PJ Cotroneo is a guitarist, singer, composer, and educator based in northern New Jersey.
Initially a blues guitarist, PJ moved from New Jersey to Antigua, West Indies in late 1992. There, he met and subsequently began studying and playing with master jazz guitarist Roland Prince, who had a profound influence on him. PJ played in the Trinity Reggae and Calypso Band, but he very quickly fell under the spell of jazz music, and soon started playing jazz exclusively in Roland’s quintet. Returning to New Jersey in 1995, he earned a BFA in The New School's Jazz/Contemporary Music program in 1999, and an MFA in Jazz History/Jazz Research from Rutgers at Newark in 2002. He records and performs around the New York/New Jersey area, and has taught jazz history at Ramapo College, The College of New Jersey, and Union College.
PJ has also maintained a private guitar lesson roster since 1996. Each guitar student has her or his own needs, desires, and personalities, and PJ’s teaching style is reflective of this, as lessons are tailored specifically for each individual. Students are encouraged to learn to play the music and songs that they want to learn, but are also taught the very important building blocks of music fundamentals—i.e. aspects of music theory, concepts of harmony, and sight reading. Each student sets the pace at which they learn, as understanding and digesting the material from each lesson is the ultimate goal.
As a lead vocalist himself, and a vocal student of Tim Welch, PJ realizes the importance of teaching vocal students who are also studying the guitar how to align their musical knowledge gained from guitar lessons with their vocal concept and abilities. By broadening each student’s ear and musical spectrum, this approach helps students to grow as vocalists while also enabling them to develop as instrumentalists and composers. The goal is for each student to become a complete musician.
Examples of PJ’s playing can be accessed on both the Sound Cloud and Instagram platforms by searching PJ COTRONEO BAND.