Joe Romano R.I.P.
Ron Hearn
ron
____________________________
From: Paul Fontaine
Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2008 11:06 PM
Subject: Re: Joe Romano-A Brother Gone
Hello everyone,
Thanks for giving me the sad news. I had just gotten off the phone
with Bobby Shew and we are also just totally crushed about Joe.
I will appreciate anything you can find out about a memorial etc. and
I will pass it along to as many friends as I can.
Paul.
On Nov 26, 2008, at 6:38 PM, Fres Stone wrote:
My Short Tribute
Joe Romano.................April 17, 1935-November 26, 2008
Saxophonist Joe Romano passed away today Wednesday November 26th
between the hours of 4-5PM. I've losed a great fellow musician, and
brother yet have gained an eternal friend. Joe's last words to me as I
saw him a few days ago before he passed I said "Joe I love you man"
Joe said "You better". Joe's been an inspiration to us all in one way
or another. I remember once on a set with Joe and we were stuck for a
finale to play to a very ambitious crowd and Joe said follow me man:
" You can't lose if you play the Blues". God Bless Joe and Thanks for
everything; your friendship and especially your music.
Sincerely;
Fred J. Stone, Jr.
www.fredstonebassist.com
Ron Hearn
Joe Romano's obit is as follows:
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008811290344
Popular saxophone player and Rochester native Joe Romano dies at 76
Jeff Spevak • Staff music critic • November 29, 2008
Joe Romano, a fun-loving jazz saxophonist for hire who played with the
likes of Woody Herman and Chuck Mangione, died on Wednesday.
Mr. Romano was a Rochester native who had been living in Portland,
Ore., the past four years. He'd also lived in Las Vegas, Los Angeles,
New York City and countless hotel rooms over his long career before
returning home to Rochester after he was diagnosed with lung cancer on
Aug. 1. He was 76.
"He was a part of an amazing upstate group of Italian-heritage horn
players," said Gap Mangione, who played with Romano, often alongside
brother Chuck Mangione, many times over the years. "Sal Nistico, Larry
Covelli, Don Menza, Sam Noto, Chuck, of course, Sal Amico from Ithaca
and Joe Magnorelli, from Syracuse. They all hit at about the same 10-
year period."
A tenor and alto saxophonist, Mr. Romano released only a handful of
albums as a leader, beginning in the late '80s with his debut, And
Finally Romano and the Spanish-label release One Romantic Night, and
followed by 2003's This is the Moment.
"I don't think he really wanted to be a leader," Mangione said. "He
was as happy playing with a group, and playing regularly. And he
played in a wide variety of configurations, from wide-open quartet
situations to big bands with some really great players."
That included, after playing weddings in his early teens, world tours
or recording sessions that began in 1957 with the Woody Herman Band,
and over the years included the Buddy Rich Big Band, Chuck Israels &
the National Jazz Ensemble, the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, Les
Brown, Stan Kenton, Pearl Bailey, Lionel Hampton, Sonny Stitt, Coleman
Hawkins, Stan Getz, Nat King Cole and, curiously, Donna Summer.
But his first big gig was as a 17-year-old saxophonist in an Air Force
band stationed in Alaska, as well as Geneva's Sampson Air Force Base.
He was a frequent player on the Geneva scene, at places like Club 86,
where a teenage Scott LaFaro would sit in on sax; LaFaro later went on
to acclaim as a bassist with players such as Bill Evans.
Life was Mr. Romano's main music teacher. As a kid, a couple of aunts
took him to see Buddy Rich playing with the Tommy Dorsey Band at
Rochester's Palace Theater. He dropped out of Benjamin Franklin High
School in the 10th grade and attended classes in clarinet, his first
instrument, at the Eastman School of Music. But, "He was on the road
since he was 17, said his partner of 15 years, Judy Tarte. "He wasn't
a schooled player. He was more of a 'heart' player."
Romano was a regular at clubs like the Pythodd and the Parrott Club at
State and Main streets, where he sat in with Charlie Parker. Parker, a
sax legend by then, allowed the kid a solo.
"I remember him being a very authoritative individual, especially in
his playing," said Mike Melito, a Rochester drummer who helped put
together the band for This is the Moment. "He took the bull by the
horns, so to speak. He gave 100,000 percent, whether there were two
people in the room or 2,000."
Melito recalled Romano playing at the Rochester International Jazz
Festival a few years ago at Max of Eastman Place. Between sets, Romano
called another local music legend, drummer Steve Gadd, up from the
audience, and later festival director and saxophonist John Nugent, and
a spontaneous jazz session broke out. "I was in the other room
eating," Melito said, "and I came out and said, 'Joe, what are you
doing? We start at 10.' This was like, 8:30, 9 p.m. Joe just said,
'Oh, we do?'"
In Rochester, Mr. Romano was known for his many associations with the
Mangiones, particularly with the Jazz Brothers, dating back to the
early 1960s. Some of those most-notable records included 1962's
Recuerdo with the Chuck Mangione Quartet and the Jazz Brothers' 1982
The Boys From Rochester, which included Chuck and Gap, Frank Pullara
and Gadd. "I don't know what was in the air that night," Gap Mangione
said, "but a lot of great playing went on."
Diane Armesto, a Buffalo-based singer who spends a great deal of time
in Rochester, took the time to record a few hours of Romano's
remembrances after he returned to Rochester in his final months. That
included Romano's "love and hate relationship" with Buddy Rich, and
remembrances of Art Pepper, his roommate while on the road with Rich.
"He was real down-to-earth," Armesto recalled.
Tarte met Romano in Vegas 35 years ago. "He had this circuit that he
did," she said. "Rochester, L.A. and Las Vegas. He worked all of those
places; he had friends in all of them. He had friends all over. When
he played in Las Vegas, everybody would hang out at that time that
were jazz lovers. I was a big fan."
"His life was music. He loved music, being a jazz player; he loved
being a be-bop player, even though he played in a lot of big bands,"
Tarte said. "I know he loved playing with Buddy Rich, but he just
liked playing in trios and quartets."
Romano had two sons from his one marriage; Jason Romano lives in Las
Vegas. Another son, Jimmy, preceded his father in death. A memorial
service will be scheduled.
JSP...@DemocratandChronicle.com