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Joe Maneri

In 1958 Joe finished ten years of study with Joseph Schmid, a student of Alban Berg, completing Schoenberg's harmony, counterpoint and composition courses. Joe went on to teach harmony, 16th century counterpoint and composition at the Brooklyn Conservatory while continuing to compose and in 1963 was commissioned by Erich Leinsdorf of the Boston Symphony Orchestra to write a piano concerto. It was premiered in 1985 by the American Composers Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall. As a soloist in the 50's and early 60's he performed Greek, Syrian, Jewish and Turkish music on clarinet and saxophone as well as pop music of the day. In 1965, his reputation as a diverse performer led to an invitation to be the saxophone soloist in the premiere of a composition by David Reck dedicated to Ornette Coleman. Joe premiered the piece as part of the 20th Century Innovation Series conducted by Gunther Schuller at Carnegie Hall. Also in 1965, encouraged by his friend and drummer Peter Dolger, Joe recorded an album with drums, bass, piano, clarinet & saxophone. His written tunes and subsequent improvisations contained elements of jazz, Greek melodies and rhythms, and twelve-tone compositional ideas. The album was recorded for Atlantic but remained unreleased until 1996, when John Zorn heard it and enthusiastically issued it on his Avant Label under the title "Paniot's Nine". Paniot pays homage to Joe's friend who inspired the making of this record. In 1970 Joe became a faculty member at the New England Conservatory, teaching harmony, counterpoint, composition, saxophone, improvisation and later microtonal theory and composition. He served as president of Pi Kappa Lambda Honor Society at the Conservatory and co-founded the Enchanted Circle Series with James Hoffman. For over thirty years, this performance series produced up to seven concerts a year dedicated to presenting new music, especially the music of New England Conservatory recent alumni. Joe became interested in microtones early on; he began using them in compositions in 1970. In 1979 Joe started a microtonal theory and composition course at the New England Conservatory. Students in Joe's microtonal class learn to hear, sing, play and write in 72-note equal temperament, using as their text Preliminary Studies in the Virtual Pitch Continuum, co-authored by Joe and Scott Van Duyne. This class, unique in the United States, became a smashing success, with a national reputation and frequently overflowing enrollment. Many of Joe's students have gone on to international careers as performers, composers, and educators in all fields of music.

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127
Album Review

Maneri/Maneri/Phillips: Angles of Repose

Read "Angles of Repose" reviewed by Ty Cumbie


Angles of Repose is the brand new release of a 2-year-old recording made at Chapelle Sainte Philomène, an old chapel in the south of France. Mat and dad Joe Maneri brought the veteran bassist Barre Phillips into the fold for these very personal music-making sessions, and ECM saw fit to share the results with us. The fine recording only hints at what must have been a gorgeous session, but the downside of playing in a church, I suppose, is an ...

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Profile

Joe Maneri: Serial Autobiography

Read "Joe Maneri: Serial Autobiography" reviewed by AAJ Staff


Preface Strength is Happiness. Strength is itself victory.In weakness and cowardice there is no happiness.When you wage a struggle, you might win or you might lose.But regardless of the short-term outcome, the very fact of yourcontinuing to struggle is proof of your victory as a human being. ~ Daisaku Ikeda At some point in life everyone will encounter events requiring struggle. That struggle ...

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Interview

A Fireside Chat with Joe Maneri

Read "A Fireside Chat with Joe Maneri" reviewed by AAJ Staff


Perception is reality. But perception is an unfortunate consequence of opinion and rarely is opinion validated by substance. And perception of Joe Maneri corresponds with his lamentable mainstream obscurity. However, Maneri's obscurity is not his failure, but our own.

All About Jazz: Let's start from the beginning.

Joe Maneri: Music was the only thing that was interesting to me. But I suppose it was because my mother played opera on the radio everyday and I was attracted to it. And ...

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Album Review

Joe Maneri/Barre Phillips/Mat Maneri: Angles Of Repose

Read "Angles Of Repose" reviewed by AAJ Staff


For decades, the Boston-based musician Joe Maneri has pursued his singular vision of a freely improvised music based on extensive use of microtones. He often includes his son Mat in his projects. On Angles Of Repose , the Maneris are joined by the prodigiously gifted bassist Barre Phillips in a program of ten free improvisations.

These performances unfold gradually, often with one of the musicians playing a phrase, and the others reacting with variations on the opening phrase. The elder ...

