Roberto Polito

“Jazz On Canvas”
Musician, writer, composer, artist. As a small child, I always knew I would spend my life in artistic endeavors. After a near fatal illness at the age of 8 (rheumatic fever), I was exposed to the guitar and piano by my father, and my enduring love affair with music and the arts began. Enter Rock and Roll, The Beatles, Broadway, and hundreds of others who inspired me to become a stage performer. By the time I was 25, I was supporting myself and my young family through music, playing 5 to 6 nights a week. Wearing my artistic temperament on my sleeve, I have performed on the East Coast for over 40 years, and found intense enjoyment in entertaining others. While I still compose and play gigs, playing music was not destined to be the only artistic journey for me. My childhood illness left a lasting and damaging legacy; arthritis in my hands. Due to progressive joint damage, I began to search for other ways of expressing myself artistically. One day, by chance, a good friend handed me a brush, paints, and canvas and told me to “paint! ". From the first instant my brush was dipped into the paint and placed on the canvas, I knew I had found my second calling. Every stroke I painted felt like I was...