Justo Almario

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Justo Almario (b. February 18, 1949) is an Afro-Colombian jazz saxophonist born in Sincelejo, Colombia. Currently based in Los Angeles, California, Almario originally began work at age fourteen performing on Colombian television. From 1980 to 1981 he performed with Freddie Hubbard's band. During the Eighties he was also a member of the Christian jazz-fusion band Koinonia (band). He has also worked with many other musicians, like Cal Tjader, Poncho Sanchez, Jennifer López and Tania Maria, among many others.^[1]

A native of Colombia, reedman, clinician, composer and arranger, Justo Almario has fused Latin, Afro-Cuban, South American, Funk and Jazz genres into his own humble offering. Mr. Almario studied at the prestigious Berklee School of Music before a stint with Mongo Santamaria as the band's musical director.

Justo has performed with Patrice Rushen's Grammy Awards Orchestra, Freddie Hubbard, Roy Ayers, George Duke, Tito Puente, Machito, Dave Grusin, Ndugu Chancler, Alex Acuna, Abraham Laboriel, TOLU, Donald Vega, Harold Land Jr. Al Mckibbon, Master P, Bebe Winans, Queen Latifah, Charles Mingus, Chaka Kahn, Linda Rondstadt, Herb Alpert, Bobby Shew, John Heard, Lorca Hart, Billy Higgins and "Jose Rizo's Jazz on the Latin Side All-Stars". Always in demand, Justo's complete list of credits and Grammy award recordings are simply too extensive to mention.

John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderly, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Bach, Bartok and Debussy are among Justo's primary influences. After evolving from child prot�g� to virtuoso, Almario taught at the Henry Mancini Institute and has mentored inner city youth during workshops at the World Stage.

A multi-instrumentalist of the highest caliber, Mr. Almario has mastered the soprano and tenor saxophones, clarinet and flute. Justo thoroughly engages his listeners with rhythmic, call and response interludes. Although he is extremely appreciative, this modest wind wizard frequently deflects any accolades, opting instead, to thank folks for merely showing up and sharing. This is paramount to a keenly sensitive artist who warmly connects with his audience on so many levels.

In 1992, while joining the ranks of Cedar Walton, Terrence Blanchard and Joe Lovano, Almario was an integral part of the Newport Jazz Festival Tour, produced by George Wein. Two years later, four of the recordings that Justo was featured on, earned Grammy nominations while Andrae Crouch's "Mercy", and Cachao's "Master Sessions, Vol. 1", were actual Grammy winners.

Mr. Almario was featured on " Let's Get Loud", a Jennifer Lopez DVD. He also appeared on "Ahora Si", a CD by Israel Lopez "Cachao" that garnered two Grammys. No stranger to Hollywood, Justo was heard on the soundtrack of the Oscar-winning film, "Sideways". In addition, Mr. Almario is featured on Andy Garcia's "The Lost City" and recent documentary "Cachao, Uno Mas", "Romance and Cigarettes", produced by John Turturo and starring Susan Sarandon and James Gandolfini.

He has also produced and recorded on Tolu's Grammy-nominated CD, "El Bongo de Van Gogh". Justo's latest CD, "Love Thy Neighbor", features his quartet playing original compositions as well as rare standards.

A man for all seasons, Justo was the featured soloist with the Los Angeles Master Choral at the Walt Disney Hall's, inagural season opener and also performed at the Christmas concert, "Celebrar", at the same venue.

Justo cut his teeth, living in New York, before traveling widely throughout Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Throughout Japan, Almario was a big band guest soloist in such cities as Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka.

Finally, Justo's stellar career was recently celebrated during a segment of "World Stage Stories", a comprehensive oral history series that chronicles the evolution of jazz.

Mr. Almario's music will continue to heal and inspire. A devoted family man, Justo's spiritual path nurtures both his creative journey and his warm compassion as a human being.


Discography

2004 Cachao's:Ahora Si (Grammy winner)
1994 Andrae Crouch's - Mercy (Grammy winner)
1994 Cachao's: Master Sessions Vol. 1 (Grammy winner)

Solo Albums:
2003 Tranquil Moods: Prelude
2003 Tranquil Moods: Forever Friends
1995 Count Me In
1994 Justo Almario & Abraham Laboriel
1992 Heritage
1989 Family Time
1987 Plumbline
1985 Forever Friends
1981 Interlude

Also Appears On:
Wave-Aid: The First Three Years
2004 ...Compared to What?
2003 Jazz from the Heart
2003 Latin Jazz Christmas
2003 Tranquil Moods [Delta Box]
2002 Latin Jazz: La Combinacion Perfecta (Smithsonian Institute)
2001 Jazz on the Latin Side Allstars, Vol. 2
2001 Playboy's Latin Jazz Christmas: A Not So Silent Night
2000 Jazz on the Latin Side Allstars, Vol. 1
2000 Latin Jazz: Hot & Cool! [Music Club]
1999 Just the Ticket
1999 Melodies for Meditation
1998 Uno Melodic Story
1996 Selah, Vol. 2: Original Improvisations of the Holy
1995 Helen Baylor's: The Live Experience
1995 Cachao's: Master Sessions Vol. 2
1994 Placido Domingo: A Mi Alma Latina
1987 Diane Reeves
1986 Poncho Sanchez: Papa Gato
1986 Koinonia: Frontline
1985 Meadowlark Records Sampler 1985
1984 Koinonia: Celebration
1982 Koinonia: More than a Feeling
1976 Mongo Santamaria:Ubane
1975 Mongo Santamaria: Afro-Indio
1973 Mongo Santamaria: Fuego

Film Credits include:
Happy Feet - (Academy Award winner)
Lost City
Sideways (Academy Award winner)
Romance and Cigarettes
Living Out Loud

Producer credits include:
Love Thy Neighbor - Produced and arranged
Rumbero's Poetry - co-produced with Alex Acuna
Soul Song - a duet project with Marchos Ariel

[edit] References