About Chris Tuccillo

    Born March 31st, 1976 in Huntington, New York, Christopher J. Tuccillo was immersed in jazz from birth. His father

and grandfathers were the first to introduce him to the music of the great big bands of the 1930’s and 1940’s.

    Christopher started piano lessons at age 6 and clarinet lessons at the age of 9. A few years later he started

saxophone. At the age of 12, Christopher began to show his interests in jazz composition and arranging by transcribing

the orchestrations from his fathers big band records. An introduction and jam session with jazz clarinet legend Sol

Yaged further fueled his interest in jazz.

    Christopher began to study classical clarinet under renowned solo clarinetist Lawrence P. Sobol when he entered

high school. For 15 years, Mr. Sobol provided a rigorous and thorough education in the works of Mozart, Weber, Brahms

and many other great classical, romantic, and contemporary composers.

    Time away from Christopher’s classical studies were dedicated to listening to various jazz forms. Christopher

absorbed everything from swing, bebop, hard bop through to fusion. However his real interest and influence was the music

and orchestrations of Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Frank Foster, Sammy Nestico and Neal Heafti to name a few.

At the age of 18, Christopher added serious and formal studies in the art of jazz improvisation, jazz theory,

composition and arranging to his classical studies. He was trained by guitarist Craig E. Boyd. Christopher credits Mr.

Boyd with “opening my eyes to the world of harmony”.

    While Studying with Mr. Boyd and Mr. Sobol, Christopher was exposed to some of the best musicians, composers and

arrangers in the business at suffolk community college, Stony Brook University and Berklee College of Music.

    Currently, Christopher resides in New Jersey where he is active as a composer, arranger, performer and woodwind

instructor