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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.

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