Biography
Justo Almario, born in Colombia, works as a reed and woodwind player, composer, arranger, and clinician while acting as a connector across musical worlds and helping originate Latin jazz-fusion. Across decades he has woven South American, Latin, Afro-Cuban, and funk rhythms into a personal style that surfaces on his own projects and during his frequent studio and stage work as a sought-after sideman. Although his first leader date arrived only with the 1981 release Interlude, now viewed as a jazz-funk classic, Almario already carried deep professional credits from Duke Ellington’s final band and from live appearances as sideman and soloist with Mongo Santamaria, Charles Mingus, Freddie Hubbard, and Roy Ayers, among many others. He has also accumulated hundreds of recording credits alongside pop artists from varied genres, among them Master P, BeBe & CeCe Winans, Chaka Khan, and Herb Alpert. His contributions further appear on several notable film soundtracks of the 1980s and 1990s, including Dirty Dancing, Trading Places, Mambo Kings, and The Birdcage. Issued privately by his quartet, the 2005 album Love Thy Neighbor later acquired cult-classic standing in Latin jazz circles. In 2020 Almario served as soloist on Mariposas Cantan, the album by Jose Rizo’s Mongorama, a Mongo Santamaria tribute band.
Born in 1949 into a musical household in Sincelejo, Colombia, Almario grew up in Medellin and began woodwind studies as a child. His parents observed his early skill on flutes and clarinets; he added saxophone during his teens. At age sixteen composer and arranger Jose Madrid recruited him to tour the United States with the Cumbia Colombia band, presenting specially prepared Colombian folk-music settings. Two years later, while on the road with another ensemble in San Antonio, Texas, he met jazz pianist and educator Jorge Martinez Zapata, who urged him to seek a scholarship at the Berklee College of Music. Almario followed that advice, earned the award, and while at Berklee met Duke Ellington and performed with him shortly before the composer’s death. Also during his Berklee years, Mongo Santamaria heard him rehearsing, offered an immediate engagement, and featured his saxophone and flute solos extensively on the Vaya releases Fuego (1973), Live at Yankee Stadium (1974), and Afro-Indio (1975). After appearing on Andy Harlow’s 1975 album El Campesino, Almario began expanding his associations. The year 1976 marked a turning point: his work on Dom Santos’ My Family (Minha Familia) drew critical praise, and he replaced saxophonist Seldon Powell in Roy Ayers Ubiquity. He became a central musical partner for Ayers, contributing to Vibrations, Everybody Loves the Sunshine, Lifeline, Starbooty, and the live album Music of Many Colors with Fela Kuti, recorded in Africa. While with Ayers he also recorded with Jon Lucien on Premonition, joined Harvey Mason on the 1977 jazz-funk classic Rhythm of Life, and completed his final Santamaria session on the 1980 album Images.
Drawing on this extensive background, Almario recorded his debut leader project Intuition, produced and arranged by Ayers and issued on Uno Melodic Records; the album attracted disc jockeys and a handful of New York and Los Angeles writers yet found its strongest reception among musicians drawn to its blend of disco, funk, Latin, and hard-bop jazz. Numerous other commitments prevented a full promotional tour, yet he still appeared on Sylvia Striplin’s Ayers-produced Give Me Your Love and toured with the vibraphonist. He replaced founding flutist John Phillips in old friend Abraham Laboriel’s group Koinonia for the 1983 album More Than a Feelin’, then relocated to Los Angeles to continue with the band through additional recordings and regular club dates while also contributing to film scores and soundtracks.
In 1985 Almario released his second album, the influential smooth-jazz date Forever Friends, on Capitol’s Meadowlark imprint. Several Koinonia colleagues participated, including Laboriel, who arranged the session, along with Bill Maxwell, Alex Acuna, and the Yellowjackets’ Russell Ferrante. During the second half of the 1980s he worked with the gospel-singing Winans family and singer Billy Mitchell, recorded on conguero Poncho Sanchez’s Papa Gato, appeared on Dianne Reeves’ self-titled Blue Note debut and Patrice Rushen’s Watch Out, and issued his third album, Plumbline, using the same personnel as Forever Friends. Two years later he delivered Family Time, his major-label debut on MCA; produced and arranged by Jimmy Tanaka, the set featured guests Larry Carlton and Jimmy Haslip. That same year Koinonia issued a self-titled final recording as the group wound down, and Almario joined Hermeto Pascoal on Brazilian Adventure.
