Mario Pavone (November 11, 1940 – May 15, 2021) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

bassist, composer and bandleader. Jazz critic

Kevin Whitehead Kevin Francis Whitehead (born April 27, 1952 in New York City) is an American jazz critic and author. Biography Whitehead studied at Oswego State University in New York, then earned a Masters in American Literature and Culture at Syracuse Unive ...

offers that Pavone was not only "great bass player ut also abig-hearted

mensch ( yi, מענטש, ''mentsh'', from Middle High German , from Old High German ''mennisco''; akin to Old English ''human being'', ''man'') means "a person of integrity and honor". According to Leo Rosten, a is "someone to admire and emulate, som ...

Early life

Pavone was born in

Waterbury, Connecticut Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 20 ...

. Pavone attended B. W. Tinker grammar school, Leavenworth High School, and the University of Connecticut at Storrs, where he graduated with a B.S. in engineering. When his

Town Plot Town Plot is a neighborhood in the west end of the city of Waterbury, Connecticut. History Situated at the top of the hill, it has historical significance as the original settlement of Waterbury in 1674 before the permanent town was laid out on th ...

neighbor, world-renowned guitarist

Joe Diorio Joseph Louis Diorio (August 6, 1936 – February 2, 2022) was an American jazz guitarist. He performed with Sonny Stitt, Hal Crook, Eddie Harris, Ira Sullivan, Stan Getz, Pat Metheny, Horace Silver, Anita O'Day, and Freddie Hubbard. In recent ye ...

, recognized him as an unrealized musician Mario was inspired to take up the bass. Primarily self-taught, he was a natural on his instrument. Pavone began playing bass soon after witnessing

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and raise ...

at the

Village Vanguard The Village Vanguard is a jazz club at Seventh Avenue South in Greenwich Village, New York City. The club was opened on February 22, 1935, by Max Gordon. Originally, the club presented folk music and beat poetry, but it became primarily a jazz ...

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

Career

Pavone's career took off in the 1960s when he toured Europe. Also in the 1960s, he was involved in the jazz loft era, playing in jam sessions nightly in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. He began performing in 1965. The

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...

-based Creative Musicians Improvising Forum (CMIF) was founded in 1975 by Pavone,

Wadada Leo Smith Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (born December 18, 1941) is an American trumpeter and composer, working primarily in the fields of avant-garde jazz and free improvisation. He was one of three finalists for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Music for ''Ten Free ...

, and

Gerry Hemingway Gerry Hemingway (born March 23, 1955) is an American drummer and composer. Hemingway was a member of the Anthony Braxton quartet from 1983 to 1994. He has also performed with Ernst Reijseger, Anthony Davis, Earl Howard, Leo Smith, George E ...

, influenced by Chicago's

Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1965 in Chicago by pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall, and composer Phil Cohran. The AACM is devot ...

. His venture into composition began here. He was a member of

Paul Bley Paul Bley, CM (November 10, 1932 – January 3, 2016) was a jazz pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing and his early live performance on the Moog and ...

's trio during 1968–72 and Bill Dixon's trio during the 1980s. He also performed with

Barry Altschul Barry Altschul (born January 6, 1943, New York City) is a free jazz and hard bop drummer who first came to notice in the late 1960s for performing with pianists Paul Bley and Chick Corea. Biography Altschul is of Russian Jewish heritage, the s ...

, Smith, and Hemingway. In 1979 Pavone recorded his first album as a leader. He co-led a group with

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Ch ...

in the early 1990s, with Braxton on piano rather than his usual saxophones. In 1980 he began an 18-year musical relationship with saxophonist

Thomas Chapin Thomas Chapin (March 9, 1957 – February 13, 1998) was an American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist. Though primarily an alto saxophonist, he also played sopranino, as well as soprano, tenor, baritone saxes and flute. Ma ...

. With drummer Michael Sarin, the group recorded seven albums for

Knitting Factory Records Knitting Factory Records is an independent American music label that is notable for promoting a variety of artists, including the music of deceased Nigerian political activist Fela Kuti. The label promotes a variety of music artists including A ...

, which also released an eight-CD box set of these albums plus a live recording following Chapin's death in 1998. His groups have included Matt Wilson, Gerald Cleaver,

Peter Madsen Peter Langkjær Madsen (; born 12 January 1971) is a Danish convicted murderer and former entrepreneur. In April 2018, he was convicted of the 2017 murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall on board his submarine, ''UC3 Nautilus'', and sentenced ...

Joshua Redman Joshua Redman (born February 1, 1969) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He is the son of jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman (1931–2006). Life and career Joshua Redman was born in Berkeley, California, to jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman ...

Tony Malaby Tony Malaby (born January 12, 1964) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Malaby was born in Tucson, Arizona. He moved to New York City in 1995 and played with several notable jazz groups, including Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, ...

, Dave Douglas, Steven Bernstein, George Schuller,

Craig Taborn Craig Marvin Taborn (; born February 20, 1970) is an American pianist, organist, keyboardist and composer. He works solo and in bands, mostly playing various forms of jazz. He started playing piano and Moog synthesizer as an adolescent and was i ...

, and

Jimmy Greene James Sidney Greene, Jr. (born February 24, 1975) is an American jazz saxophonist, gospel musician, recording artist, record producer, and music professor. He started his music career in 1997, and has since released eight studio albums. His eig ...

