Chimenti Jeff

 

Jeff Chimenti was not born into a musical family - he had to wait until he was four, when he began imitating the church organist, to begin his musical career. But he's been making up for lost time ever since.

By the age of seven he began taking formal lessons from Angela Biggio, a student of both Rudolph Serkin and Leonard Bernstein who also worked with the Merola Program at the S.F. Opera, and continued with her for a decade.

Upon entering high school, the sounds of pop and jazz widened his musical world, and he joined the South San Francisco H.S. jazz band. He was so immediately good that by the age of 13 his teacher was taking him out to play casual gigs - parties, weddings, dances. By the 10th grade, he was playing with the very distinguished College of San Mateo (C.S.M.) jazz band (the Grateful Dead's Phil Lesh was an alumnus) and the Skyline College Big Band, as well as with community symphonic orchestras.