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Tony Bianco

Anthony Bianco is a drummer, percussionist and composer born in New York City, the son of a drummer and the grandson of a guitar player. Growing up in New York City he could experience the greatest sounds in jazz. He remembered seeing Elvin, Mingus, Art Blakey, Woody Shaw, Miles, Liebman, Tony Williams, Dexter Gordon, Ron Carter. This intensified his love for this music. He got a steady gig in New York City in a warm-up band in a famous comedy club called Catch a Rising Star. It’s a legendary comic club that a lot of the great comedians came through (Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Robin Williams, Richard Belzer). The bass player on the gig was Lloyd Mair. He was a devotee of avant garde music and jazz. He knew some really interesting things about jazz. Tony learned a lot from him. Being at this club Tony played in interesting situations with Edgar Winter, Pat Benatar. In that time Tony explored his own ideas and met a lot of musicians. One became a close friend : tenor player Mac Goldsberry. Mac introduced Tony to a lot of the New York City players even though he was from Texas. Through him Tony played and recorded with Ed Schuller, Herb Robertson and Charlie Elgart. He started to write music at that time and made a recording with John Hart on guitar. At the same time he hooked up with (through Goldsberry) the singer, writer, jazz musician and poet Bob Lennox and his son Adam. Through Adam he first met Dave Liebman. They did a record and gig doing progressive rock music. At this time he also did a recording with Anthony Jackson, the legendary electric bass player and started to play more free jazz. But things in New York for him weren’t really going well. Tony met some musicians from the University of Miami (Mike Gillis, legendary guitar player) and went to Japan for a few months with them. On coming back to the U.S. one of the teachers from the University invited Tony to come to Miami. Dave Liebmann suggests to Tony to move to Berlin where some of his mates went to live and play jazz (Lennox, Goldsberry). Liebman said that he needed to get out of NYC to see himself. Tony moved to Berlin in 1991 and started to work with Alex von Schlippenbach and his wife Aki Takase, and Gerd Dudek. He had an opportunity to play with Reggie Workman on a Schlippenbach gig and learned more about the European free improv scene. At the same time Tony worked with the late legendary bass player Jay Oliver who influenced him in some rhythmic concepts and attitude. He also worked with the late gypsy guitarist Costa Lucas. His rhythmic concepts really took a turn when he worked with Hans Hartman (bass and stick player) and Turkish percussionist Mesut Ali. Tony lived in Berlin until 1995, returned to New York for a few months, then joined his wife in London. He met Loz Speyer who got him a drum set and introduced Tony to a lot of the straighter players. He met Alex McGuire who introduced him to Elton Dean, from where he met the rest of the free scene. He met Paul Dunmall played and recorded some great music together. He came up with a project called Freebeat with Elton Dean and sound engineer, Jon Wilkinson. It was a concept of playing through time signatures but playing also free through it. These ideas interested Dave Liebman. He recorded a similar but different project with Liebmann in Berlin (2003). The CD "In a Western Sense" handles some of these same concepts. Tony moved to London in 1996 and played and recorded with Paul Dunmall, Elton Dean, Simon Picard, Paul Rutherford, Keith Tippett, Paul Rogers, Marcio Matthos and John Edwards.

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Album Review

Faith Brackenbury / Tony Bianco: Wayward Mystic-Improvisations inspired by the music of St.Hildegard von Bingen

Read "Wayward Mystic-Improvisations inspired by the music of St.Hildegard von Bingen" reviewed by John Sharpe


Violin and drum duos are something of a rarity in the jazz and improvised music arena. Swift Are The Winds Of Life (Survival, 1976) by Leroy Jenkins and Rashied Ali, and Bangception (Hat Musics, 1983) by Billy Bang and Denis Charles come to mind, but few others. However, violinist Faith Brackenbury and drummer Tony Bianco make a convincing case for the format on Wayward Mystic. In fact it is their second outing following Rising Up (Discus Music, 2019), but this ...

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Liner Notes

Machine Mass: Inti

Read "Machine Mass: Inti" reviewed by John Kelman


One of music's most remarkable qualities is its ability to provide a context for expression of otherwise indescribable feelings. The genesis of Machine Mass Trio came at a time of duress for Tony Bianco, the expat American drummer who, since relocating to Europe in the mid-1990s, has performed with A-list improvising musicians including Elton Dean, Evan Parker and Alexander Von Schlippenbach. He's also a charter member of douBt, alongside fellow MMT mate, Belgian guitarist {Michel Delville. “My wife ...

2
Album Review

Machine Mass feat. Dave Liebman: Inti

Read "Inti" reviewed by Neri Pollastri


Machine Mass nasce nel 2010 come duo tra Tony Bianco e Michel Delville, in un momento esistenzialmente drammatico per il batterista, colpito dalla perdita della moglie. Dopo una messa a punto in Europa e una serie di concerti negli States, i due decidono di dare una svolta al gruppo ospitando in questo CD Dave Liebman, che con entrambi aveva avuto varie collaborazioni e che ne arricchisce le possibilità espressive e timbriche. Il lavoro si ispira esplicitamente al ...

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Album Review

Machine Mass feat. Dave Liebman: Inti

Read "Inti" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


Renowned saxophonist Dave Liebman's legacy as a musician who radiates illimitable vigor and a broad artistic expanse, hearkens back to his stint with Miles Davis and seemingly countless collaborations with a who's who in jazz amid an extensive resume as a leader. On this supercharged jazz-fusion gala he is the featured artist with spiraling young star, Belgium guitarist Michel Delville (The Wrong Object), ace drummer Tony Bianco (Elton Dean, and Alexander Von Schlippenbach). Delville's stinging phraseology, angular wah-wah ...

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Album Review

Tony Bianco, Paul Dunmall, Simon Picard: Utoma Trio

Read "Utoma Trio" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


Drummer Tony Bianco’s resume reads like a laundry list of disparate musical talent. Here’s a man who has performed with rock and rollers Chuck Berry and Edgar Winter, modern jazz bassist Reggie Workman, saxophonist Dave Liebman and many others. However with this release, the drummer along with tenor saxophone titans Paul Dunmall and Simon Picard derive inspiration from John Coltrane’s free-style explorations

Tony Bianco’s “Utoma Trio” is all about raw firepower and unrelenting energetic spirit! The first piece, “Oceans In ...

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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Wayward...

Discus Music
2022

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Inti

MoonJune Records
2014

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Avyayah

TES
2005

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Inti

From: Inti
By Tony Bianco

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