Newtown Square Resident, Musician and Teacher Recognized at 53rd Annual Grammy Awards

Newtown Square resident Annie Sciolla grew up in a household divided by sound. Her mother influenced her with classical music, while her father gave her a thorough jazz upbringing.

He owned a jazz supper club, and it is there that Sciolla was introduced to jazz and doo-wop along with artists like Bobby Riddell and Fats Domino. She also began listening to Ella Fitzgerald at an early age. Sciolla feels her highly musical youth was truly enhanced by her Master's education in music, a combination that defines who she is today.

This past year, Sciolla was involved with a project by Joey Defrancesco, which consists of jazz-influenced renditions of Michael Jackson songs in the album Never Can Say Goodbye, which received a Grammy nomination this year.

It was 15 to 20 years ago when Sciolla  began working with "Papa John" Defrancesco, Joey's father, and since then she has been continuously working on and off with the family.

On this particular project, she was asked to bring in someone for backing vocals. Sciolla, an adjunct professor at the University of the Arts School of Music and Community College of Philadelphia, picked one of her students, Samantha Aurelio, for the project. The duo used their educational music background to develop harmonies and was able to lay down the tracks within a few hours.

While recording the tracks came fairly easy for Sciolla and Aurelio, they did find themselves with a bit of anxiety over the project

"It's difficult to sing on an album of songs of Michael Jackson's that the whole world literally knows like the back of their hand. Most people know most of Michael Jackson's songs so it was daunting in the aspect that we had to recreate something yet make it different in our own way," explains Sciolla.

Her goal was to make sure they didn't just copy Jackson, but rather be consistent with the original tone but still add elements of jazz to create a new sound. The balancing act was a success.

"The next thing I know, I got a call in November, stating the album got nominated for best jazz contemporary album," Sciolla says.

This is Sciolla's third trip to the Grammy's; she was accompanied by two of her music students, a 10-year-old vocal student along with Aurelio. She feels the experience will be a great memory for the students, but for Aurelio this will "open doors." 

She already has her foot in several doors by way of this project as well as many local accolades.

One of the aspects Sciolla really enjoyed about being a part of this project was the originality it brings to something that audiences already know.

"Taking music that has been around and established already and putting your own slant on it, then delivering it to the public in a new fresh way for them to enjoy is really what I believe in," she explained.

"I love the fact that Joey [Defrancesco] took Michael's songs and turned it onto the jazz community because the jazz community doesn't always listen to pop music," Sciolla continued. 

Although Never Can Say Goodbye lost to The Stanley Clarke Band by The Stanley Clarke Band at the Grammy's Sunday, Sciolla feels the album shows there is always a way to bring something new to the table.