Joe Albany (born Joseph Albani; January 24, 1924 – January 12, 1988) was an American modern jazz pianist who played bebop with Charlie Parker as well as being a leader on his own recordings.
Life and career Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Albany studied piano as a child and, by 1943, was working on the West Coast in Benny Carter's orchestra.Feather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira (2007). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, p. 9. In 1946, Lester Young recorded with Albany as his pianist, for Aladdin Records. Also that year, he played at least once with Parker and then 20-year-old Miles Davis.A recording from a live set at the Final Club in Los Angeles from May 1946 was released as Yardbird in Lotus Land in 1976 on Spotlight Records in the UK. Cf. Charlie Parker discography on Jazzdisco.org. and He continued for a few years afterward, and in 1957 recorded an album for Riverside with an unusual trio line-up with saxophonist Warne Marsh and Bob Whitlock on bass, omitting a drummer. Despite that, most of the 1950s and 1960s saw him battling a heroin addiction, or living in seclusion in Europe. He also had several unsuccessful marriages in this period. He returned to jazz in the 1970s and played on more than ten albums. He died of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest in New York City at the age of 63.
Albany was the focus of a 1980 documentary titled, Joe Albany... A Jazz Life. His daughter Amy-Jo wrote a memoir about her father called Low Down: Junk, Jazz, and Other Fairy Tales from Childhood. The book was adapted for the screen and released in 2014 as the biopic Low Down. Joe was also the biological father to Benjamin David Goldberg, who was adopted by another family shortly after being born. Benjamin David was also a musician, who studied percussion at Juilliard, played for Broadway shows and was in the US Army Band.
Discography Year recordedTitleLabelNotes1957The Right CombinationRiversideTrio, with Warne Marsh (tenor sax), Bob Whitlock (bass)1966Portrait of a LegendFresh SoundTrio, with Leroy Vinnegar (bass), Frank Capp (drums)1971Joe Albany at HomeSpotliteSolo piano1972Proto-BopperRevelationTrio, with Bob Whitlock (bass), Nick Martinis and Jerry McKenzie (drums; separately)1973Birdtown BirdsSteepleChaseTrio, with Hugo Rasmussen (bass), Hans Nymand (drums); in concert1973An Evening With Joe AlbanySteepleChasesolo piano1973An Evening With Joe Albany vol. 2SteepleChasesolo piano1973Two's CompanySteepleChaseDuo, with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (bass)1974Joe Albany & Joe VenutiHoroQuintet, with Joe Venuti (violin), Joe Cusumano (guitar), Giovanni Tommaso (bass), Bruno Biriaco (drums); also released by Parlophone in 19771976This Is for My FriendsMusica1976EpiphanyBlue JackSolo piano1977Plays George Gershwin & Burton LaneMusica1977The Albany TouchSea BreezeSolo piano1977Live in ParisFresh SoundTrio, with Alby Cullaz (bass), Aldo Romano (drums)1979Bird Lives!InterplayTrio, with Art Davis (bass), Roy Haynes (drums)1982Portrait of an ArtistElektra/MusicianTrio/Quartet, with George Duvivier (bass), Charlie Persip (drums), Al Gafa (guitar)
References
Further reading Russell, Ross (April 1959) "The Legendary Joe Albany". The Jazz Review. pp. 18–19, 40.
External links