Marsalis sideman coming into his own

The longtime pianist draws from a rich past.
Joey Calderazzo bides his time.
As pianist in Branford Marsalis' quintet, the talented musician admits his solo career comes secondary. But his recently released sixth solo album "Haiku" proves when the spotlight does shine his way, he makes the most of it.
Two decades into his career, Calderazzo has become the type of nuanced player whose presence on the keys touches the soul with affective results. From the stride piano-esque "Dancin' For Singles" to standards "Just One of Those Things" and "My One and Only Love," the 10-track album paints a picture of a pianist on top of his game. More importantly, his maturation as not only a player but listener to the moment is overwhelmingly evident.
"It was pretty obvious to me that I always had the ability to create and play spontaneous and to play in a style that I was trying to play in at the time," Calderazzo said. "The only problem was I did not have a lot of style, even in jazz. So if I listen to my other records, I can look at them objectively and say, at that moment those are good records. That's where I was then and that's what I was doing but now to me, the sound is more mature and more complete and I have more options. My vocabulary is bigger. I just have more to draw from."
Tapping into legends
Calderazzo said among the artists he researched prior to the recording of "Haiku" were legends Jelly Roll Morton, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea and Art Tatum.
Invariably such exploration of his own talents speaks to not only Calderazzo's dedication to his profession but also to what Marsalis sees in the pianist.
Calderazzo's album is on Marsalis' own record label, Marsalis Music. In today's musical world, there are the gifted and then there are those who continually hone their craft.
"There are a lot of musicians who just do what they do," Calderazzo said. "They show up at the gigs and that's it. In Branford's band, he's constantly changing and growing. And that's a great thing. At 40 years old, I'm basically doing what I wished I had been doing when I was 20. But it's a process."
Calderazzo will be on stage for the Marsalis Quartet's performance Wednesday at Stambaugh, but will not be performing solo. Fans should look for a summer tour that could pass through Northeast Ohio.