Joe Maneri
February 9, 1927 – August 24, 2009
Joe Maneri was jazz saxophonist and clarinetist who came to some prominence during the ’90s. He specialized in taking traditional ethnic folk elements and embellishing them with his own avant garde free-form jazz. He has been compared to Ornette Coleman and Sun Ra. Thanks to composer John Zorn, a 1963 unreleased album found a home on his Avant Records in the late ’90s, exposing him to new fans than ever before. Maneri went on to record several more albums throughout the late ’90s and 2000s. Fan and comic writer, Harvey Pekar used Maneri’s music in his 2003 film, American Splendor. Joe Maneri passed away at a Boston hospital due to complications from heart surgery. He was 82.
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