biography
“Anthony has a natural feeling for swing and groove, scintillating technique and a penchant for such feel-good pianists as Erroll Garner, Oscar Peterson, and Monty Alexander.”
Anthony D’Alessandro is a pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader based in Toronto, Ontario. His love of Oscar Peterson’s sense of swing, combined with his passion for the blues, gospel, and traditional jazz, has shaped his distinctively joyful and captivating style of playing. Anthony has performed in many of Ontario’s finest venues and festivals including the Toronto Summer Music Festival, the Barrie Jazz and Blues Festival, the Jazz Sudbury Festival, the Kensington Market Jazz Festival, the Brampton World of Jazz Festival, the Jazz Bistro, the Rex Hotel Jazz and Blues Bar, the Jazz Room, Hugh’s Room Live, Heliconian Hall and Lula Lounge.
Anthony’s music has also taken him throughout the United States and Europe including performances at the International Glenn Miller Festival in Clarinda, Iowa, the Snowbirds Extravaganza Festival in Lakeland, Florida and composition at the Casalmaggiore International Music Festival in Casalmaggiore, Italy.
In June 2022, Anthony embarked on a tour across Ontario and Quebec with NYC based trumpet virtuoso Benny Benack III, Neil Swainson, and Ernesto Cervini, culminating in the recording of Anthony’s next album.
He will be joining JUNO winning vocalist Caity Gyorgy on her cross-Canada tour in June/July 2023.
Anthony has shared the stage with many Canadian jazz greats including Neil Swainson, Terry Clarke, Steve Wallace, Kevin Turcotte, Jackie Richardson, Ernesto Cervini, and Reg Schwager and acclaimed international artists including Joe Farnsworth, Benny Benack III and Alexander Claffy.
In 2022, Anthony spent six months living in New York City and studying under master jazz pianist Mike LeDonne, supported by grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. During this time he met, played with, and immersed himself deeply in the NYC jazz scene.
Anthony holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Piano Performance from the University of Toronto where he studied under Canadian jazz luminaries Steve Wallace, David Braid, Mark Eisenman and David Restivo.