210
Album Review

Joe Maneri/Barre Phillips/Mat Maneri: Angles of Repose

Read "Angles of Repose" reviewed by John Kelman


Even the most organic music, in the hands of certain players, can take on a completely other-worldly tinge, somehow managing to feel both rooted in reality yet evocative of alien vistas. Reedman Joe Maneri has been exercising that neck of the woods over a fifty-year career that has seen him emerge as one of the progenitors of modern creative music. Where creative music differs from free jazz is that while improvisation is equally paramount, there is nothing to tie it, ...

137
Album Review

Maneri Ensemble: Going To Church

Read "Going To Church" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


With this release, Joe Maneri (woodwinds) and his equally well-known son, Mat (viola) enlist a modern jazz/free improvising super group. However, history dictates that raw talent is not a prerequisite for success. Although that notion serves as the antithesis to what is conveyed here, on this fine program consisting of open-ended dialogue and yearning lines. The artists’ interactions most assuredly emanate from the spirit within. The message is complex yet starkly personalized – where all semblances of rhythm are reduced ...

182
Album Review

Maneri/Morris/Maneri: Out Right Now

Read "Out Right Now" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


With this new release, the Swiss 'hatOLOGY' record label serves up six pieces culled form a live 1995 performance, featuring the trio's permutations of microtonal passages, call and response techniques, and unorthodox harmonic fabrications. On the 26-minute opener, “Some And Then Some," tenor saxophonist Joe Maneri renders an amalgamation of half-tones and abstract, blues-based lines along with emotive howls and shrieks, as violinist Mat Maneri and guitarist Joe Morris engage in circular, three-way dialogue atop a bevy of intertwining textures. ...

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101

Event

A Celebration of the Life of Joe Maneri

A Celebration of the Life of Joe Maneri

Source: Michael Ricci

A Celebration of the Life of Joe Maneri Irondale Center February 9, 2010, 8pm A concert to remember and celebrate the life of Joe Maneri Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 8pm Irondale Center, 85 South Oxford Street, Brooklyn, C train to Lafayette, 1/2/3/4/5/Q/B trains to Atlantic Ave, R/M/N/D/trains to Pacific St Suggested donation $10 to be donated to Boston Microtonal Society Featuring: Barre Phillips, bass, Jim Black, drums, Tony Malaby, saxophone, Joe Morris, bass, John Medeski, piano ...

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Obituary

NEC Mourns the Death of Joseph Maneri, Longtime Faculty, Jazz Legend, Founder of Boston Microtonal Society

NEC Mourns the Death of Joseph Maneri, Longtime Faculty, Jazz Legend, Founder of Boston Microtonal Society

Source: Michael Ricci

Received Honorary Doctorate from NEC in May New England Conservatory is mourning the death of Joseph Gabriel Esther Maneri, a longtime and much beloved faculty member and legendary jazz figure, who died August 24 at age 82. Maneri, who taught at the Conservatory from 1970 to 2007, received an honorary doctorate this past May in recognition of his enormously varied musical accomplishments, his indelible teaching style, and the many gifted performers who carry on his musical legacy. Among his former ...

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Obituary

Joe Maneri Dies at 82

Joe Maneri Dies at 82

Source: Michael Ricci

It is with great sadness the Maneri family would like to announce the death of Dr. Joseph Maneri to the music and wider arts community. Joe passed away Monday, August 24th 2009 in the company of his close family. Joe is survived by his loving wife Sonja, his five children, eight grandchildren and his incredible music legacy. As a performer, composer and educator Joe touched countless hearts with his innovative and incredibly loving spirit. There will be a private service ...

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Event

Joe Maneri's Unplayed Chamber Works + Joe Maneri Trio at Tonic 8/14/04

Joe Maneri's Unplayed Chamber Works + Joe Maneri Trio at Tonic 8/14/04

Source: All About Jazz

Joe Maneri's Unplayed Chamber Works + Joe Maneri Trio at Tonic 8/14/04 Saturday, 14 August 2004, 8 p.m. Tonic (107 Norfolk, NYC, www.tonicnyc.com ) double bill ANTI-SOCIAL MUSIC PLAYS JOE MANERI'S CHAMBER WORKS & JOE MANERI TRIO $12.00 JOE MANERI TRIO is Joe Maneri (reeds, piano), Mat Maneri (viola),Randy Peterson(drums) ASM'S JOE MANERI PROJECT features unknown ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Pinerskol

Kedar Entertainment Group
2009

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Peace Concert

Kedar Entertainment Group
2008

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Coming Down the...

Hat Hut Records
2007

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Angles of Repose

ECM Records
2005

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Angles Of Repose

ECM Records
2004

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Going To Church

AUM Fidelity
2002

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