Biography
An adventurous self-taught bassist and composer, Mario Pavone devoted decades to operating at the forefront of jazz innovation. Throughout the 1960s he toured Europe alongside Paul Bley and Annette Peacock. In the 1970s he built a profile as a forceful session and concert bassist noted for his huge tone and driving rhythmic feel. His first album as leader, Digit, came out in 1979. Starting in 1980 he collaborated with saxophonist Thomas Chapin, producing the saxophonist’s 1981 release The Bell of the Heart. Pavone’s own Shodo followed in 1982. Throughout the 1980s he also maintained an extensive association with Bill Dixon. In 1990 the widely praised Thomas Chapin Trio—Pavone, Chapin, and drummer Steve Johns, later replaced by Michael Sarin—issued Third Force, the initial entry in a run of seven internationally acclaimed studio albums that continued until the saxophonist’s death in 1998. Pavone issued his tribute album Remembering Thomas in 1999. That same decade he toured and recorded three albums with Anthony Braxton, among them the 1993 Duets. From 2000 through 2014 he placed a dozen leader albums on Playscape, including Mythos in 2001, Trio Arc in 2008, and Chrome in 2017. During the 2010s Pavone worked with Dave Douglas and Craig Taborn while also cutting two live albums with vocalist Patty Waters. After a 17-year battle with cancer, he died in May 2021 at age 80. He completed two final recordings, Blue Vertical and Isabella, during his last months.
Born in 1940, Pavone grew up in Waterbury, Connecticut and took up the bass relatively late, beginning at age 24 in the early 1960s. He studied with Bertram Turetzky and, after earning an engineering degree from the University of Connecticut, turned professional in 1965. In 1967 he attended John Coltrane’s funeral and resolved to abandon engineering for music full time, performing that year and into 1968 with pianist Paul Bley.
On the New York loft circuit Pavone performed with trumpeter Bill Dixon—who would remain a frequent partner in later decades—Archie Shepp, and Paul Bley, appearing on the latter’s 1968 trio album Canada. He also contributed to 1971’s Dual Unity credited to Annette Peacock and Bley.
During the 1970s Pavone founded his Alarca label and debuted as leader with Digit in 1979, followed by Shodo two years later. In the intervening period he met saxophonist and flutist Thomas Chapin, beginning a partnership that endured until Chapin’s death. Their earliest recorded collaboration, the large-ensemble The Bell of the Heart produced by Pavone, appeared under Chapin’s name on Alarca in 1981.
Pavone encountered a range of forward-thinking Connecticut-based musicians that included Ray Anderson, percussionist Pheeroan akLaff, drummer Gerry Hemingway, pianist Anthony Davis, bassist Mark Helias, trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, and others. Together with several of these artists he established the Creative Musicians’ Improvisers Forum, a Connecticut counterpart to Chicago’s AACM, which released The Sky Cries the Blues in 1982. The 1980s also found Pavone recording and touring often with Dixon for the Soul Note label; he participated in November 1981 and Thoughts in 1988, the same year he issued his final Alarca recording, Sharpeville.
Pavone’s central position in the Thomas Chapin Trio—alongside the saxophonist and drummer Steve Johns, who departed and was succeeded by Michael Sarin—solidified through performances at several Downtown New York venues, among them the Knitting Factory. In 1990 the group released Third Force on the venue’s new Knitting Factory label and received praise from critics in the United States, Europe, and Japan. They followed with 1992’s Anima, which introduced Sarin on half the tracks; Sarin became a permanent member once the trio began touring internationally. A one-off Knitting Factory concert with two trombonists, two trumpeters, and a tuba player yielded the 1993 live album Insomnia. 1994’s Menagerie Dreams is widely viewed as a vanguard jazz classic; it featured guest appearances by John Zorn and Vernon Frazer plus interpretations of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn material alongside Pavone’s well-known Charles Mingus tribute “Foxwoods Stomp” and Chapin originals. The group explored string arrangements in late 1995 and released Haywire with a string trio in 1996. During this period Chapin also performed in Pavone’s ensembles, appearing on the bassist’s Toulon Days in 1992 and Song for (Septet) in 1994, both issued by New World Records.
Despite the heavy recording and touring schedule with Chapin in the 1990s, Pavone still led sessions and recorded with Anthony Braxton, who played piano in their collaborations, resulting in Duets in 1993, Seven Standards 1995, and Six Standards (Quintet) 1996.
After issuing the studio album Skyline in early 1997, the Chapin trio toured abroad. In Africa the saxophonist became seriously ill; upon returning to New York he received a leukemia diagnosis. He continued recording and performing—appearing on Pavone’s Dancer’s Tales in 1997—until twelve days before his death in February 1998 at age 40.