The early 1990s kept Almario busy as a studio and live accompanist. In the first years of the decade he released Heritage, performed with a large ensemble drawn largely from his Koinonia circle plus Brazilian guitarist Ricardo Silveira, and appeared on albums by artists ranging from Luis Miguel and Edye Gorme to Jon Lucien, Linda Ronstadt, and Sanchez. In 1992 he joined Cedar Walton, Terrence Blanchard, and Joe Lovano as a regular member of the Newport Jazz Festival Tour produced by George Wein. In 1993 he continued session work, including a growing number of Christian-label projects as well as jazz dates by Laboriel, Englebert Humperdinck’s Quiereme Mucho, Randy Crawford’s Don’t Say It’s Over, and Don Gruisin’s Native Land. Two of the four Grammy-nominated albums on which he played in 1994 won their categories: Andrae Crouch’s Mercy and Cachao’s Master Sessions, Vol. 1.
During the late 1990s Almario divided his time between his own 1995 release Count Me In, work with Brazilian arranger Marcos Ariel on Soul Song, and sessions with Latin artists such as Laboriel, Billy Cantos, Luis Conte, and Tania Maria, as well as smooth-jazz musicians including Herb Alpert, Scott Cossu, and Haslip. In 1999 he collaborated with Tolú and Acuna on Rumbero’s Poetry; in 2002 the same group reunited for Bongó de Van Gogh. In 2004 he joined José Rizo’s Jazz on the Latin Side All-Stars for The Last Bullfighter. Almario issued the critically praised underground favorite Love Thy Neighbor in 2005, featuring bassist Rene Camacho, then closed the decade with appearances on Rizo’s Tambolero and Sergio Mendes’ Bom Tempo.
After moving to Los Angeles, Almario became a highly sought music instructor, teaching saxophone at Cal State from 2006 to 2008 and conducting clinics across the United States, Sweden, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. In 2009 he joined the faculty at UCLA and has also taught at the Henry Mancini Institute.
Almario’s playing explored broader territory during the 2010s. He appeared on George Khan’s Secrets from the Jazz Ghetto in 2010 and guested on spiritual-jazz vocalist Dwight Trible’s Cosmic in 2011. Also in 2011 he began an ongoing association with guitarist Kenny Burrell’s band, contributing to the High Note releases Special Requests (And Other Favorites): Live at Catalinas and The Road to Love, then rejoined Harvey Mason for the 2016 album Recollection Echos. In 2018 he performed on Pete Escovedo’s Back to the Bay, and the following year on Oscar Hernández and Alma Libre’s Love the Moment. After touring with his own Afro-Latin jazz ensemble through the remainder of 2019, he rejoined Rizo’s group—by then operating as the Santamaria tribute band Mongorama—to release Mariposas Cantan in 2020. During the summer the U.K. label Expansion issued a deluxe vinyl reissue of Interlude.
Born in 1949 into a musical household in Sincelejo, Colombia, Almario grew up in Medellin and began woodwind studies as a child. His parents observed his early skill on flutes and clarinets; he added saxophone during his teens. At age sixteen composer and arranger Jose Madrid recruited him to tour the United States with the Cumbia Colombia band, presenting specially prepared Colombian folk-music settings. Two years later, while on the road with another ensemble in San Antonio, Texas, he met jazz pianist and educator Jorge Martinez Zapata, who urged him to seek a scholarship at the Berklee College of Music. Almario followed that advice, earned the award, and while at Berklee met Duke Ellington and performed with him shortly before the composer’s death. Also during his Berklee years, Mongo Santamaria heard him rehearsing, offered an immediate engagement, and featured his saxophone and flute solos extensively on the Vaya releases Fuego (1973), Live at Yankee Stadium (1974), and Afro-Indio (1975). After appearing on Andy Harlow’s 1975 album El Campesino, Almario began expanding his associations. The year 1976 marked a turning point: his work on Dom Santos’ My Family (Minha Familia) drew critical praise, and he replaced saxophonist Seldon Powell in Roy Ayers Ubiquity. He became a central musical partner for Ayers, contributing to Vibrations, Everybody Loves the Sunshine, Lifeline, Starbooty, and the live album Music of Many Colors with Fela Kuti, recorded in Africa. While with Ayers he also recorded with Jon Lucien on Premonition, joined Harvey Mason on the 1977 jazz-funk classic Rhythm of Life, and completed his final Santamaria session on the 1980 album Images.
