Richie Cannata, who has long been associated with Billy Joel — he was his sax player through 1982 — and more recently with The Beach Boys and Bernie Williams, gave a terrific performance in a municipal concert on August 9 in Glen Cove, a small city on the north shore of Long Island.
Cannata performed with various friends and family members, including Spyro Gyra guitarist Julio Fernandez. I don’t know enough about Fernandez to say that his guitar solo on the encore number — Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love — was characteristic of him or not. But for a jazz guitarist, he sure seemed to enjoy acting like Jimmy Page for a few minutes.
Here is the beginning of Cannata’s bio at ReverbNation:
Born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island, Richie Cannata studied classical piano and clarinet. He also plays flute and keyboards in addition to tenor, alto, soprano, and baritone sax, with tenor sax being his forte. Richie has recorded and toured with Billy Joel’s band since 1975 and still can be seen with him today. For over a decade, Richie has also been a member of The Beach Boys, playing on their recordings as well as all of the world concert tours. Richie’s talent as a performing artist doesn’t even outshine his accomplishments behind the scenes. (Continue Reading…)
Cannata’s site has more information. Above is Keep it In the Pocket and below is Chameleon.
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