In 1999 Pavone honored Chapin with Remembering Thomas, a focused trio session featuring Peter Madsen and drummer Matt Wilson.
Pavone’s next close collaborator was guitarist Michael Musillami. They began a series of Playscape releases with 2000’s Op-Ed, followed by Motion Poetry in 2001 and Pivot in 2002. Between and after the latter two albums, Pavone recorded several quintet and quartet projects for the label that featured trumpeter Steven Bernstein, saxophonist Tony Malaby, and pianist Madsen, with a rotating cast of drummers that included Gerald Cleaver. For 2006’s Deez to Blues the personnel shifted to include Bernstein, violinist Charles Burnham, Howard Johnson on tuba and reeds, and Sarin on drums. In 2008 Pavone and Bley reunited after 35 years on Trio Arc with Wilson on drums, also marking the fortieth anniversary of the bassist’s initial appearance with the pianist on Canada. The following year Ancestors introduced the Mario Pavone Double Tenor Quintet with Malaby and Jimmy Greene on saxophones, Madsen on piano, and Cleaver on drums. That ensemble expanded to a sextet on the next year’s Arc Suite T/Pi T/Po, which added Dave Ballou on trumpet and cornet, with Bernstein guesting on slide trumpet for one track. Pavone spent two years touring in multiple configurations as leader and sideman. In 2013 he released the live debut Arc Trio with Cleaver and pianist Craig Taborn.
For 2014’s Street Songs the bassist employed his first quintet featuring two bassists by adding Carl Testa. Recorded at Firehouse 12 Recording Studio in New Haven, Connecticut, the album drew on Pavone’s early recollections of “stoop music” heard while growing up in the multicultural environment of Waterbury, Connecticut. To honor the street music that shaped him, he also brought in Adam Matlock on accordion for the first time.
After nine consecutive Playscape releases, the bassist moved to Clean Feed for his next two albums, including 2015’s Blue Dialect, which launched the Dialect Trio with Tyshawn Sorey and Matt Mitchell. Vertical appeared in 2017 and featured Pavone with Malaby, Sarin, Ballou, clarinetist Oscar Noriega, and trombonist Peter McEachern. That same year he returned to the Dialect Trio for Chrome. The trio’s third album, Philosophy, arrived on Clean Feed in 2019. During this period Pavone toured with vocalist Patty Waters, releasing Live for Blank Forms in 2019 and An Evening in Houston on Clean Feed in 2020.
Pavone received a carcinoid cancer diagnosis in 2004. He contended with the disease for 17 years, though it worsened by late 2020. In his final months he completed two recordings that presented the same six compositions with two different quartets. In February 2020 he recorded Isabella, issued by Clean Feed, with son Michael Pavone on guitar, saxophonist Mike DiRubbo, and Sarin on drums. The second and last recording, Blue Vertical on Out of Your Head, featured pianist Matt Mitchell, drummer Tyshawn Sorey, and trumpeter Dave Ballou. Pavone died in Madeira Beach, Florida on May 15, 2021, at age 80.
Born in 1940, Pavone grew up in Waterbury, Connecticut and took up the bass relatively late, beginning at age 24 in the early 1960s. He studied with Bertram Turetzky and, after earning an engineering degree from the University of Connecticut, turned professional in 1965. In 1967 he attended John Coltrane’s funeral and resolved to abandon engineering for music full time, performing that year and into 1968 with pianist Paul Bley.
On the New York loft circuit Pavone performed with trumpeter Bill Dixon—who would remain a frequent partner in later decades—Archie Shepp, and Paul Bley, appearing on the latter’s 1968 trio album Canada. He also contributed to 1971’s Dual Unity credited to Annette Peacock and Bley.
During the 1970s Pavone founded his Alarca label and debuted as leader with Digit in 1979, followed by Shodo two years later. In the intervening period he met saxophonist and flutist Thomas Chapin, beginning a partnership that endured until Chapin’s death. Their earliest recorded collaboration, the large-ensemble The Bell of the Heart produced by Pavone, appeared under Chapin’s name on Alarca in 1981.
Pavone encountered a range of forward-thinking Connecticut-based musicians that included Ray Anderson, percussionist Pheeroan akLaff, drummer Gerry Hemingway, pianist Anthony Davis, bassist Mark Helias, trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, and others. Together with several of these artists he established the Creative Musicians’ Improvisers Forum, a Connecticut counterpart to Chicago’s AACM, which released The Sky Cries the Blues in 1982. The 1980s also found Pavone recording and touring often with Dixon for the Soul Note label; he participated in November 1981 and Thoughts in 1988, the same year he issued his final Alarca recording, Sharpeville.
