Joe DeVico grew up in Chatham and Madison, NJ, where he began playing both percussion and piano at a young age. He also became heavily interested in recording and “opened” his first studio to the public when he was 13 years old, recording local artists at no charge on his prized Tascam 388 8-track reel-to-reel recorder. After graduating from Madison High School, he went on to Major in Jazz and Percussion Performance at Indiana University, in Bloomington, IN.
After his studies, he moved back to NJ and began a successful performing and teaching career, working with area percussion and piano students and performing throughout NY and NJ focused mainly in Big Band and small group jazz. As a drummer, he has backed up or toured with James Moody, Freddie Hubbard, The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, and many others. Joe was the drummer with the Cecil’s Big Band, led by Joe Elefante and was featured on ABC’s Nightline. He is currently the drummer with the Jazz Lobsters, a big band based in Central NJ with a 30 year history, and Asbury Fever, playing tribute to the musical sounds of the Jersey shore. He also plays percussion with multiple artists and backs up cabaret performances in NY at clubs including Birdland and 54 Below.
Joe never stopped recording, and shortly after returning from college, he opened a commercial facility to allow jazz artists a comfortable and affordable space to record their projects. During that time he began composing works for radio and TV and soon found that he had little time to record other clients, so he converted the space to a personal studio in order to focus his time on composition and his own side projects.
As a musician, recording engineer and composer, his original music can be heard on TBS, TLC, TeenNICK and We Networks and in national spots for clients including Coca-Cola and GE Capital. Joe spent eight years as an assistant to GRAMMY® and Tony winning arranger Don Sebesky, and worked alongside him on multiple Broadway and Off-Broadway shows including Come Fly Away, Baby It’s You, Honeymoon In Vegas and An American in Paris.