TALENT SCOUT - Carmine Giglio

New York-based keyboardist and composer Carmine Giglio is a multi-faceted musical master. He's gigged with everyone from LeAnn Rimes to Ritchie Blackmore, and currently performs with and musical directs singer/songwriter Alexa Ray Joel. Get to know our TALENT SCOUT Artist of the Week.NAME: Carmine GiglioHOMETOWN: Franklin Square, Long Island, New YorkMUSICAL TRAINING: BA from Manhattan School of Music. FIRST GIGS: Ritchie Blackmore's Blackmore's Night, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, 'Movin' Out' on Broadway, and 'The Lion King' on Broadway. MUSICAL INFLUENCES: I always joke about 'The Four Bs' that inspired me to play - Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and Billy Joel! Billy was my biggest influence. Believe it or not, some other influencers are not even piano players, like Tommy Byrnes (guitarist with Billy Joel), and bassist Tom Barney (Steely Dan, Miles Davis). I'm always learning when I play with these guys. They're such monster players!WHAT I’M LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW: I’m not a big jazz guy but I have been listening to Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum of late. I've also been listening to some classical music, and I'm finding new artists like Saints of Valory.MY BIG BREAK: I was practicing for my final jury at Manhattan School of Music when I got the call to audition for Ritchie Blackmore. We met and hit it off right away. He was another great influencer in my life too. I played with him for two years and I got to travel the world.Carmine Giglio behind Billy Joel's piano in Baltimore, MD.LATEST PROJECTS: I keep very busy with my business called SelectMUSIC library, an online music licensing company of high quality music. I also work with and musical direct Alexa Ray Joel. My wife Jill Gioia and I also have a corporate band. If those aren't enough, I have two amazing children that always keep me busy with many projects!FAVORITE KEYBOARDS AND WHY? I play on a Yamaha Motif ES8, and I use Apple MainStage triggering Vienna Symphonic Library, and Synthogy Ivory. Those are two amazing plugins that I highly recommend.WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU? Alexa is planning a bunch of things coming up. I also play with a side project with some members of Billy Joel’s band called Big Shot, and I musical direct a project called American Young Voices. ADVICE TO THE NEXT GENERATION: Practice, practice, and more practice. Scales are very, very underrated. Also, you get your best practice in before you have a family. So take advantage of it!Connect with Carmine on Facebook