Cultural Diversity Roster

John Patitucci was born in Brooklyn, New York and began playing the electric bass at age 10, performing and composing at age 12, and at age 15, started playing the acoustic bass. He quickly moved from playing soul and rock to blues, jazz and classical music. His eclectic tastes have always caused him to explore all types of music as a player and a composer.

John studied classical bass at San Francisco State University and Long Beach State University, and then continued his career in Los Angeles as a studio musician and a jazz artist. As a studio musician, John has played on countless albums with artists such as B. B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker, George Benson, Dizzy Gillespie, Paul Simon, Norah Jones, Was Not Was, Dave Grusin, Natalie Cole, Bon Jovi, Sting, Queen Latifah and Carly Simon. In 1986, John was voted by his peers in the studios as the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences MVP on Acoustic Bass.

As a performer, John has played throughout the world with his own band, and with jazz luminaries Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Stan Getz, Pat Metheny, Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman, Michael Brecker, McCoy Tyner, Nancy Wilson, Randy Brecker, Fred- die Hubbard, Tony Williams, Hubert Laws, Hank Jones, Mulgrew Miller, James Williams, Kenny Werner and scores of others. Some of the many pop and Brazilian artists he has played with include Sting, Aaron Neville, James Taylor, John Mayer, Paul Simon, Natalie Cole, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Milton Nascimiento, Astrud and Joao Gilberto, Airto and Flora Purim, Ivan Lins, Joao Bosco and Dori Caymmi.

John has also worked with film composers Jerry Goldsmith, Ry Cooder, James Newton Howard, Dave Grusin, Henry Mancini, John Williams, Jeff Beal, Mark Isham, Michel Colombier, Carter Burwell and Howard Shore and many others, and recorded on countless film and television scores.

Since 1985, his work with Chick Corea brought him worldwide acclaim and put him at the forefront of the jazz world. As a member of Chick Corea’s Elektric Band and Akoustic Band, John was featured on several recordings and world tours. He went on to record six solo recordings for GRP Records and seven solo recordings with Concord Jazz. His first solo recording, “”John Patitucci,”” went to number one on the Billboard Jazz charts.

In 2015, John and his wife, cellist and manager Sachi Patitucci, started their own record label, Three Faces Records, and have released two recordings, “”Brooklyn”” (2015) and “”Soul of the Bass”” (2019). John arranged and produced all of his own records, as well as those of other artists. In 2017, as part of one of their vinyl box set seasons, the Newvelle Record label released “”Irmãos de Fé, a Brazilian influenced album featuring the John Patitucci Trio with Yotam Silberstein on guitar and Rogerio Boccato on percussion. John plans a digital release of this recording in 2020.

John’s own recordings, and his work with Chick Corea and Wayne Shorter, have garnered him over 20 Grammy Award nominations and, so far, 4 Grammy Awards. He is again nominated this year for a 2019 Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album.