Pavone’s central position in the Thomas Chapin Trio—alongside the saxophonist and drummer Steve Johns, who departed and was succeeded by Michael Sarin—solidified through performances at several Downtown New York venues, among them the Knitting Factory. In 1990 the group released Third Force on the venue’s new Knitting Factory label and received praise from critics in the United States, Europe, and Japan. They followed with 1992’s Anima, which introduced Sarin on half the tracks; Sarin became a permanent member once the trio began touring internationally. A one-off Knitting Factory concert with two trombonists, two trumpeters, and a tuba player yielded the 1993 live album Insomnia. 1994’s Menagerie Dreams is widely viewed as a vanguard jazz classic; it featured guest appearances by John Zorn and Vernon Frazer plus interpretations of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn material alongside Pavone’s well-known Charles Mingus tribute “Foxwoods Stomp” and Chapin originals. The group explored string arrangements in late 1995 and released Haywire with a string trio in 1996. During this period Chapin also performed in Pavone’s ensembles, appearing on the bassist’s Toulon Days in 1992 and Song for (Septet) in 1994, both issued by New World Records.
Despite the heavy recording and touring schedule with Chapin in the 1990s, Pavone still led sessions and recorded with Anthony Braxton, who played piano in their collaborations, resulting in Duets in 1993, Seven Standards 1995, and Six Standards (Quintet) 1996.
After issuing the studio album Skyline in early 1997, the Chapin trio toured abroad. In Africa the saxophonist became seriously ill; upon returning to New York he received a leukemia diagnosis. He continued recording and performing—appearing on Pavone’s Dancer’s Tales in 1997—until twelve days before his death in February 1998 at age 40.
In 1999 Pavone honored Chapin with Remembering Thomas, a focused trio session featuring Peter Madsen and drummer Matt Wilson.
Pavone’s next close collaborator was guitarist Michael Musillami. They began a series of Playscape releases with 2000’s Op-Ed, followed by Motion Poetry in 2001 and Pivot in 2002. Between and after the latter two albums, Pavone recorded several quintet and quartet projects for the label that featured trumpeter Steven Bernstein, saxophonist Tony Malaby, and pianist Madsen, with a rotating cast of drummers that included Gerald Cleaver. For 2006’s Deez to Blues the personnel shifted to include Bernstein, violinist Charles Burnham, Howard Johnson on tuba and reeds, and Sarin on drums. In 2008 Pavone and Bley reunited after 35 years on Trio Arc with Wilson on drums, also marking the fortieth anniversary of the bassist’s initial appearance with the pianist on Canada. The following year Ancestors introduced the Mario Pavone Double Tenor Quintet with Malaby and Jimmy Greene on saxophones, Madsen on piano, and Cleaver on drums. That ensemble expanded to a sextet on the next year’s Arc Suite T/Pi T/Po, which added Dave Ballou on trumpet and cornet, with Bernstein guesting on slide trumpet for one track. Pavone spent two years touring in multiple configurations as leader and sideman. In 2013 he released the live debut Arc Trio with Cleaver and pianist Craig Taborn.
For 2014’s Street Songs the bassist employed his first quintet featuring two bassists by adding Carl Testa. Recorded at Firehouse 12 Recording Studio in New Haven, Connecticut, the album drew on Pavone’s early recollections of “stoop music” heard while growing up in the multicultural environment of Waterbury, Connecticut. To honor the street music that shaped him, he also brought in Adam Matlock on accordion for the first time.
After nine consecutive Playscape releases, the bassist moved to Clean Feed for his next two albums, including 2015’s Blue Dialect, which launched the Dialect Trio with Tyshawn Sorey and Matt Mitchell. Vertical appeared in 2017 and featured Pavone with Malaby, Sarin, Ballou, clarinetist Oscar Noriega, and trombonist Peter McEachern. That same year he returned to the Dialect Trio for Chrome. The trio’s third album, Philosophy, arrived on Clean Feed in 2019. During this period Pavone toured with vocalist Patty Waters, releasing Live for Blank Forms in 2019 and An Evening in Houston on Clean Feed in 2020.
Pavone received a carcinoid cancer diagnosis in 2004. He contended with the disease for 17 years, though it worsened by late 2020. In his final months he completed two recordings that presented the same six compositions with two different quartets. In February 2020 he recorded Isabella, issued by Clean Feed, with son Michael Pavone on guitar, saxophonist Mike DiRubbo, and Sarin on drums. The second and last recording, Blue Vertical on Out of Your Head, featured pianist Matt Mitchell, drummer Tyshawn Sorey, and trumpeter Dave Ballou. Pavone died in Madeira Beach, Florida on May 15, 2021, at age 80.
Albums
