Charlie Mariano
Alto saxophonist Charlie Mariano was born Carmine Ugo Mariano in Boston on November 12, 1923, the son of Italian immigrants Giovanni and Maria (DiGironimo) Mariano. From an early age, he heard the sounds of light opera and Neapolitan songs around his home, supplemented by jazz on the radio, and he received his first saxophone from his sister Colina when he was 17.
SCHILLINGER HOUSE, PARKER, GILLESPIE, GARNER, KENTON
After three years in the military during World War II, he studied at Schillinger House (now Berklee College of Music), where he later taught (in 1957, 1965 and 1969). While in his 20s, he performed with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Erroll Garner and 30-year old Mariano joined Stan Kenton’s big band in 1953, remaining with them through 1955 (although he later expressed a lack of enthusiasm about the experience). After that, he founded his own band together with his then wife Toshiko Akiyoshi, whom he met while teaching at Berklee.
CHARLES MINGUS, ELVIN JONES, PIONEERING JAZZ FUSION
Mariano played with Charles Mingus during a productive stage in the bassist’s career, and participated on seminal projects such as 1963’s The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady and 1964’s Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus. Drummer Elvin Jones enlisted him to participate in the 1965 sessions for his famed Impulse! Records tribute to John Coltrane, Dear John C.
Following this period, Mariano went to Japan, where he came in contact with Asian music for the first time and studied the flute; he went on to be one of the leading exponents of jazz fusion that incorporated Asian elements. He also worked in the jazz-rock fusion idiom and, according to Jazz.com’s Walter Kolosky, “had it not been for a mailing snafu, Charlie Mariano’s Helen 12 Trees [from 1976] may have been one of the most renowned fusion albums of its day.” The promotional copies for this release were lost; nobody caught the oversight until two decades had elapsed.
OTHER COLLABORATIONS, ENSEMBLES, DEATH
After 1971, Mariano lived in Europe where played with leading musicians, such as Italian drummer Aldo Romano, Belgian guitarist Philippe Catherine, and Dutch keyboardist Jasper van’t Hof. In 1975 he participated with Jasper van’t Hof and Philip Catherine in the formation of Pork Pie, a short-lived by much admired fusion supergroup. (Its name is a tribute to Lester Young.) From 1977-98, Mariano was involved with United Rock & Jazz Ensemble. At the beginning of the 70s, when he was often in India for his studies, Charlie played the nagaswaram, an Indian instrument.
Mariano recorded and toured with the Argentinean bandoneon player Dino Saluzzi and the songwriter Konstantin Wecker and released many LPs under his own name. In addition to solo projects, in later years he worked with the Mariano/Dodgion Sextet, Stan Kenton, Shelly Manne, Bill Holman, Frank Rosolino, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Charles Mingus, Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Ebehard Weber, Mal Waldron, the United Rock & Jazz Ensemble, Jasper van’t Hof, Philip Catherine, Stu Goldberg, Don Alias and Gene Perla, among others. Starting in 1996, he made guest appearances with the European Jazz Ensemble.
Mariano died on June 16, 2009 in Cologne, Germany after a long battle with cancer. He was 85 years old.
(by Cynthia Mariano)
