Renards has had a succession of excellent jazz pianists recently, notably John Bunch, Alan Broadbent (with Mark Murphy) and Brian Lemon (with Warren Vache). To that distinguished line can be added the solid mainstream talent of John Colianni. Now in his mid-30s, he has a CV that includes a two-year stint with Lionel Hampton and four years as musical director and pianist for the late Mel Torme. As this would suggest, he is an impeccable craftsman with a broad repertoire of standards and a compulsive swing; his is an accessible, if conservative style, influenced to some degree by such as Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson and Oscar Peterson.
He plays at Renards next Wednesday. Lovers of the Great American Song Book take note.