Good Times by Martin Sasse Trio plus Charlie Mariano

The legend continues. Alto sax player Charlie Mariano was one of the restless innovators. He was a member of that vanishing generation which fell in love with swing before there was bop, mastered both, and attained that ability to play both inside and outside. Mariano knew there was something out there, beyond science. He was a funny, gentle and above all nice man – and one of the most comfortable colleagues at all. Other musicians – especially younger musicians – could learn a lot from Charlie – not only by his background but also by his entire personality. It was always wonderful to work with him. Here you can hear him on his last studio recording together with the Martin Sasse Trio. They decided to go into the studio in 2006 to document the state of the art of their musical collaboration.

Under the influence of Lester Young, Charlie Mariano took up the saxophone as a teenager, receiving an alto as a gift from his sister. After a stint in the Army, he returned to Boston and came under the spell of Charlie Parker. Mariano worked in the bands of Nat Pierce, Serge Chaloff and Herb Pomeroy, as well as leading his first sessions for Imperial and, later, Prestige and Bethlehem. By the mid 50s, Mariano was leading the saxophone section of Stan Kenton's band as well as arranging. In 1958, he returned to Boston and began teaching at Berklee, where he met his second wife, Japanese pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi.

Mariano's 'second career' began when he relocated to Holland and then Belgium, working with Dutch pianist Jasper van't Hof and Belgian guitarist Philip Catherine. Mariano closed out the 70s playing in German bassist-cellist Eberhard Weber's group Colours and the multi-national United Jazz + Rock Ensemble. From the 80s onward, Mariano was based in Cologne, Germany, leading his own combos and guesting with artists as diverse as Mal Waldron, Anthony Braxton, Kent Carter and Theo Jörgensmann – and the Martin Sasse Trio.

"After all those years I'm not able to tell any negative side of Charlie. He is a wonderful person."
Albert Mangelsdorff

"…Martin Sasse has Oscar Peterson’s sense of swing…" Cadenza

In memory of Charlie Mariano, native: Carmine Ugo Mariano
(* November 12, 1923 in Boston, Massachusetts - † June 16, 2009 in Cologne, Germany)

The Martin Sasse Trio has existed in changing formations for almost thirty years. Even their first album "Here we come" (2000) received best international reviews. Later albums include Vincent Herring, the Miles Davis saxophonist Steve Grossmann and the guitarist Peter Bernstein. For the album "Good Times" with Charlie Mariano, the trio received the famous German Record Critics' Award in 2010.