Joe Maneri

Joseph Gabriel Esther Maneri (February 9, 1927 – August 24, 2009) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. Violinist Mat Maneri is his son. Maneri was considered a pioneer and important theorist of microtonal improvisation.

Early in his career, Maneri played with Ted Harris and studied with composer Josef Schmid. In 37 years teaching at New England Conservatory of Music, his students included John Medeski, Marty Ehrlich, Eyvind Kang, Matana Roberts and Matthew Shipp. According to the New York Times:

He rarely performed outside the academy in the first two decades of his teaching career. But when his son Mat, an accomplished improviser on violin and viola, started to perform in the late 1980s, he encouraged his father, then in his mid-60s, to return to the stage with his saxophone and clarinet. The father and son began playing together, joined by the bassist John Lockwood and the drummer Randy Peterson. The Joe Maneri Quartet developed a cult following in Boston and by 1993 was performing around the world, presenting mysterious and original sets of free improvising, with shades of blues and ballad-style saxophone playing.