Denny Jiosa

Guitarist and composer Denny Jiosa crafts music that fuses Wes Montgomery-inspired cool jazz with rock & roll, gospel, R&B, and blues, an approach shaped by his wide-ranging career as a Nashville session musician and producer uninterested in catering solely to purists. Born in Huntington, IN, Jiosa picked up the guitar at seven and formed a band that played school dances by the time he turned thirteen. Throughout high school he also performed on trumpet, French horn, and bass while singing in the choir. Although his initial passion centered on rock acts such as Steely Dan, the Doobie Brothers, Santana, and Grand Funk Railroad, his listening habits later expanded to embrace jazz and blues. In the late 1970s he joined Troy Shondell’s band and toured nationwide on the 1950s rock & roll revival circuit, after which additional groups secured opening slots for B.B. King, Glen Campbell, and Leon Russell.

Jiosa relocated to Los Angeles in the mid-1980s to enroll at the Guitar Institute of Technology, where he sharpened his jazz technique through private study with Frank Gambale. Following graduation he settled in Nashville and began recording sessions for country and R&B artists. There he won an audition as both actor and musician for the six-character touring production Pump Boys & Dinettes, prompting another cross-country tour. Upon returning at the start of the 1990s, he took the helm of a recording studio, expanding his role to include producing, arranging, and engineering alongside his instrumental work; notable successes during this period involved gospel singers Yolanda Adams and Ben Tankard.

Jiosa simultaneously refined his skills as a composer. His debut solo album, Moving Pictures, surfaced in 1995 and was followed by Inner Voices in 1996, which featured the radio hit “Lights of the City,” Jazzberry Pie in 1998, and Among Friends in 1999. His recordings have found particular favor on new adult contemporary and smooth jazz stations.