Luca Santaniello was born in 1978 and began studying drums at the age of 10, before dedicating himself to classical studies at the "L.Perosi" Conservatory in Campobasso, where he has got his degree in percussions.
During his student career, he had the opportunity to study with many excellent coaches and teachers, including
Fabrizio Sferra, Ettore Fioravanti,
Lello Panico,
Donato Cimaglia,
Renato Dulbecco,
Marcello Piras,
David Friedman,
Barry Harris,
Steve La Spina,
Tal Farlow,
Mark Soskin,
Rick Margitza. In 2001 he attended the
Brooklyn-Queens Conservatory of New York for one year in the Professional Diploma Program studing with drummer
Bruce Cox, continuing after that with drummer John Riley.
Luca Santaniello
began his professional jazz career at the age of 14, performing with ensembles from the
Thelonious Monk Association of Jazz Music such as The Rithm Machine, Funy Tiratori, Orchestra Laboratorio Thelonious Monk, and other bands and orchestras such as
Ketoniche Percussions, Delight
Crew, Blue Iamge, Zasa Quartet, Space Jazz Trio,
Symphonic Orchestra of Spoleto Festival, Symphonic Orchestra "G.Verdi",
Solisti Aquilani, Molise Symphonic Orchestra and many others.
Since 2001 he has been living in
New York City performing as a freelance jazz musician and collaborating with musicians from the international jazz scene. He performed in the finest New York City Jazz Clubs such as Smalls, Fat Cat, Niagara, Smoke, Cleopatra's Needle, Magnolia, Up Over Jazz Cafe, Robin's Nest, Pumpkins, Sugar Bar, Sugar Hill Bistro', Copeland's, Shelly's New York, Bitter End, Williansburg Indipendent Theater, Galapagos, C Note, Nublu, Sidewalk Cafe, Cafe Creole, Kavehaz, The Garage, Arletha's lounge, Arturo's Restaurant, Arthur's Tavern.
Luca Santaniello has played also with
Flavio Boltro, Max Ionata,
Marco Loddo, Aldo Vigorito, Daniele Mencarelli, Giovanni Tommaso, Luigi Grasso,
Michele Grasso, Rhan Burton, Curtis Lundy, Paul Bollenbach, Darryl Hall, Francois Moutin, Donny Mc Caslin, Alon Yavnai, Avishai Cohen, Jd Allen, Harry Allen, Joe Cohn, Joel Forbes,
Chris Byars, John Mosca, Ugonna Okegwo, Mike Hoggins, John Sullivan, Marcus Strickland, Ameen Saleem, Joel Frahm,
Jimmy "the Preacher" Robins, Patience Higgins, Bill Saxton, Pete Malinverni, Avi Rothbard, Adam Scone, George Papageorge, Frank Hewitt, Jared Gold, Grant Stewart, Jaleel Shaw, Ada Rovatti, Ken Peplowsky, Charles Owens, Fabio Morgera, Charles Neville (neville Brothers), Joseph Lepore, Matt Ray, Tassili Bond, Lance Murphy, Itai Chris, Manuel Valera, Wayne Escoffry, Randy Johnston, Joe Martin, Rick Germanson, Mayron Walden, Andy Mccloud, Toru Dodo and many others.
Current Projects:
Luca Tozzi 4et Feat. Jd Allen (Ten Saxophone)
Lance Murphy 4et
Itay Kriss jazz Project
Feat. Avishai Cohen (Trumpet)
Carlos Abadie 4et Feat. Manuel Valera (Piano)
Harry Allen 4et Feat. Joe Cohn (Guitar) Joel Forbes (Bass)
Recordings:
Ketoniche Percussions Rumori Organizzati (Bajka Music) 1999
Festivals:
Youth Italian Jazz Big Band Festival (Campobasso, Italy) 1995-96
S.Marco Dei Cavoti Festival (Benevento,Italy) 1996
Martin Sicuro New Age Music Festival (Ancona,Italy) 1997
Barga Jazz Festival (Barga, Italy) 2000
Asti Teatro (Asti, Italy) 2000
Suoni Mediterranei (Naples,Italy) 2001
Festival Teatro Estivo "Maschio Angioino" (Naples,Italy) 2001
Hoilehart Jazz Competition (Hoilehart, Belgium) 2001
Williamsburg Jazz Festival (New York, USA) 2004
Audio Files:
Bullet Proof Monk "Lance Murphy
4et" 
An Old One "Luca Tozzi 4et feat JD
Allen"
The Holy Ghost "Luca Tozzi 4et
feat. JD Allen"
Abadie's Blues "Carlos Abadie 4et
Feat Manuel Valera & Joseph Lepore"
