The Pat DiNizio Performance Scholarship

Written By Mike Greenblatt
Pat DiNizio

Pat DiNizio loved to play rock’n’roll music. He lived for it. Shortly after he died in 2017, at 62, The Pat DiNizio Music Performance Scholarship was created to “make music education accessible to any young person [18 or younger] wishing to enroll in classes at the Count Basie Center for the Arts or any affiliated music program,” according to the Red Bank venue’s website. Participating entities with the Count Basie Center Academy of the Arts include the Monmouth County Conservatory of Music and the Jazz Arts Project.

“The scholarship offers a wonderful way to keep his spirit alive and pass along his passion for music and self-expression to enlighten young musicians for generations to come,” says the drummer Dennis Diken who formed The Smithereens with DiNizio in Carteret in 1980.

The deadline for applicants is November 15. Recipients will be announced December 1. If you think you have what it takes…or know someone who does… Count Basie Center: Pat DiNizio Musical Performance Scholarship (thebasie.org)

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Mike Greenblatt

MIKE GREENBLATT has been writing for Goldmine magazine and New Jersey's Aquarian Weekly for more than 35 years. His writing subjects fill the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He's interviewed Joe Cocker, Graham Nash, David Crosby, Carlos Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Johnny Cash, and members of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. He was 18 when he attended Woodstock in 1969.

In addition to writing about music, Greenblatt has worked on publicity campaigns for The Animals, Pat Benatar, Johnny Winter, Tommy James and Richard Branson, among others. He is currently the editor of The Jersey Sound.

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