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Vinnie Colaiuta
Colaiuta with Jeff Beck, at the Palais Theatre, Melbourne, January 26, 2009
Background information
Born	(1956-02-05) February 5, 1956 (age 62) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres	Rock, pop, jazz, funk, country, heavy metal
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Drums
Years active	1970s–present
Labels	Stretch, Moonjune
Associated acts	Frank Zappa, Jeff Beck, Sting, Herbie Hancock, Five Peace Band, Damian Drăghici, Joni Mitchell
Website	www.vinniecolaiuta.com

Vincent Peter Colaiuta ^[1](born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1996,^[2] and the Classic Drummer Hall of Fame in 2014.^[3]

Music career

Colaiuta was given his first drum kit when he was seven. He took to it naturally, with little instruction. When he was fourteen, the school band teacher gave him a book that taught him some of the basics. Buddy Rich was his favorite drummer until he heard the album Ego by Tony Williams, an event that changed his life. Colaiuta was also listening to organ groups, notably Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff and Don Patterson.^[4]

While a student at Berklee College of Music, when jazz fusion was on the rise, he listened to and admired Alphonse Mouzon and Billy Cobham.^[5]

After leaving school, he played local gigs in Boston. He joined a brief tour organized by Al Kooper, then worked in California on an album by Christopher Morris, which Kooper was producing. Although he returned to Boston, he was drawn back to California by friends and his experience recording. He took the bus from Boston to Los Angeles during the blizzard of 1978. After performing in jazz clubs, he won the audition to play drums for Frank Zappa. He toured with Zappa and appeared on the albums Joe's Garage, Tinsel Town Rebellion, and Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar.^[6]

Modern Drummer magazine chose Joe's Garage as one of the top 25 drum performances of all time.^[7] Colaiuta was called out by name by Dale Bozzio (playing the character of Mary) in the lyrics of the song Catholic Girls.^[8]

Colaiuta with Kenny Garrett in the Five Peace Band

In 1981, he left touring with Zappa to become a studio musician, recording for the band Pages and pop singer Gino Vannelli. Opportunities arose with saxophonist Tom Scott and bassist Larry Klein, who invited Colaiuta to play on a record by his then-girlfriend, Joni Mitchell. When Klein and Mitchell got married, Colaiuta was the best man at their wedding. During the 1980s, he toured with Mitchell. By the end of the 1980s he was living the busy life of a studio musician, recording albums, doing TV and film work during the day, and playing clubs at night.^[6] In addition to pop acts, he has worked with jazz musicians Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Buell Neidlinger, and the Buddy Rich Big Band.^[7]

In 1990, Colaiuta got a phone call from Sting, flew to England, and won the audition to become a member of his band.^[6] He remained with Sting for much of the 1990s, touring and recording the albums Ten Summoner's Tales (1993), Mercury Falling (1996), Brand New Day (1999) and Sacred Love (2003).^[7] On November 12, 2016, he played with Sting in the first concert to be held at the Bataclan in Paris since the terrorist attack a year earlier.^[9]

In 1994, he released his debut solo album.^[10] He has won over fifteen Drummer of the Year awards from Modern Drummer magazine's annual reader polls. These include ten awards in the "Best Overall" category.^[11][7]

Partial discography

As leader

• 
  Vinnie Colaiuta (Stretch, 1994)


• 
  Descent Into Madness (Extreme Production Music, 2018)

With Jing Chi (featuring Robben Ford and Jimmy Haslip)

• 2002 Jing Chi
  


• 2003 Jing Chi Live at Yoshi's (guest appearances by keyboard player Otmaro Ruiz and Marc Russo on alto sax).^[12]
  


• 2004 3D
  


• 2017 Supremo
  

As sideman

With Frank Zappa

• 
  Joe's Garage (1979)


• 
  Tinseltown Rebellion (1981)


• 
  Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (1981)


• 
  The Man From Utopia (1983)


• 
  Guitar (1988)


• 
  Any Way the Wind Blows (1991)


• 
  Strictly Commercial (1995)


• 
  You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1 (1988)


• 
  You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 4 (1991)


• 
  You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6 (1992)


• 
  The Lost Episodes (1996)


• 
  Frank Zappa Plays the Music of Frank Zappa: A Memorial Tribute (1996)


• 
  Have I Offended Someone? (1997)


• 
  Son of Cheep Thrills (1999)


• 
  Halloween (2003)


• 
  Trance-Fusion (2006)


• 
  Buffalo (2007)


• 
  Chicago '78 (2016)

With Joni Mitchell

• 
  Wild Things Run Fast (1982)


• 
  Dog Eat Dog (1985)


• 
  Night Ride Home (1991)


• 
  Hits (1996)


• 
  Misses (1996)


• 
  Songs of a Prairie Girl (2005)

With Sting

• 
  Acoustic Live in Newcastle (1992)


• 
  Ten Summoner's Tales (1993)


• 
  Mercury Falling (1996)


