Dominick Farinacci

Dominick Farinacci (born March 3, 1983) is an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He is currently signed to the Mack Avenue label. Farinacci was one of eighteen artists worldwide invited to be a part of the inaugural class of the Jazz Studies Program at The Juilliard School. Farinacci has won the "International New Star Award", Disney's "New Star Award", and topped the charts as one of Japan's No. 1 jazz musicians.

Early life Farinacci is from Cleveland, Ohio, and began playing trumpet in sixth grade at age eleven in Solon, Ohio. When asked why he picked the trumpet to play, he said, "I really wanted to play drums like my uncle, who was a professional drummer in Cleveland. So my aunt bought me a set of drums and my uncle assembled them for me, but I failed the drum auditions for the band! And the director said he really needed trumpet players, and asked if I would give that instrument a try." Shortly after he began playing trumpet, Farinacci started to listen to many trumpet players, including Louis Armstrong and Harry James. "I remember hearing a recording of Louis Armstrong playing 'A Kiss to Build a Dream On' and wanting to sound just like him. Harry James' 'You Made Me Love You' had a similar effect on me, so I learned their interpretations by ear, and tried to make my sound like their sound."

Farinacci joined a Saturday music program at Tri-C Community College in Cleveland, which taught him more about playing in big bands, small groups, improvisation, and music theory. He put a band together with some of his friends and mentors in Cleveland and began dropping off demo recordings to local club owners. By eighth grade he had a few steady gigs around town with his own band, and listeners soon became aware of his abilities. "Playing gigs around town allowed me to start hanging out with many of the older musician - some of whom were my teachers in the Saturday program - and they started to see that I was really serious about playing.".

With Ernie Krivda 2002: The Music of Ernie Krivda (Cadence) 2003: Ernie Krivda Quintet Plays Ernie Krivda (CIMP) 2004: Ernie Krivda Quintet Plays Ernie Krivda, Volume 2 (CIMP) 2005: Stellar Sax (CIMP)