Rick Zuccaro (or Ricky Z) is a Utica-area musician who is a master on the keys, and recently put on a "master" clinic in a radio studio for a local morning show. This year's Christmas Eve show will actually be heard live on Christmas Eve, December 24th from 6 a.m. un til 12 noon.

Zuccaro started with a Christmas song for WIBX's Keeler in the Morning show, and he quickly flowed into a freestyle one-man jam session that was amazingly impressive.

Zuccaro is a lover of Billy Joel's music, and each year he pounds out solos and melodies on the keys as part of a benefit featuring dozens of local musicians who all perform Billy Joel's music to raise money for elementary and high school music programs. Zuccaro has donated dozens of pianos to local school districts, at no charge. It's an effort to make sure schools continue to keep the piano in the front of them music room  for students to learn, perform, and love the instrument just like he learned to do when he attended local schools.

After playing a Christmas song on Keeler's Show, Zuccaro played a shotgun performance with brief samples of dozens of songs that at sone point, prominently featured the piano or keyboard.

Rick Zuccaro’s incredible All-Star Billy Joel Tribute Band includes Ricky Z. on piano/keyboards/vocals, Mark Bolos on guitar/vocals, Greeley Ford on bass, John Dugan on the drums, Scott Rutledge on trumpet/vocals, Mike Galime on saxophone, and vocalists Julia Scranton and Ron Zuccaro.

It is indeed something to be seen. Watch the video below and see how many of the pop hits you can pull out of his popular song medley.

Zuccaro is the General Manager at Steet-Ponte Mazda.

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