Mario Pavone

Jazz double bassist, bandleader, and composer Mario Pavone was born on November 11, 1940, in Waterbury, Connecticut. He was best known as a soloist and accompanist in the avant-garde jazz genre. He originally intended to pursue engineering as a career, earning a BS in the process, but was encouraged to pursue music by his neighbor, guitarist Joe Dorio. Mario Pavone decided to study the double bass after attending a 1961 Village Vanguard concert by John Coltrane. His professional career began when he undertook a tour of Europe. When he returned to the US, he was introduced to the New York avant-garde jazz scene. As a sideman, he recorded with artists such as Alan Silva, Paul Bley and Carla Bley, Annette Peacock, Bobby Naughton and Mark Whitecage. He created his own label, Alacra Records, and released Digit (1979), his debut album as a leader, and followed it two years later with Shodo (1981). As he pursued his own solo career, he also collaborated on albums with both Bill Dixon and Thomas Chapin. Mario Pavone founded the Creative Musicians' Improviser's Forum, a Connecticut collective whose manifesto The Sky Cries the Blues appeared in the form of an album in 1982. Mario Pavone joined forces with Anthony Braxton and Michael Musillami, launching numerous band formations including the Mario Pavone Quintet, Mario Pavone Nu Trio, Mario Pavone Octet, and Mario Pavone Dialect Trio. He released more albums as a leader including Remembering Thomas (1999), Orange (2003), Boom (2004), Deez to Blues (2006), Ancestors (2008) and Philosophy (2019). In his later years, Mario Pavone continued to collaborate with other artists including Matt Wilson, Gerald Cleaver, Jimmy Greene, Tony Malaby, Dave Ballou, Steven Bernstein and Craig Taborn. Mario Pavo died from cancer on May 15, 2021, at the age of 80.

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