Charlie Mariano

Charlie Mariano
Mariano at a 2003 concert
Mariano at a 2003 concert
Background information
Birth nameCarmine Ugo Mariano
Born(1923-11-12)November 12, 1923
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedJune 16, 2009(2009-06-16) (aged 85)
Köln, Germany
GenresJazz, jazz fusion, world music
Occupation(s)Musician, composer
InstrumentAlto saxophone
Years active1945–2009
LabelsBethlehem, Denon, Catalyst, ECM
Formerly ofStan Kenton, Embryo

Carmine Ugo Mariano (November 12, 1923 – June 16, 2009)[1] was an American jazz saxophonist who focused on the alto and soprano saxophone. He occasionally performed and recorded on flute and nadaswaram as well.

Biography

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Charlie Mariano – portrait by Gert Chesi

Mariano was born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States,[2] the son of Italian immigrants, John (Giovanni) Mariano and Mary (Maria) Di Gironimo of Fallo, Italy. He grew up in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boston, enlisting in the Army Air Corps after high school, during World War II. After his service in the Army, Mariano attended what was then known as Schillinger House of Music, now Berklee College of Music.[2] He was among the faculty at Berklee from 1965 to 1971. Mariano moved to Europe in 1971, settling eventually in Köln (Cologne), Germany, with his third wife, the painter Dorothee Zippel Mariano.

He played with one of the Stan Kenton big bands, Toshiko Akiyoshi (his then wife), Charles Mingus, Eberhard Weber, the United Jazz and Rock Ensemble, Embryo and numerous other notable bands and musicians.[2]

His unusual application of the nadaswaram, a classical wind instrument from Tamil Nadu,[3] was a notable occasional feature of his work in the 1970s.

Mariano had six daughters, including four with his first wife, Glenna Gregory Mariano: Sherry, Cynthia, Melanie, and Celeste, and was step-father to Glenna's son, Paris Mariano. Mariano is father to musician Monday Michiru with his second wife, Toshiko Akiyoshi. He had his youngest daughter, Zana Mariano, with partner, Charlotte Bulathsinghla. Mariano had seven grandchildren, and two great-granddaughters. Mariano died of cancer on June 16, 2009, at the age of 85.[4]

Discography

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Mariano performing with Pork Pie, c. 1976

As leader

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  • Charlie Mariano With His Jazz Group (Imperial, 1950)[5]
  • The New Sounds From Boston (Prestige, 1951)
  • Charlie Mariano Boston All Stars (Prestige, 1953) reissued on CD with New Sounds
  • Charlie Mariano Sextet (Fantasy, 1953)
  • Charlie Mariano (Bethlehem, 1956)
  • Beauties of 1918/Something for Both Ears (World Pacific, 1957 [1958]) – co-led with Jerry Dodgion
  • A Jazz Portrait of Charlie Mariano (Regina, 1963)
  • Charlie Mariano & Sadao Watanabe (Victor, 1967)
  • Mirror (Atlantic, 1972)
  • Cascade (Limetree,1974)
  • Helen 12 Trees (MPS, 1976)
  • Reflections (Catalyst, 1977)
  • October (Inner City 1978)
  • Mariano (Capitol/Intuition, 1988)
  • Swingin' with Mariano (Affinity, 1990)
  • Boston Days (Fresh Sound, 1994)
  • Seventy (Intuition, 1995)
  • Deep in a Dream (Enja, 2003)

As co-leader

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With Osmosis

  • Osmosis (RCA, 1970)

With United Jazz + Rock Ensemble

  • Live im Schützenhaus (1977)
  • Teamwork (1978)
  • The Break Even Point (1979)
  • Live in Berlin (1981)
  • United Live - Opus Sechs (1984)
  • Round Seven (1987)
  • Na endlich! - Live in Concert (1992)

As sideman

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With Embryo

With Wolfgang Dauner

  • Meditation on a landscape-Tagore (MOOD Records, 1986)'

With Stan Kenton

With Shelly Manne

With Charles Mingus

With Eberhard Weber

With others

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Jazzmusiker Charlie Mariano gestorben". Münstersche Zeitung.de. June 16, 2009. Archived from the original on June 21, 2009. Retrieved June 16, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. pp. 1615–16. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  3. ^ "Reality show India's Got Talent – Khoj 2 winners to sing for Obama". India Today. October 31, 2010. Retrieved July 22, 2014. The nadaswaram is a classical instrument of Tamil Nadu and among the world's loudest non- brass acoustic instruments.
  4. ^ "Charlie Mariano, saxophonist, musical sojourner". Boston Globe. June 17, 2009. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  5. ^ "Charlie Mariano with His Jazz Group". 1950.

Further reading

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  • Lothar Lewien: Charlie Mariano. Tears of Sound. Wanderer zwischen den Musikwelten. Hannibal Verlag, Andrä Wördern 1993, ISBN 3-85445-087-7
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