Drawing on this extensive background, Almario recorded his debut leader project Intuition, produced and arranged by Ayers and issued on Uno Melodic Records; the album attracted disc jockeys and a handful of New York and Los Angeles writers yet found its strongest reception among musicians drawn to its blend of disco, funk, Latin, and hard-bop jazz. Numerous other commitments prevented a full promotional tour, yet he still appeared on Sylvia Striplin’s Ayers-produced Give Me Your Love and toured with the vibraphonist. He replaced founding flutist John Phillips in old friend Abraham Laboriel’s group Koinonia for the 1983 album More Than a Feelin’, then relocated to Los Angeles to continue with the band through additional recordings and regular club dates while also contributing to film scores and soundtracks.
In 1985 Almario released his second album, the influential smooth-jazz date Forever Friends, on Capitol’s Meadowlark imprint. Several Koinonia colleagues participated, including Laboriel, who arranged the session, along with Bill Maxwell, Alex Acuna, and the Yellowjackets’ Russell Ferrante. During the second half of the 1980s he worked with the gospel-singing Winans family and singer Billy Mitchell, recorded on conguero Poncho Sanchez’s Papa Gato, appeared on Dianne Reeves’ self-titled Blue Note debut and Patrice Rushen’s Watch Out, and issued his third album, Plumbline, using the same personnel as Forever Friends. Two years later he delivered Family Time, his major-label debut on MCA; produced and arranged by Jimmy Tanaka, the set featured guests Larry Carlton and Jimmy Haslip. That same year Koinonia issued a self-titled final recording as the group wound down, and Almario joined Hermeto Pascoal on Brazilian Adventure.
The early 1990s kept Almario busy as a studio and live accompanist. In the first years of the decade he released Heritage, performed with a large ensemble drawn largely from his Koinonia circle plus Brazilian guitarist Ricardo Silveira, and appeared on albums by artists ranging from Luis Miguel and Edye Gorme to Jon Lucien, Linda Ronstadt, and Sanchez. In 1992 he joined Cedar Walton, Terrence Blanchard, and Joe Lovano as a regular member of the Newport Jazz Festival Tour produced by George Wein. In 1993 he continued session work, including a growing number of Christian-label projects as well as jazz dates by Laboriel, Englebert Humperdinck’s Quiereme Mucho, Randy Crawford’s Don’t Say It’s Over, and Don Gruisin’s Native Land. Two of the four Grammy-nominated albums on which he played in 1994 won their categories: Andrae Crouch’s Mercy and Cachao’s Master Sessions, Vol. 1.
During the late 1990s Almario divided his time between his own 1995 release Count Me In, work with Brazilian arranger Marcos Ariel on Soul Song, and sessions with Latin artists such as Laboriel, Billy Cantos, Luis Conte, and Tania Maria, as well as smooth-jazz musicians including Herb Alpert, Scott Cossu, and Haslip. In 1999 he collaborated with Tolú and Acuna on Rumbero’s Poetry; in 2002 the same group reunited for Bongó de Van Gogh. In 2004 he joined José Rizo’s Jazz on the Latin Side All-Stars for The Last Bullfighter. Almario issued the critically praised underground favorite Love Thy Neighbor in 2005, featuring bassist Rene Camacho, then closed the decade with appearances on Rizo’s Tambolero and Sergio Mendes’ Bom Tempo.
After moving to Los Angeles, Almario became a highly sought music instructor, teaching saxophone at Cal State from 2006 to 2008 and conducting clinics across the United States, Sweden, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. In 2009 he joined the faculty at UCLA and has also taught at the Henry Mancini Institute.
Almario’s playing explored broader territory during the 2010s. He appeared on George Khan’s Secrets from the Jazz Ghetto in 2010 and guested on spiritual-jazz vocalist Dwight Trible’s Cosmic in 2011. Also in 2011 he began an ongoing association with guitarist Kenny Burrell’s band, contributing to the High Note releases Special Requests (And Other Favorites): Live at Catalinas and The Road to Love, then rejoined Harvey Mason for the 2016 album Recollection Echos. In 2018 he performed on Pete Escovedo’s Back to the Bay, and the following year on Oscar Hernández and Alma Libre’s Love the Moment. After touring with his own Afro-Latin jazz ensemble through the remainder of 2019, he rejoined Rizo’s group—by then operating as the Santamaria tribute band Mongorama—to release Mariposas Cantan in 2020. During the summer the U.K. label Expansion issued a deluxe vinyl reissue of Interlude.
Albums
Singles
