Name Joe Cinderella | Role Musical Artist | |
Similar People Gil Melle, Eddie Bert, Don Butterfield, Ed Thigpen, Hal McKusick | ||
Joseph "Joe" Richard Cinderella (June 14, 1927 - October 27, 2012) was an American jazz guitarist. Guitarist Eugene Chadbourne, writing for Allmusic.com, said of Cinderella that "He was a technically brilliant, original player who for long periods let his creative talents become obscured not by piles of soot and ash but by their musical equivalent, commercial studio jobs."
Cinderella started playing the guitar from the age of nine. His father was a music publisher, painter, writer, and played the banjo. His brother, Don, played the double bass. He was the eldest of four siblings, his juniors being Donald, Richard, and Rose. He was drafted at the age of 18 into the US Army, serving stateside in the Second World War until 1946. After his discharge, Cinderella started performing progressive jazz with musicians such as tenor saxophonist Warne Marsh and trumpeter Conte Candoli.
In the 1950s, Cinderella recorded extensively with the saxophonist Gil Mellé, and accompanied vocalist Chris Connor with double bassist Vinnie Burke. Cinderella worked as a session guitarist for much of the 1960s appearing on music for radio, television, and film. As a studio musician Cinderella performed with such artists as the Beach Boys, Billy Joel, as well as the classical composer John Cage. Cinderella taught guitar in a New Jersey college from 1969, and wrote several instructional books for jazz guitar. He self-released the album Concept in 2002.
Joe was born in Newark to Joseph and Concetta in 1927. He married Angela Cipulla and lived in Paterson, New Jersey, working the New York scene. In 1954, they had a daughter, Daria, who also went on to study and work in music. The Cinderellas moved to Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, and Joe became a member of the adjunct faculty of William Paterson College, establishing the jazz music program there. In addition to commercial work and faculty teaching, he offered private instruction.
Joe and Angela moved to a housing community in the Whiting section of Manchester Township, New Jersey, where he died from natural causes on October 27, 2012.