Ed Palermo Big Band

The Ed Palermo Big Band
Background information
Genres	Jazz, rock
Years active	1977–present
Labels	Vile Heifer, Pro Jazz, Astor Place, Cuneiform
Website	www.palermobigband.com
Members	Ed Palermo Ronnie Buttacavoli John Bailey Charlie Gordon Joe Fiedler Matt Ingman Cliff Lyons Phil Chester Ben Kono Bill Straub Barbara Cifelli Bob Quaranta Ted Kooshian Paul Adamy Ray Marchica Bruce McDaniel Katie Jacoby

The Ed Palermo Big Band is a big band that has been active for 39 years playing the compositions and arrangements of their leader and namesake Ed Palermo. He plays the saxophone

They are best known for Palermo's arrangements of the music of Frank Zappa.  To date they have released two albums of original content and four albums of arrangements of Frank Zappa music.  Their album, OH NO!! NOT JAZZ!! devotes one disc to original songs and the other to Zappa.

Ed Palermo

Ed Palermo started playing the alto saxophone and the guitar in high school. By that time he knew he wanted to be a musician. Early influences that pushed him in that direction were the Beatles and the Mothers of Invention.^[1] Palermo also discovered a love for the music of Edgar Winter while in high school. This inspired him to emulate musicians such as Cannonball Adderley, Phil Woods,^[2] and Charlie Parker. In college he switched from alto saxophone to tenor saxophone due to influences from John Coltrane, Michael Brecker, and David Liebman. After graduating college, Palermo moved to New York in order to become a jazz tenor saxophonist. At this point, an album called "Impact" by Charles Tolliver inspired him to try his hand at arranging. Palermo looked to his friend Dave LaLama, already an arranger, for advice and he began to compose and arrange music.^[3] Soon he began playing with Tito Puente, and during this time Palermo assembled a group which later expanded into the Ed Palermo Big Band.^[4]

Early years

In 1977 Ed Palermo assembled a nine-piece band to play his own compositions. The band expanded into a big band and began a three year residency at a New York club called Seventh Avenue South. During this time the band played primarily compositions by Palermo and his arrangements of other music. After three years, the Ed Palermo Big Band was replaced by Gil Evans.^[3]

In 1982 the Ed Palermo Big Band recorded their first LP and released it as Ed Palermo under a label called Vile Heifer. Later the LP became known as Papier Mache after the first song on the album. This LP featured guests such as Randy Brecker, David Sanborn, and Edgar Winter. The material on this album was mostly Palermo's original work, except for a few pieces that were co-written.^[3]

Due to the hassle involved in producing an album under one's own label, the Ed Palermo Big Band did not release another album until a record company showed interest. This happened in 1987. Ping Pong was released by Pro Jazz Records and featured much different material from the first album This album featured less complicated music and more swing. From 1987–1993 the band alternated performing at the clubs Visiones and the Bitter End.^[3]

Recent years

After Frank Zappa's death in 1993, Palermo decided to play a show of all Frank Zappa music. Before the show, Palermo posted a notice on an internet bulletin board. The turnout to the show was the largest that the Ed Palermo Big Band had had to date.

"Up until then, my own shows at the Bitter End were drawing next to nobody," said Palermo. "For some reason, the word got out about the Zappa show and the place was swamped. And it was incredibly exciting—people there were Zappa fanatics."^[5]

The idea was for only one tribute concert. But the band was contacted by Alan Pepper of the Bottom Line. This began a nine-year residency for the Ed Palermo Big Band at the Bottom Line. For these shows the Ed Palermo Big Band played primarily arrangements (done by Ed Palermo) of Frank Zappa songs, however each show was different from the one before it. The band often featured special guests at these shows such as Zappa alums Mike Keneally and Ike Willis.^[6]

In 1997 the Ed Palermo Big Band recorded their first Zappa album, The Ed Palermo Big Band Plays the Music of Frank Zappa, also known as Big Band Zappa, was released on Astor Place.

After nine years at the Bottom Line (1994–2003) the Ed Palermo Big Band took a break from regular shows for a period of about a year.^[7] After that they began another series of regular shows at the Iridium in New York City. This series of shows has lasted for ten years and features primarily arrangements of Frank Zappa music.

In 2006 the Ed Palermo Big Band released their second CD, Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance under the label of Cuneiform Records. In 2009 the Ed Palermo Big Band released their third CD, Eddy Loves Frank, also on Cuneiform. In February, 2014, OH NO!! NOT JAZZ!! was released to rave reviews, including a four-star review in Down Beat magazine.

Palermo teaches music at Hoff/Barthelson in Scarsdale, New York.

Roster

Special Guests

• Napoleon Murphy Brock
• Gary Lucas
• Felix Cabrera
• Mike Keneally
• Mike Stern
• Elliott Randall
• John Sebastian
• Ike Willis
• Howard Levy
• Carl Restivo
• Wycliffe Gordon
• Deb Lyons
• George Naha
• Candy Zappa
• Catherine Russell
• Mats & Morgan
• Jimmy Vivino
• Russ Bonagura
• John Tabacco
• Rob Paparozzi
• Tom Bowes
• Denny Walley
• Will Lee

Discography

Papier Mache (Released as "Ed Palermo")

1982 Vile Heifer

Ping Pong

1987 Pro Jazz Records

The Ed Palermo Big Band Plays the Music of Frank Zappa (aka Big Band Zappa)

1997 Astor Place Records

Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance

2006 Cuneiform Records

Eddy Loves Frank

2009 Cuneiform Records

OH NO!! NOT JAZZ!!

ZAPPA DISC

PALERMO DISC

References

External links

• Ed Palermo Big Band's official website
• Cuneiform Records
• www.united-mutations.com
• EPBB on NPR