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Al Pitrelli's career has taken him on a multitude of musical journeys. He attended the world famous Berklee School of Music in Boston in the early 80's where he studied with the likes of Living Color's drummer, Will Calhoun and Dream Theater's keyboardist, Derek Sherinian. After dropping out of Berklee, his first major label gig was performing with Michael Bolton helping him support his single "Fool's Game". As Al says, "This was when Michael Bolton was still trying to be Sammy Hagar and not Engelbert Humperdinck". In my opinion, the next major exposure for Al, was his teaming up with bassist Randy Coven. Pitrelli, Coven, and O'Reilly formed a group in the early 90's to release Coven's second solo effort called, "Sammy Says Ouch" and then a group album entitled CPR in 1992. This trio added the additional ingredient of Heavy Metal to the recipe of fusion that was incubated by landmark groups such as Return to Forever and the Dixie Dregs. |
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Al's talents were recognized by industry giants such as Alice Cooper and he even landed in the line-up of Asia, whose roster reflects a who's-who of talent from the world of progressive rock. His reputation as a professional and his diverse talents landed him several studio and touring gigs supporting numerous acts. His desire to play pushed him to accept many projects that other players of the Metal genre could never accept due to obscene pride or just a plain lack of versatile skill. Al explores most opportunities presented to him and has learned and grown from all of them. Through the last several years, Pitrelli has been recruited by many as a hired gun to give new solo projects zest and clout. He has worked with ex-Deep Purple vocalist Joe Lynn Turner for three of his solo albums and helped Twisted Sister's Dee Snider create the group Widowmaker to release two albums. His effort with Ratt's Stephen Pearcy led them to create the group and album, "Vertex", which culminated a heavy-metal/industrial-techno release, albeit Pearcy's lack of business ethics prevented any future for that project. He has also constructed groups with other players, such as himself, who supported larger scale acts that wanted to break out to create something specifically their own. A Place Called Rage was the first of these projects that released a blues-inspired disc. It featured Blue Oyster Cult's bassists, Danny Miranda and vocalist Tommy Farese. Tommy is also on the Trans-Siberian Orchestra albums. In 1997, Pitrelli released another project with a group called Flesh 'n' Blood. Again, the album is more blues-based and has been described as the Black Crowes meet Led Zeppelin. In the mid-90's, he also joined the progressive metal band, Savatage. In Savatage, Pitrelli started working with producer, Paul O'Neill. Paul O'Neill's vision of making true Rock Operas took the members of Savatage to new levels and to the eventual formation of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Pitrelli's contribution to TSO is amazing; he adds his edgy playing and classical stylings to traditional Christmas music that takes those compositions to a new level of passion and intensity. In 2001, Al worked with his wife, Jane, on her project called O'2L (pronounced o'tool). It is their first CD release featuring Jane's compositions and piano work. O'2L's work is an eclectic blend of Jazz, world music, some techno, and bends the boundaries of most musical genres. With Al's guitar work complimenting the pieces, the CD is quite the unique and enjoyable listen. Go here to download a sample of the track: NYC/Dublin/NYC Pitrelli spent a majority of the years 2000 and 2001 recording and touring with Megadeth on their "The World Needs a Hero" effort (2001). As of April 2002, Megadeth after a 20 year career, has disbanded due to an injury suffered by the group's founder, Dave Mustaine. Al Pitrelli is now rejoined with the group Savatage to record and tour again with that group as well as it it's spin-off project, Trans-Siberian Orchestra again. For a more in-depth history of Al Pitrelli, please click here. |
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