A Collective is only as good as it’s members, and today, we would like to celebrate one of the incredible mentors on our staff: Veteran faculty member and Grammy-Nominated pianist Bob Quaranta!
Bob joined The Collective Staff all the way back in 1982, serving almost 40 years as the head of the Keyboard/Piano programs here at The Collective School of Music!
Bob is currently teaching Private Lessons both In-Person at our new location on 28 Broadway, as well as our first in-person group class: “Explorations in Latin Jazz” !
Bob is a multi-faceted, celebrated pianist, composer, and arranger, who specializes in Jazz and Latin Jazz. Bob has Worked alongside greats such as Dave Valentin, Willie Colon, Ray Barretto, Tommy Igoe, Angel Canales and “Jellybean” Benitez. He is perhaps most famous for his work as Musical director with acclaimed Latin Jazz percussionist Mongo Santamaria‘s band, with two of the recordings Bob played on, “Mongo Magic” and “Espiritu Libre” were nominated for Grammys on their release! Hear Bob Play below!
Alongside his history with The Collective, Teaching Applied Harmonies, Afro-Cuban, Fusion, and running our Advanced Performance Program and the Jazz/Latin jazz workshops of our SOJ programs, Bob maintained his integral role in the iconic Ed Palermo Big Band. They have released LPs featuring Randy Brecker, David Sanborn, and even legendary multi-instrumentalist Edgar Winter, Alongside countless prolific shows and multi-genre arrangements of artists such as Frank Zappa, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, and much more! From highly rated Jazz LPs by Downbeat Magazine, to reimagining Frank Zappa and Todd Rundergen‘s music reaching acclaim from All About Jazz and The Jazz Times. Bob Quaranta is an incredible mentor and cornerstone member of our Collective family, and we can’t wait for you to study with him and join us too!
