Artist Detailed Info: David Patrone

David Patrone was born and raised near Philadelphia. He was raised in a musical family and was exposed to many instruments and styles of music beginning with harmonica, guitar and trumpet as a boy. He studied classical and spiritual music and was exposed to Louis Armstrong at a young age. David was trained to sing through his school and church choirs. He was heavily influenced as a boy by both the formal musical tradition of his family, (his grandfather, Ralph "Chick" Patrone, was a Jazz singer in the 40's) the "Philly Soul" sound and the emerging new style of music called "Hip-Hop." He was an easily distracted student and did not do well in school despite having a condition known in the scholastic community as "Enormous Potential." In an effort to escape mediocrity he joined the Marines at age 17 where he spent 10 years as an Aviation Ordnanceman, serving in Norway, Japan, Mediterranean, Persian Gulf, Bosnia, Israel and eventually settling in Southern California as a trainer. He began moonlighting as a musician in 1998; working on helicopters as a Staff Sergeant in the Marines by day and performing in bars and restaurants most nights.

In December of 1999 David left the Marine Corps to pursue a career as an IT manager and when the dotcom bubble burst in mid 2000 he was forced to focus solely on his music career. It was a blessing because in a short period of time he was performing more than 30 shows a month. Often compared to a gritty Frank Sinatra or even a male Ella Fitzgerald, David began to perform the "American Songbook" and studied Bop musicians. After noticing that many of the great musicians were not internet savvy and were losing work to the younger guys, David put to use his technological expertise and created Midnight Productions to assist local musicians in promoting, booking and producing shows.

When David began his live performance career as a blues harmonica player and occasional singer but soon found that he really excelled at singing, band-leading and entertaining with Jazz standards. by 2002 David was in full swing doing voiceovers, weddings, corporate events, public speaking and TV commercials. He then released his first album of Jazz standards "Uptown" which was arranged by Kacey Evans

In 2006 David Patrone founded one of the largest swing dance competitions in the world: The "David Patrone $10,000 Swing Spectacular" which is held every year at Viejas Casino near San Diego. Contestants from around the US compete for $10,000 in prizes.

David then began to be influenced more heavily by Cool Jazz and Bebop. He recalls that a fan handed him a copy of Kurt Elling's album The Messenger and it changed his life. He spent months learning the song Tanya Jean and became thirsty for more.. He then began to study and perform the rare style of vocal jazz called "Vocalese" and studied the masters of that craft extensively like Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, Eddie Jefferson, Mark Murphy, King Pleasure and especially Kurt Elling who has become a huge influence of David's singing and writing style.

In 2010 he released a special album of highly stylized holiday tunes called "Christmastidal" which features two of his original compositions: Happen To Notice and Snow Angel is a variety of traditional tunes, reworked in blues, Bop, Latin and ballad styles and was arranged by Bop piano master Mikan Zlatkovich

In 2010 David moved to Stateline Nevada (South Lake Tahoe) where he spends his "down time" climbing mountains and as a professional ski instructor. He performs frequently in Las Vegas and the West Coast, especially in Southern California. He performs weekly in Los Angeles and San Diego and coordinates entertainment for many large events around the United States. He is a dynamic MC, brand ambassador, comedian, public speaker, jazz singer, entertainer and musician who continues to explore new and old styles of music and entertainment genres.

You can find more information information at his official website: www.davidpatrone.com

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