Jazz Articles about Charlie Mariano

Charlie Mariano - R.A. Ramamani: Om Keshav

by AAJ Italy Staff
February 18, 2008

L'incontro fra il sassofonista americano e la cantante indiana risale al 1979, anno in cui gli Embryo, rock band tedesca in cui Charlie Mariano militava, durante un tour mondiale si trovarono a suonare a Bombay, incontrando appunto R.A. Ramamani. Non era la prima volta che musicisti di provenienze così diverrse si trovavano a fare musica insieme, basti pensare alle tre incisioni di Joe Harriott con il progetto Indo-Jazz Fusion. Qui, tuttavia, la collaborazione é continuata e già l'anno dopo il ...

Charlie Mariano: Silver Blue

by AAJ Italy Staff
April 24, 2007

Ottantatre anni e non sentirli! Suona ancora tremendamente bene, Charlie Mariano, uno dei grandi vecchi, e forse anche uno dei tanti, troppi tesori nascosti del jazz. Qui lo troviamo in compagnia della sezione ritmica franco-svizzera Cholet-Känzig-Papaux, musicisti forse cresciuti ascoltando i dischi di Mariano e che qui (le magie del jazz!) vedono annullata qualunque differenza anagrafica e generazionale. C'è predilezione per i mezzi tempi, quando non per autentiche ballads, mentre il sax del leader, come di consueto, passa in pochi ...

Theo Jörgensmann: Fellowship

by AAJ Italy Staff
February 27, 2006

La prima cosa che colpisce di questo album è l’organico, fatto di musicisti appartenenti a generazioni e geografie diverse dell’avanguardia (ammesso che questa parola abbia ancora - se mai ne ha avuto - un senso). Tutti musicisti dallo stile personalissimo ed allo stesso tempo ricco di influenze del passato e del presente del jazz (ma non solo). Una volta si sarebbe detto trasversale, ma anche questa è una categoria ormai vuota. E poi c’è il titolo, Fellowship, un ovvio richiamo ...

Charlie Mariano: Not Quite a Ballad

by John Kelman
May 3, 2004

Octogenarian saxophonist Charlie Mariano has spent a lifetime blurring boundaries. One of the few remaining witnesses of the bebop era, he has spent the early part of his career in that arena. In the mid-'60s he began experimenting with fusion, recording arguably his best work in that genre with bassist Eberhard Weber's groundbreaking Colours band in the '70s. Throughout he has had a passion for music of other cultures, spending time in India learning the nadhaswaram, a South Indian wind ...

Charlie Mariano: Deep In A Dream

by Jim Santella
April 4, 2003

Charlie Mariano’s album of straight-ahead, romantic ballads couldn’t have come at a better time. His quartet delivers a timeless message that serves as medicine for whatever ails ya.

The saxophonist has chosen eight songs deserving wider recognition in this day and age. He’s added one original, “Dew Drops,” in which the traditional spirit of Japan’s ancestors ambles ceremoniously into the room. Its effect on the listener crosses all cultural boundaries. No matter their ancestry, ceremonial priests garner the ...

Charlie Mariano: Deep In A Dream

by AAJ Staff
April 2, 2003

A long and winding road led Charlie Mariano to this inspired record of romantic ballads. For the last 50 years he has traveled through swing, big band, bop, fusion, and more adventurous material; he lived and worked in the US, Japan, Europe, India, and Malaysia; and, not surprisingly, he has amassed a list of collaborators a mile long. No need to provide that list here. Mariano is his own man by now.

All that exploration leads him to ...

Charlie Mariano: Savannah Samurai

by Glenn Astarita
July 1, 1999

75 years young and blowing with the conviction and intensity of a hot to trot saxophonist straight out of music school, the venerable Charlie Mariano returns in glowing fashion.

Revered for his versatility and willingness to explore besides being an influential stylist, Mariano along with guitarist Vic Juris, bassist Dieter Ilg and drummer Jeff Hirshfield bridge the gap between straight-ahead and exploratory jazz. The opener, Mariano’s “Children’s Steps” is cheerfully melodic and upbeat while the Vic Juris composition, “Luna Doone” ...