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Albano the Madman

We're really doing this, huh?

So this is the part where ::insert famous instrument company or famous musician:: is gonna slog through some paint by numbers B.S. about where I went to school and who I studied with...and we all have to pretend like it still matters in 2016 (or really, ever?)

Nah.

I'm a songwriter, saxophonist, and arranger. I don't write pretty music. Don't ask. I don't play or sing pretty either...call Kenny G if you want some saccharine horse dooky on your next album. I gave up trying to be a famous jazz musician, though I still play jazz. I just do it for myself now, because it's fun for me.

What I DO do ::giggle...do do:: now is write songs to feature my (as George Carlin coined the phrase) "brain droppings", as well as my vocal stylings, my sax playing, and my arranging and production skills.

I don't "make beats." Where I come from, we produce the entire damn track from start to finish, then play it LIVE. I'm composer, lyricist, and arranger; I don't need 15 people to write a song. Also, my turnaround is quite high as a result...which is a good thing.

I live in Los Angeles now, via NYC, via Boston. I've seen and partook in a lot of amazing music, and have associated with many great musical minds on both coasts.

Oh yeah. Jazz.

Joe and the Meanderthals: Open The Gate And Flood The Valley

Read "Open The Gate And Flood The Valley" reviewed by Jerry D'Souza

by Jerry D'Souza
December 16, 2009

Reedman Joe Albano makes quite an impact with a debut recording where improvised music is seasoned with rock, heavy metal, classical music and jazz. The mix could have been intemperate, but Albano fertilizes it with his sense of invention and forward movement. The result is energetic and imaginative, with a touch of whimsy for added measure.

Albano wrote all the music, but while the written note leads the musicians in, atmosphere is created by individual flights of fancy. ...

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Take Five With...

Take Five With Joe Albano

by AAJ Staff
August 13, 2009

Meet Joe Albano:Joe Albano, a native of Boston, MA, began his instrumental studies at 14 with local hometown hero, saxophonist Ray DeNice. Quickly gravitating to the saxophone, and ignoring all logic and reason, he attended the Berklee College of Music in Sept of 2000. He graduated in 2005 and holds a B.A. in Professional Music. His performance studies were with such luminaries as saxophonists George Garzone and Joe Lovano, clarinetist Harry Skoler, pianist Joanne Brackeen, trombonist Hal Crook ...

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Recording

Review of Joe Albano's Debut Album "Open the Gate and Flood the Valley" from breakthruradio.com.

Source: Michael Ricci
November 15, 2009

Joe Albano's debut album Open the Gate and Flood the Valley is an intense spectacle of some daring music, often expressed with complex lines, intense vamps and grooves; at times it even takes shape in experimental or free improvisation. It is no coincidence Albano launched his group under the name Joe and the Meanderthals, as once in a while there seems to be some aimless or undetermined wandering around happening in their music. This is in no way to be ...
read more

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Interview

Joe Albano Interview on breakthruradio.com!

Source: Michael Ricci
October 26, 2009

Take a glimpse into the life and times of the enigmatic saxophonist! Joe Albano at breakthruradio.com. More About Joe Albano

Joe Albano, a native of Boston, MA, now residing in NYC, began his instrumental studies at 14 with local hometown hero, Saxophonist Ray DeNice. Quickly gravitating to the saxophone, and ignoring all logic and reason, he attended the Berklee College of Music in Sept of 2000. He graduated in 2005 and holds a B.A. in Professional Music. His performance studies ...
read more

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