Charlie Mariano
Charlie Mariano's career can easily be divided into two phases. Early on he was a fixture in Boston, playing with Shorty Sherock (1948), Nat Pierce (1949-1950), and his own groups. After gigging with a band co-led by Chubby Jackson and Bill Harris, Mariano toured with Stan Kenton's Orchestra (1953-1955) which earned him a strong reputation. He moved to Los Angeles in 1956 (working with Shelly Manne and other West Coast jazz stars), returned to Boston to teach in 1958 at Berklee, and the following year, had a return stint with Kenton. After marrying Toshiko Akiyoshi, Mariano co-led a group with the pianist on and off up to 1967, living in Japan during part of the time and also working with Charles Mingus (1962-1963). The second phase of his career began with the formation of his early fusion group Osmosis in 1967. Known at the time as a strong bop altoist with a sound of his own developed out of the Charlie Parker style, Mariano began to open his music up to the influences of folk music from other cultures, pop, and rock. He taught again at Berklee, traveled to India and the Far East, and in the early '70s settled in Europe. Among the groups Mariano has worked with have been Pork Pie (which also featured Philip Catherine), the United Jazz & Rock Ensemble, and Eberhard Weber's Colours. Charlie Mariano's airy tones on soprano and the nagaswaram (an Indian instrument a little like an oboe) fit right in on some new agey ECM sessions and he also recorded as a leader through the years for Imperial, Prestige, Bethlehem, World Pacific, Candid (with Toshiko Akiyoshi in 1960), Regina, Atlantic, Catalyst, MPS, CMP, Leo, and Calig, among others.

Carmine Ugo Mariano (November 12, 1923 June 16, 2009) was an American jazz alto saxophonist.

Many years before the term world music was coined, Charlie Mariano transcended his Boston-born background in Jazz; travelled the world in his search of sounds and began to blend different musical traditions. He spent years playing in Japan (with pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi), then in South-India (with Karnataka College of Percussion). He has worked with many Jazz giants- from Quincy Jones, Stan Kenton, to Astrud Gilberto and Charles Mingus (hear him on ‘The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady’ and 'Mingus, Mingus, Mingus').

Sept 2009 Enja Records released a live CD " The great Concert" one of the last concerts Charlie Mariano was to play. In May 2008 he performed at Stuttgart Theaterhaus together with Philip Catherine and Jasper van´t Hof. This CD documents a beautiful and moving concert apppearance where quite audibly these three long time musical friends and partners each played their best. I would like to recommend this recording to all of Marianos many long time friends and fans togther with his very last studio recording with Chauki Smahi on oud, Bobby Stern, sax and Billy Cobham drums.

His European collaborations include peformances with Embryo, The United Jazz and Rock Ensemble and Rabih Abou-Khalil. By now the 83 years young sax player has become a legend in his own right. He resides in Cologne, Germany and continous to perform nationally and internationally.

“Mariano´s whole career has been an object lesson in gradual artistic growth. Like Miles Davis, he has, at every stage, played contemporary music, always remaining open to new ideas. Mariano shows a great emotional range. His solos are often quite extraordinary, his soprano and alto sounds project a powerful, almost anguished lyricism, as if the music were being wrung out of him. Mariano’s playing is melodious, sensitive and full of passion, his ballads send shivers down the spine. Unique. There are few parallels in Jazz to the voluptuous austerity of Mariano´s later work.” (Jazz Rough Guide)