Joe Vannelli (born 28 December 1950) is a Canadian musician, composer and record producer. He is credited on most records of his brother,

Gino Vannelli Gino Vannelli (born June 16, 1952) is a Canadian rock singer and songwriter who had several hit songs in the 1970s and 1980s. His best-known singles include " People Gotta Move" (1974), " I Just Wanna Stop" (1978), " Living Inside Myself" (1981) ...

, and in collaboration with youngest brother Ross Vannelli, the three have won many awards. Vannelli studied music theory in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, and learned to play piano. He was influenced by artists like

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, block chords, innovative chord voicings, a ...

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and

Erroll Garner Erroll Louis Garner (June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His instrumental ballad "Misty", his best-known composition, has become a jazz standard. It was first re ...

. During the seventies he developed an interest in electronic instruments; he was one of the early

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

players. He contributed to most of Gino's albums as a composer, producer, arranger, programmer and engineer. Apart from his work with Gino and Ross, he has been credited by many artists like

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...

Eartha Kitt Eartha Mae Kitt (née Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress. She was known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Baby" ...

Gary Morris Gary Gwyn Morris (born December 7, 1948) is an American singer and stage actor who charted a string of hits on the country music charts throughout the 1980s. Morris is known for the 1983 ballad " The Wind Beneath My Wings", although his cred ...

David Meece David Meece (born May 26, 1952) is an American contemporary Christian musician who enjoyed success in the mid-1980s and into the early 2010s, with more than thirty Top 10 hits, including several No. 1 songs. Education Meece grew up in Humble ...

, Kudasai,

Marilyn Scott Marilyn Scott (born December 21, 1949) is an American jazz vocalist. Biography Born in Altadena, California, Scott got her start performing locally at age 15. She went to college in San Francisco, singing in both jazz and pop ensembles there. S ...

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, Pat Thomi,

Don Sebesky Donald John Sebesky (December 10, 1937 – April 29, 2023) was an American composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz trombonist. He was a multi-instrumentalist and could play a number of other instruments: keyboards, electric piano, organ, accord ...

Kit Chan use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinate ...

, Bill Meyers,

Gianni Bella Giovanni "Gianni" Bella (born 14 March 1947) is an Italian composer and singer-songwriter, brother of singer Marcella Bella and the uncle of diplomat and lawyer Giacomo Merello. Background Born in Catania, Bella started his career as compos ...

and

Glenn Jones Glenn Jones (born September 27, 1962 in Jacksonville, Florida) is an American R&B/soul singer. He is best known for his songs "Show Me", "We've Only Just Begun (The Romance Is Not Over)" and "Here I Go Again", which reached No. 1 on the Billbo ...

Musical career

Gino and Joe moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 1972. Desperate and broke, they waited for hours in the parking lot outside

A&M Studios The Jim Henson Company Lot, formerly A&M Studios, is a studio property located just south of the southeast corner of La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Originally established by film star Charlie Chaplin, the property served as C ...

, hoping to get a record deal. When

Herb Alpert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter, pianist, singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger, conductor, painter, sculptor and theatre producer, who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass (sometimes called "Herb Alpe ...

, the co-owner of

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

, finally emerged, Vannelli ran towards him and gave him a demo tape while being chased by security guards. Alpert signed Vannelli and released his debut album, ''Crazy Life'', in the summer of 1973. For most of Gino's career, Joe was his keyboard player and arranger. In the early 70's Joe would overdub most of the multiple keyboard parts to create that certain progressive sound of the early 1970s. This was a time when polyphonic synthesizers weren't around. Along with Gino, he co produced the 1986 Chronology album for

which was released on

Myrrh Records __NOTOC__ Myrrh Records (also known as Myrrh Worship) was an American Christian music record label. According to ''Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music'', the label was instrumental in developing a popular following for contemporary Christian m ...

and co wrote "Seventy Times Seven" and "Come That Day". Vannelli and

Burton Cummings Burton Lorne Cummings (born December 31, 1947) is a Canadian musician and songwriter. He is best known for leading the Guess Who during that band's most successful period from 1965 to 1975, and for a lengthy solo career. Cummings has been induc ...

co-produced Cummings's 2008 album '' Above the Ground'' which was the first album release for Cummings in approximately 18 years. In 2007 he co-produced ''

Find Your Own Way Home ''Find Your Own Way Home'' is the fifteenth studio album by REO Speedwagon. It was produced by Joe Vannelli and Kevin Cronin and was released in 2007 by Speedwagon Recordings and Mailboat Records. The album came eleven years after the band's pr ...

'' for REO Speedwagon. In 2009 he produced '' Not So Silent Night...Christmas with REO Speedwagon'' for REO Speedwagon. Vannelli has won six

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

s and was nominated for several

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

, including one for best arrangement. One Juno award was for Recording Engineer of the Year. This was shared with his other brother Ross for " Black Cars" that appeared on Gino Vannelli's album of the same name. The following year more awards came for "

Wild Horses The wild horse (''Equus ferus'') is a species of the genus ''Equus'', which includes as subspecies the modern domesticated horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') as well as the endangered Przewalski's horse (''Equus ferus przewalskii'', sometimes tr ...

" and "Young Lover". Today, Joe Vannelli has a studio in Agoura Hills, California called Blue Moon Studios.

Selected discography

As sideman

With

*''Red Heat'' (2000) *''Nightfall'' (Vie Records, 2010) With Alessandro Bertozzi *''Talkin'back'' (2003)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vannelli, Joe 1950 births Living people 20th-century Canadian composers 20th-century Canadian male musicians 21st-century Canadian composers 21st-century Canadian male musicians Anglophone Quebec people Canadian expatriate musicians in the United States Canadian male composers Canadian people of Italian descent Canadian record producers Jack Richardson Producer of the Year Award winners Juno Award for Recording Engineer of the Year winners Musicians from Montreal