A. J. Croce

A.J. Croce
Croce in 2007
Born	Adrian James Croce (1971-09-28) September 28, 1971 Bryn Mawr, United States
Nationality	American
Occupation	Singer-songwriter

Adrian James "A.J." Croce (born September 28, 1971 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania) is an American singer-songwriter. He is the son of singer-songwriters Jim Croce and Ingrid Croce.

Early life and family

Croce's family moved west to San Diego, California shortly before his father's death in a 1973 plane crash, where he was raised by his mother, Ingrid Croce.

At the age of four, Croce was completely blinded as the result of physical abuse from his mother's boyfriend.^[1] Between the ages of four and ten, Croce gradually regained vision in his left eye. It was during this difficult time in Croce's life that he began to play the piano. "I learned to play music by listening and playing along to the radio and to records". Croce says, "At some point I was given the music of Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder as inspiration, which it was, and has been ever since."^[2]

Croce's first paying gig was at the age of 12, when he was paid $20 to perform at a Bar Mitzvah party. By the age of 16, Croce was performing regularly at San Diego nightclubs as a sideman and band leader. Croce reflected, "I was into every kind of music... you might say I was unfocused, but I consider an eclectic taste in music to be the foundation of versatility." His house burned down when he was 15.

Croce and his wife Marlo have two children, daughter Camille and son Elijah.^[3][4]

Musical career

Ron Goldstein and Peter Bauman of Private Music signed Croce to his first recording contract at age 19. He recorded two albums for Private Music: his self-titled debut, A. J. Croce, produced by T-Bone Burnett and John Simon, and That's Me in the Bar, produced by Jim Keltner, and featuring artists such as Ry Cooder, David Hidalgo, and Keltner himself.^[5] Croce is also the owner/operator of his own record label, Seedling Records.^[6]

Croce's third release, Fit to Serve, was recorded in Memphis, and produced by Jim Gaines, who had previously produced Van Morrison, Santana, and The Steve Miller Band. Croce then took a musical turn with the release of his album Transit. He explained, "I had been playing blues-based music for a long time, and I was ready to try something new."^[7] Transit was compared by critics to the work of John Lennon, Elvis Costello, Bob Dylan, and Van Morrison. Glen Starkey of New Times labeled Croce "a song crafter of the first order".

Croce's next three albums were self-produced. Adrian James Croce (Croce's only pop-oriented album) was the only independently produced album of 2004 to chart in Top 40 charts in America. In Europe it was on the charts for six months, sitting in between songs by U2 and Coldplay. That same year Adrian James Croce won Best Pop album at the San Diego Music Awards.^[8] His 2006 release Cantos on his own label Seedling Records notably features Ben Harper. In 2009, his album Cage of Muses was released on Seedling Records, garnering a 4-star review from Rolling Stone Magazine.^[9] In 2013, Croce signed with Compass Records and has since released his latest album, Twelve Tales. Croce considers Twelve Tales to be his most ambitious recording project to date. He recorded two songs with each of six legendary producers in five U.S. cities throughout a year long period, at the same time releasing one song per month exclusively on iTunes in 2013. The full album was released on CD and LP in 2014. The album's producers are: the late 'Cowboy' Jack Clement, famous for his work with Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash; Rock n' Roll Hall of Famer Allen Toussaint, notable producer of classic New Orleans recordings by artists such as Dr. John and Irma Thomas; Golden Globe-nominated Mitchell Froom, whose work includes Randy Newman and Crowded House; Grammy winning engineer and producer Kevin Killen, who has produced multiple albums by Elvis Costello; Notable A&R executive and record producer Tony Berg whose sessions have included Bob Dylan and Fiona Apple; and Greg Cohen, avant-garde bass player and producer, known for his work with Tom Waits.^[10] Croce co-wrote a few of the songs on Twelve Tales, including one song with legendary songwriter Leon Russell. Croce's albums have charted on eight radio charts including AAA, Blues, College, Jazz, and Americana.

He has performed as an opening act for artists such as Carlos Santana, Rod Stewart, Aretha Franklin, Dr. John, Lyle Lovett, James Brown, B.B. King, Dave Matthews, Earth, Wind and Fire, Rod Stewart and Ray Charles. Croce has sat in with many notable artists live, including Willie Nelson, Ben Harper, Ry Cooder, the Neville Brothers, Waylon Jennings, and David Hidalgo (Los Lobos). He has also performed on national television, on shows including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Today Show, Good Morning America, MTV, CNN, and Austin City Limits.^[11]

In 2013, Croce was asked to be a performer at the TEDxLaJolla event, which is an independently produced TED ("Ideas Worth Spreading") event, the organization who organizes annual events with speakers on groundbreaking advances is technology, entertainment, and design.^[12]

In 2015 Croce's performance on the show "Music City Roots" began airing nationwide on PBS, including in Los Angeles and Nashville. It will air on 85 stations across the country 2015. It was announced that later this year Compass Records will release a re-issue of Croce's highly regarded sophomore album, "That's Me In the Bar" for its 20th anniversary. All of Croce's 2015 concerts will feature a set from that album.

Discography

• A. J. Croce (1993)
• That's Me in the Bar (1995)
• Fit to Serve (1998)
• Transit (2000)
• Adrian James Croce (2004)
• Early On – The American Recordings 1993–1998 (2005)
• Cantos (2006)
• Cage of Muses (2009)
• Twelve Tales (2014)

References

External links

• A.J. Croce's father's (Jim Croce's) web site
• Official web site of Croce's Restaurant & Jazz Bar
• A. J. Croce's web site