465 - Steve Picataggio: Straddling the Worlds of Jazz and Musical Theatre in NYC,

Working Drummer

Steve Picataggio has lived in New York for over a decade and has stayed busy on the jazz and musical theatre scenes there. He has toured with The Hot Sardines, The Four Phantoms, and others, and is active on the New York jazz scene playing everything from trio to big band. He is a graduate of University of North Florida where he studied with Danny Gottleib and Ulysses Owens Jr., and NYU where he studied with Billy Drummond. He is also active as an educator, with students from age 4 to adult as well as at the collegiate level.

In this episode, Steve talks about:

• His fully remote college gig
• Touring with The Four Phantoms
• Why he loves rehearsing
• The mentorship and influence of Matt Wilson and Bill Drummond
• How cutthroat attitudes are mostly gone
• His love of accompanying singers