Bob Quaranta

Pianist Bob Quaranta received his BM in music theory from the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts. For over ten years, he was a member of Mongo Santamaría's band and served as musical director. Two of the recordings Bob appeared on with Mongo were nominated for Grammy Awards: Mongo Magic and Free Spirit/Espíritu Libre. Quaranta has also performed and/or recorded with: Dave Valentin, Willie Colón, Ray Barretto, Tommy Igoe, Angel Canales and Jellybean Benitez. With John Scofield, he recorded on the Yamaha instructional video The Drumset, A Musical Approach. Quaranta has also recorded a piano disk for the Yamaha Disklavier. He appears on the Hudson Music Drummers Collective 25th Anniversary Celebration & Bass Day 2002 DVD and CD. He continues to serve as an integral member of the Ed Palermo Big Band and currently is on the faculty of The Collective School of Music in New York City. Additionally, Quaranta's playing has been characterized as "magnificent" in the book, Latin Jazz: The First of The Fusions, John Storm Roberts.