• 
  Brand New Day (1999)


• 
  Sacred Love (2003)


• 
  57th & 9th (2016)

With Tom Scott

• 1982 Desire
  


• 1987 Streamlines
  


• 1988 Flashpoint
  


• 1999 Smokin' Section
  

With others

• 1981 Nightwalker, Gino Vannelli
  


• 1983 Dirty Looks, Juice Newton
  


• 1984 Emotion, Barbra Streisand
  


• 1985 Soul Kiss, Olivia Newton-John
  


• 1986 The Bridge, Billy Joel
  


• 1987 John Patitucci, John Patitucci
  


• 1987 Northern Nights, Dan Siegel
  


• 1987 Portrait, Lee Ritenour
  


• 1987 Swing Street, Barry Manilow
  


• 1988 Close-Up, David Sanborn
  


• 1988 Last Days of the Century, Al Stewart
  


• 1988 Talk to Your Daughter, Robben Ford
  


• 1988 The Real Me, Patti Austin
  


• 1988 Voices of the Heart, Eric Marienthal
  


• 1988 Y Kant Tori Read, Tori Amos
  


• 1989 Mr. Jordan, Julian Lennon
  


• 1989 Music, My Love Jean-Pierre Rampal
  


• 1989 Secrets, Allan Holdsworth
  


• 1989 The Warmer Side of Cool, Wang Chung
  


• 1989 Upright, Philip Aaberg
  


• 1990 Beth Nielsen Chapman
  


• 1990 Blue Pacific, Michael Franks
  


• 1990 The Works, Nik Kershaw
  


• 1991 For the Boys, Bette Midler
  


• 1992 Fat City, Shawn Colvin
  


• 1993 My World, Ray Charles
  


• 1994 Emperors of Soul, The Temptations
  


• 1994 Heart to Heart, Diane Schuur
  


• 1995 Good News from the Next World, Simple Minds
  


• 1995 I'll Lead You Home, Michael W. Smith
  


• 1995 Soul Survivor, Bobby Caldwell
  


• 1995 The Promise, John McLaughlin
  


• 1997 Blue Moon Swamp, John Fogerty
  


• 1997 Blue Tav, Steve Tavaglione
  


• 1998 Traeme La Noche, Gustavo Cerati, Andy Summers
  


• 1999 Deja Vu, Frank Vignola
  


• 1999 The Whole SHeBANG, SheDaisy
  


• 2000 Celebrating the Music of Weather Report, Jason Miles
  


• 2000 Fingerprints, Larry Carlton
  


• 2000 Isn't She Great, Burt Bacharach
  


• 2000 Live From Blue Note Tokyo, Chick Corea
  


• 2000 Two Against Nature, Steely Dan
  


• 2001 “Alejandro Sanz unplugged”, Alejandro Sanz
  


• 2001 Night Sessions, Chris Botti
  


• 2001 Trouble in Shangri-La, Stevie Nicks
  


• 2002 From the Inside, Laura Pausini
  


• 2002 Cry, Faith Hill
  


• 2002 Morning, Noon, & Night, Bob James
  


• 2002 Queen of the Damned: Music from the Motion Picture
  


• 2003 1, 2, to the Bass, Stanley Clarke
  


• 2003 Big Fun, Bill Evans
  


• 2003 Michael Buble
  


• 2003 9, Eros Ramazzotti
  


• 2004 Earth + Sky, Andy Summers
  


• 2004 Renee Olstead
  


• 2004 The Futurist, Robert Downey
  


• 2004 Speak, Lindsay Lohan
  


• 2004 The System Has Failed, Megadeth
  


• 2005 American Made World Played, Les Paul
  


• 2007 Do svitanja, Vlado Georgiev
  


• 2008 Jeff Beck: Performing This Week... Live at Ronnie Scott's, Jeff Beck
  


• 2009 My One and Only Thrill, Melody Gardot
  


• 2009 Tide, Luciana Souza
  


• 2010 ...Featuring Norah Jones
  


• 2010 Emotion & Commotion, Jeff Beck
  


• 2010 Singularity, Robby Krieger
  


• 2010 Truth Be Told, Mark Egan
  


• 2011 Daydream, Katherine Jenkins
  


• 2011 Centrifugal Satz Clock, Morning, Steve Kusaba
  


• 2012 5th House, Dominic Miller
  


• 2013 Unstoppable Momentum, Joe Satriani
  


• 2013 Daljina, Vlado Georgiev
  


• 2014 Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro, Billy Childs
  


• 2015 No Pier Pressure, Brian Wilson^[13]
  


• 2016 The American Dream, Damian Drăghici
  


• 2017 Alone, Toto
  


• 2017 Se que tu estas, Davi Wornel
  


• 2017 Cosmopolitain, Kamil Rustam
  


• 2018 Traces (Steve Perry album), Steve Perry
  


• 2018 " Saab Guitar Project, Douglas Saab
  

References