Joseph Porcaro (born April 29, 1930 in Hartford

Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...

, Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

, currently residing in Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

) is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 jazz drummer

Jazz drumming

Jazz drumming is the art of playing percussion in jazz styles ranging from 1910s-style Dixieland jazz to 1970s-era jazz-rock fusion and 1980s-era latin jazz...

, percussionist and educator.

His three sons were all musicians in the band Toto

Toto (band)

Toto is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The group currently consists of Joseph Williams , David Paich , Steve Porcaro , Steve Lukather , Mike Porcaro , and Simon Phillips . Toto is known for a musical style that combines elements of pop, rock, soul, funk, progressive rock, hard...

: keyboardist Steve Porcaro

Steve Porcaro

Steven Maxwell "Steve" Porcaro is an American keyboardist and composer, who was an original member of the rock/pop band Toto....

, bassist Mike Porcaro

Mike Porcaro

Mike Porcaro is best noted as the bass player in the Grammy Award winning band, Toto.He is the middle brother of Toto members Jeff Porcaro and Steve Porcaro...

 and late drummer Jeff Porcaro

Jeff Porcaro

Jeffrey Thomas "Jeff" Porcaro was an American session drummer and a founding member of the Grammy Award winning band Toto. Porcaro was one of the most recorded drummers in history, working on hundreds of albums and thousands of sessions...

. Joe guested on Toto's hit album Toto IV

Toto IV

Toto IV is the fourth studio album by American band Toto released in 1982 .The album received six Grammy Awards including Record of the Year for "Rosanna", Album of the Year for Toto IV and Producer of the Year for the band. It reached number four on the Billboard Pop Albums chart shortly after its...

. He also has a daughter, Joleen Porcaro Duddy. Along with fellow music educator and drummer, Ralph Humphrey, Joe was one of the founders of the Los Angeles Music Academy

Los Angeles Music Academy

Los Angeles Music Academy College of Music, often referred to as LA Music Academy or LAMA, is a contemporary music school located near the historic Old Town district of Pasadena, California...

 (LAMA) located in Pasadena, California

Pasadena, California

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...

.

Porcaro has recorded with Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...

, Stan Getz

Stan Getz

Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...

, Gerry Mulligan

Gerry Mulligan

Gerald Joseph "Gerry" Mulligan was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though Mulligan is primarily known as one of the leading baritone saxophonists in jazz history – playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz – he was also...

, Freddie Hubbard

Freddie Hubbard

Frederick Dewayne "Freddie" Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from the early 1960s and on...

, Don Ellis

Don Ellis

Don Ellis was an American jazz trumpeter, drummer, composer and bandleader. He is best known for his extensive musical experimentation, particularly in the area of unusual time signatures...

, Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra

Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...

, Sarah Vaughn, Natalie Cole

Natalie Cole

Natalie Maria Cole , is an American singer, songwriter and performer. The daughter of jazz legend Nat King Cole, Cole rode to musical success in the mid-1970s as an R&B artist with the hits "This Will Be ", "Inseparable" and "Our Love"...

, The Monkees

The Monkees

The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...

, Gladys Knight

Gladys Knight

Gladys Maria Knight , known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman, humanitarian, and author...

 and Madonna

Madonna (entertainer)

Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

. He has also done film score work, including with James Newton Howard

James Newton Howard

James Newton Howard is an American composer best known for his scores to motion pictures. He is one of the most popular and respected composers for cinema, and has scored over 100 films...

, John Williams

John Williams

John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...

, Jerry Goldsmith

Jerry Goldsmith

Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....

, James Horner

James Horner

James Roy Horner is an American composer, orchestrator and conductor of orchestral and film music. He is noted for the integration of choral and electronic elements in many of his film scores, and for frequent use of Celtic musical elements...

, Danny Elfman

Danny Elfman

Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman is an American composer, best known for scoring music for television and film. Up until 1995, he was the lead singer and songwriter in the rock band Oingo Boingo, a group he formed in 1976...

, John Frizzell

John Frizzell

John B. Frizzell is a Canadian screenwriter and film producer.After several years writing, directing and co-producing the documentary series A Different Understanding for TVOntario, Frizzell joined partners Niv Fichman, Barbara Willis Sweete and Larry Weinstein to found the Canadian production...

and his son Steve.

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