James Chirillo
| James Chirillo | |
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Chirillo with the Kenny Davern All Stars at the 2004 Breçon Jazz Festival (photo: Barry Quick)
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | James Louis Chirillo |
| Born |
May 2, 1953 Waltham, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz, big band, swing, classical |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1974 – present |
| Website | james |
James Louis Chirillo (born May 2, 1953, Waltham, Massachusetts) is an American jazz guitarist, banjoist, composer, arranger, and band leader. He grew up in Bellevue, Washington, and has been a resident of Teaneck, New Jersey since 1993.
Chirillo grew up in Bellevue, Washington. He studied music at University of North Texas College of Music, where in the fall of 1976, he was chosen to play in the One O'Clock Lab Band for the academic year. His major concentration was composition and he studied guitar with Jack Petersen.
After college, he studied composition and arranging with John Carisi and Bill Finegan. He also studied guitar with Remo Palmier and musicianship with Helen Jordan (1907–2006).
From 1977 to 1979, he performed regularly with singers Marilyn Maye, Vic Damone, Joey Heatherton, Lorna Luft, and pianist Roger Williams. From 1979 to 1982, he was a member of The Jazz Knights, the band at West Point.
In 1982, he moved to New York City. He studied and performed with Tiny Grimes. From 1985–1986, he was a member of Benny Goodman's last band. From 1987–1991, he was a member of the Buck Clayton Orchestra and toured Europe in July 1991. He performed with Claude Williams in President Bill Clinton's inaugural festivities, with Bob Wilber and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, Benny Carter, and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra directed by Wynton Marsalis. From 1992–1999 he was a charter member of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, directed by Gunther Schuller and David Baker.
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