. Over 40 recordings and several films document his compositions and performances.

Death

Pavone died from

carcinoid cancer A carcinoid (also carcinoid tumor) is a slow-growing type of neuroendocrine tumor originating in the cells of the neuroendocrine system. In some cases, metastasis may occur. Carcinoid tumors of the midgut (jejunum, ileum, appendix, and cecum) ...

Madeira Beach, Florida Madeira Beach ( ) is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, bordered on the west by the Gulf of Mexico, and on the east by St. Petersburg. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,895. Madeira Beach is known to be a quaint beach ...

, on May 15, 2021, aged 80.

Awards and honors

* Doris Duke Foundation composer’s grant (2010)

Discography

As leader

* ''Digit'' (Alacra, 1979) * ''Shodo'' (Alacra, 1981) * ''Sharpeville'' (Alacra, 1988) * ''Toulon Days'' (New World/CounterCurrents, 1992) * ''Song for (Septet)'' (New World/CounterCurrents, 1994) * ''Dancers Tales'' (Knitting Factory, 1997) * ''Totem Blues'' (Knitting Factory, 2000) * ''Remembering Thomas'' (Knitting Factory, 1999) * ''Motion Poetry'' (Playscape, 2000) * ''OpEd'' (Playscape, 2001) * ''

Mythos Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...

'' (Playscape, 2002) * ''

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

'' (Playscape, 2003) * '' Boom'' (Playscape, 2004) * '' Deez to Blues'' (Playscape, 2006) * ''

Ancestors An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from w ...

'' (Playscape, 2008) * '' Trio Arc'' (Playscape, 2008) * ''Arc Suite T/Pi T/Po'' (Playscape, 2010) * ''Arc Trio'' (Playscape, 2013) * ''Street Songs'' (Playscape, 2014) * ''Blue Dialect'' (Clean Feed, 2015) * ''Chrome'' (Playscape, 2017) * ''Vertical'' (Clean Feed, 2017) * ''Philosophy'' (Clean Feed, 2019) *''Isabella'' (Clean Feed, 2021) *''Blue Vertical'' (Out of Your Head, 2021)

As sideman

With

* '' Duets (1993)'' (Music & Arts, 1993) * ''

Seven Standards 1995 ''Seven Standards 1995'' is an album by pianist/improviser Anthony Braxton and bassist Mario Pavone's Quintet recorded in 1995 and released on the Knitting Factory Works label.

'' (Knitting Factory, 1995) * '' Six Standards (Quintet) 1996'' (Splasc(H), 2004) With

* ''The Bell of the Heart'' (Alacra, 1981) * ''Third Force'' (Knitting Factory, 1991) * ''Anima'' (Knitting Factory, 1992) * ''Insomnia'' (Knitting Factory, 1993) * ''Menagerie Dreams'' (Knitting Factory, 1995) * ''Haywire'' (Knitting Factory, 1996) * ''Sky Piece'' (Knitting Factory, 1997) * ''Night Bird Song'' (Knitting Factory, 1999) * ''Ride'' (Playscape, 2006) With Bill Dixon * '' November 1981'' (Soul Note, 1982) * ''

Thoughts In their most common sense, the terms thought and thinking refer to conscious cognitive processes that can happen independently of sensory stimulation. Their most paradigmatic forms are judging, reasoning, concept formation, problem solving, an ...

'' (Soul Note, 1987) * '' Son of Sisyphus'' (Soul Note, 1990) With others *

, ''Paul Bley Trio'' (Radio Canada, 1969) *

Bobby Naughton Robert Naughton (June 25, 1944 – December 3, 2022) was an American jazz vibraphonist and pianist. Biography Naughton was born in Boston on June 25, 1944. He studied piano from the age of seven through his teens. He played in rock bands and loun ...

, ''Understanding'' (Otic, 1972) *

Michael Pavone Michael "Mike" Pavone is an American film director, screenwriter, television producer/writer and former executive vice president of WWE Studios with WWE before his departure from the company in August 2011. Career Film and television career In ...

, ''Trio'' (Playscape, 2001) * Annette Peacock & Paul Bley, ''

Dual Unity ''Dual Unity'' is a live album by Annette Peacock and Paul Bley (credited as Annette & Paul Bley) which was released by Freedom Records in 1972.Alan Silva Alan Silva (born Alan Lee da Silva; January 22, 1939 in Bermuda) is an United States of America, American free jazz double bassist and Keyboard instrument, keyboard player. Biography Silva was born a British subject to an Azores, Azorean/Portug ...

, '' Skillfullness'' (ESP Disk, 1969) *

Patty Waters Patty Waters (born March 11, 1946) is a jazz vocalist best known for her free jazz recordings in the 1960s for the ESP-Disk label. Career Waters was born in Iowa and started singing semi-professionally in high school. After school, she sang for ...

, ''Live'' (Blank Forms 2019) * Patty Waters, ''An Evening in Houston'' (Clean Feed, 2020)

References

External links

Official site

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pavone, Mario 1940 births 2021 deaths People from Waterbury, Connecticut 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Jazz musicians from Connecticut Knitting Factory Records artists Clean Feed Records artists