he spent most of the 1980’s on the island of St. Thomas in the Caribbean. “My family thought I was nuts moving there. Besides playing piano, I did a lot of really odds jobs to get by.”}

^{On the island, he played resorts and beachfront restaurants four hours a night, many times in places without air conditioning. When big name entertainers came in and heard he was there, they asked for him to play accompaniment. From there he visited South America and became intrigued by the unique Brazilian beat, which influenced his thinking about music. His reputation in the entertainment industry grew and when he returned to Boston, he got his big break.}

^{It’s hard to believe that Joe is young enough to have played with the famous big band leader/composer Artie Shaw and his orchestra on an international tour, but he did. He played for six years with them on five continents, often alongside the great trumpeter Lou Colombo, who became a close friend and mentor. Mr. Colombo’s family now owns and runs the Roadhouse Café on San Carlos Blvd. at which Joe performs.}

^{Joe told me that he would sit and listen to the big band rehearsals and the music would be imprinted into his memory. “I told the band leader, Dick Johnson, that I wasn’t great at reading the sheet music. He just said that I was good enough to pick it up on the go.” One of his favorite pianists was Bill Evans, but others inspired him also, like Oscar Petersen and Herbie Hancock. “I also have to give a lot of motivational credit to other pianists like Dave McKenna, Kurt Wenzel and many others who taught and inspired me.”}

^{After his big band experience, he returned to the Boston area for seven years, living in Cape Cod, playing at the popular “Black Cat Tavern” in Hyannis Harbor as part of his jazz trio.}

^{As a keyboardist myself, I can easily recognize natural talent when I hear it, and Joe is true living talent more suited for Las Vegas. I heard him play Paul Desmond’s “Take Five,” better than Dave Brubeck’s version, as I remembered it. He then moved on to “Mona Lisa,” written by Livingston and Evans, then played it more stylized than the legendary Nat King Cole.}

^{Joe told me that his future plans are to compose and write more music, then, hopefully, cut some new albums. “I’ve got all these melodies running around in my head that I need to arrange into various compositions. Plus, I’m into other areas of being an entrepreneur.”}

^{Instead of going out to the usual places to eat, I recommend that you go to someplace new with entertainment. Joe is a local jazz pianist that you should take the time to enjoy. When you hear great music along with your meal, it will be a more enjoyable and memorable evening.}

^{Joe plays with different accompanists at places around SW Florida, like the Roadhouse Café, the Matanzas Inn, and The Barrel Room. Joe’s local appearances can be seen at JoeDelaney@allaboutjazz.com or he can be contacted at joedelaney@email.com.}