About

The Pietra Group is a jazz-fusion group performing original compositions by brothers Joe and Mario Pietra. Their music draws from jazz traditions of spontaneity and improvisation, but contrasts the soloing focus of short-form jazz with a more narrative, programmatic form. With musical influences such as Weather Report and The Pat Metheny Group, The Pietra Group’s studio album People Chain (2021) is inspired by storytelling and captures commentary on past and present life experiences. The album contrasts musical styles and forms, shifting between acoustic and electronic, orchestrated to improvised, large ensemble to small group within each song. Following Remote Narration (2013), People Chain shows The Pietra Group has more stories to tell, only this time a more complex form gives way to even more powerful meaning. Joining The Pietra Group for People Chain are Jeff Miles on electric and acoustic guitars, percussionist Rogério Boccato, vibraphonists Matt Hoffmann, drummer Jerad Lippi, Dylan Canterbury on trumpet and flugelhorn, and vocalist Anne Boccato.

Joe Pietra

Joe Pietra is jazz pianist and composer from Upstate New York. He is co-leader of The Pietra Group, playing piano and synthesizers for original compositions by himself and his brother Mario Pietra, including those on Remote Narration (2013) and upcoming release, People Chain. In addition, Joe actively performs with his own trio, The Joe Pietra Trio, and with a variety of other musical projects in the northeast, including The Matt Hoffmann Quintet. Joe started playing piano at a young age, studying classical repertoire and jazz soon after. He currently resides in Upstate New York.

Mario Pietra

Mario Pietra is an upright and electric bassist, composer, and educator from Upstate New York. He performs and records actively in the northeast with a variety of jazz groups, orchestras, and other musical projects. Mario is the bassist and co-leader of The Pietra Group, a jazz-fusion group performing compositions by his brother Joe Pietra and himself, including those on Remote Narration (2013) and upcoming release, People Chain. Mario holds a master’s degree in music from Syracuse University.  

Band Members

Rogério Boccato

Brazilian percussionist and educator Rogério Boccato plays in projects led by some of today’s leading jazz players, among them Maria Schneider, John Patitucci, Fred Hersch, Brian Blade, Danilo Perez, Jimmy Greene and many others. He has also collaborated with top-ranking Brazilian artists, such as Toninho Horta, Moacir Santos, Zé Renato and Vinicius Cantuária. He is featured on two Grammy-award winning albums: Maria Schneider Orchestra’s The Thompson Fields and on Billy Childs’ Rebirth. He is also featured on three Grammy-nominated albums: Kenny Garrett’s Beyond The Wall, John Patitucci‘s Remembrance alongside Joe Lovano and Brian Blade, and on Alan Ferber’s Jigsaw. As a longtime member of the Orquestra Jazz Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, Boccato has played with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Hermeto Pascoal, Milton Nascimento, Egberto Gismonti, João Bosco, Edu Lobo, Joe Zawinul, among many others.

Dylan Canterbury

Dylan Canterbury began playing trumpet at the age of 8, and became attracted to jazz not long afterward. A graduate of the jazz studies program at SUNY Purchase, Canterbury has worked as a trumpeter with such notables as Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, the Jon Faddis Jazz Orchestra, and the All-Star O’Rourkestra. His compositions, arrangements, and transcriptions have been performed or recorded by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, the Jon Faddis Jazz Orchestra, and the Barcelona Jazz Orchestra. Actively involved in education, he is a faculty member at SUNY Schenectady and the College of St. Rose, where he directs the schools’ jazz ensembles and teaches jazz history.

Matt Hoffmann

Matt Hoffmann is a vibraphonist, drummer and educator. Graduating with an MM in Jazz Studies from Purchase College in 2011, Matt has played such venues as Lincoln Center, the Blue Note, The Bickford Theatre and the Summit Jazz Festival. He has performed throughout the country with swing artists Allan Vache, Mark Shane, Dan Levinson, and Dave Bennett, and recorded two albums as a leader Daydream (2006) and Communion (2014).  He currently lives in the Catskill region of NY with his wife and two kids and works in Special Education at the Center for Discovery and continues to perform and write.

Jerad Lippi

Jerad Lippi was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania and began to play drums at age seven. He later attended The New School University Jazz and Contemporary Music Program, and received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Jazz Studies from SUNY Purchase.  While at Purchase, Jerad served as the drummer for the Purchase Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Todd Coolman. Lippi’s teachers have included legendary drummers Joe Morello, John Riley, Ari Hoenig, Michael Carvin, and Kenny Washington. Jerad serves as the drummer for the progressive metal group Ever Forthright, who released their debut, self-titled record in 2011 to rave reviews. Jerad serves on faculty at Lagond Music in Elmsford, New York, is currently a Bosphorus Cymbals artist, and performs regularly in New York City and internationally. 

Jeff Miles

An American guitarist, composer and producer from San Diego, California, Jeff Miles is a Berklee College of Music alum and the winner of the 2008 Montreux Jazz Guitar competition. Featured on numerous recordings, Jeff is sought after for his orchestral pallet of sounds and blistering, evocative improvisations. He has performed around the world in venues such as The Monterrey Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, Las Condes Jazz Festival, Saulkrasti Jazz Festival, Blues Alley, Bar Next Door, 55 Bar and Smalls Jazz Club. He currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.