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Bio Joe Bellanti is a Buffalo based piano player and singer songwriter. He has been part of the Buffalo, New York music scene since his college days in the early 1980s, playing with several local and touring bands and continues exploring new territory today, playing solo shows and jamming with established groups as opportunities arise. After taking some time off from regular playing when there were young children at home, Joe returned to playing following an entry into the 2012 “I wanna be in moe.” contest. Fortunate to be one of the winners of that contest, Joe traveled to Worcester, Massachusetts on December 28th, 2012 to sit in with moe. Video of that event was placed on Youtube by the band and has led to numerous opportunities since. Playing primarily solo shows, Joe mixes storytelling in with his shows both from his personal experience and also relating the history of the songs he plays. Material drawn from the New Orleans tradition as well as from the music of the Allman Brothers Band, The Grateful Dead, Neal Young, Bruce Hornsby, Dr, John, George Winston and the Pat Metheny Group all contribute to the overall sound. A love of old time music lends a flavor to his original music that is reminiscent of the saloon days of the late 1800s and the glory days of boogie-woogie piano in the 1920s and 30s. Piano is the primary instrument but Joe has been known to work in some other instruments – guitar, accordion or ukulele. Joe has also been a regular on the Buffalo area music festival circuit performing at the Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts (2013 and 2014), The Hamburg Music Festival (2014) and the Music is Art Festival (2013 and 2014). From the sound of the music to a proven ability to connect with an audience, Joe has been equally comfortable as a headliner or in support of other musicians, always with an ear toward making the overall experience a positive one for the audience. Reviews “…So sweet and sleepy, to relax at Rohall’s Corner in Black Rock, soaking up Austrian wine and the sounds of Joe Bellanti. Bellanti is the kind of piano man you would dream of finding in a New Orleans piano bar and probably would not be able to. When we stopped in, the evening drifted by as if we were in the Big Easy. Bellanti played the ancient blues “Sugar Babe, It’s All Over Now.” And Stephen Foster. And James Taylor. Two of the Skiffle Minstrels showed up and sat down at the bar. Such a carefree night! But for Bellanti, it ended under duress: He had to be up early to shepherd his fifth-grade kid’s class on a field trip to Gettysburg, ain’t that the blues? “And I think I’m in charge of snacks for the bus,” he added. Man, you could write a song about that…” – Mary Kunz Goldman in the Buffalo News – May 20th, 2014 “…Night one really had me breathless at the end of the night. moe is one of those bands for me personally that never sounds off. Every time I see them, they are always right on target. Night one is at the top of my favorite moe sets. Night two was not to be forgotten about! There was no set opener for night two, however the crowd was pleasantly surprised as Joe Bellanti came out on stage. Joe is a pianist from Buffalo. He announced that although the ticket said there would be no opener, he was it and was more then thrilled to be with us. He played a solo set for about 15 minutes before moe came out and joined right in with him and came out strong! … I really enjoyed the songs that Joe played with moe. The piano added an awesome zest to the set that really got me groovin! Joe really killed it with them during Casey Jones” – Kyle Hess from a review of moe.s 2 night stand at the Town Ballroom in Buffalo, New York in September of 2013 Video Video of Joe playing with moe. in Worcester MA and also of his audition video for the “I wanna be in moe.” contest is available on Youtube and at the following link at www.joebellanti.com: Joe Bellanti Video Samples
