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Ed Palermo

Ed Palermo is not a “business as usual” musician. After all, when most people think of “big bands” they think of Duke and Dorsey. But go to see Ed Palermo’s Big Band and you might hear Zappa, Hendrix, the blues of Paul Butterfield & Mike Bloomfield or one of Ed’s own compositions, loaded with lush turns and unexpected twists.

Gil Evans wonderfully articulated Palermo’s unusual approach to traditional instrumentation:

“I first heard Ed Palermo’s music in a small club in the SoHo section of Manhattan. He was using the instrumentation of a traditional big band yet his arrangements and songs were anything but that. When I thought the music was going a certain direction, it would suddenly turn a corner. Ed has the ability to keep that important balance between cohesiveness and unpredictability. Ed Palermo’s music is alive and represents now.”

Ed’s interpretation of the music of iconoclastic composer Frank Zappa has brought him wide recognition. His first CD of this material, “the ed palermo big band plays the music of frank zappa”, garnered rave reviews. Downbeat magazine gave the CD a 4-star review. Palermo’s second CD of Zappa material, entitled “Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance”, has been received with equal enthusiasm from publications all over the world, including another rave from Downbeat.

Ed recently brought his band to the National Public radio (NPR) studios in Washington, DC to record a segment that aired on NPR’s Weekend Edition show. The show featured performances mixed with interviews.

Before forming his own band, Ed toured and recorded with many different artists including Aretha Franklin, Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Celia Cruz, Lena Horne, Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Lou Rawls, Melba Moore, Debbie Gibson, The Spinners and countless others. He has written and arranged for the Tonight Show, Maurice Hines and Eddy Fischer. He also arranged the music for a recent James Brown concert at the Hollywood Bowl.

Ed Palermo: A Lousy Day In Harlem

Read "A Lousy Day In Harlem" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
November 7, 2019

Il 12 agosto 2018, sessant'anni dopo la celebre foto di Art Kane “A Great Day in Harlem," Ed Palermo s'è fatto fotografare di fronte allo stesso palazzo in pietra marrone. Il titolo del disco non è casuale e la copertina lo ritrae sconsolato, in un marciapiede tristemente vuoto, mentre la sequenza fotografica nel booklet lo vede redarguire il povero Matt Ingman, unico giunto all'appuntamento. La storiella scherzosa contiene una parte di verità. La scena jazzistica ad Harlem non ...

Take Five With...

Take Five with Ed Palermo

by Edward Palermo
October 9, 2019

Meet Ed Palermo Ed Palermo is an arranger, composer and alto saxophonist mostly known for his big band and their interpretations of the music of Ed's hero, Frank Zappa. Coming out of college in jny: Chicago, his initial plan was to become a great jazz tenor saxophonist in the vein of Michael Brecker, Steve Grossman and Dave Liebman but reality reared its ugly head, at which point Ed realized he was more interested in composing and arranging. Though ...

Album Review

Ed Palermo: The Adventures of Zodd Zundgren

Read "The Adventures of Zodd Zundgren" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
October 16, 2017

It isn't a characteristically positive sign when an album incorporates obvious humor into its credits and occasionally, the music itself. The Adventures of Zodd Zundgren could raise red flags with its title, personnel adjectives such as “Terrifying Trombones" and listing Kellyanne Conway as “Alternative Executive Producer." But a listener familiar with The Ed Palermo Big Band, Cuneiform catalog, including Oh No! Not Jazz!! (2014), One Child Left Behind (2016) and The Great Un-American Songbook, Vols. I & II (2017), knows ...

Album Review

The Ed Palermo Big Band: One Child Left Behind

Read "One Child Left Behind" reviewed by Mario Calvitti

by Mario Calvitti
January 17, 2017

Quando il chitarrista/sassofonista, compositore e big band leader Ed Palermo decise di dedicare un intero concerto come tributo a uno dei musicisti che più avevano influenzato la sua formazione musicale da poco scomparso, non immaginava certo quanto la sua vita professionale sarebbe cambiata in poco tempo. La sua big band era in attività dal 1977, con un paio di album di composizioni originali pubblicati, ma ai suoi concerti non aveva mai avuto un'affluenza di pubblico come la sera dello show ...

Live Review

Ed Palermo Big Band at the Iridium

by Bob Kenselaar
January 13, 2016

Ed Palermo Big Band Featuring Napoleon Murphy Brock Iridium New York, NY January 8, 2016 You can just about always count on a number of things in any show by the Ed Palermo Big Band: the music of Frank Zappa; inventive arrangements, richly crafted; tight, stellar playing by the ensemble; a nearly non-stop pace; and--maybe above all--a lively sense of humor. Not one to disappoint, the leader started off the first set of Friday's show ...

Album Review

The Ed Palermo Big Band: Oh No! Not Jazz!!

Read "Oh No! Not Jazz!!" reviewed by Vic Albani

by Vic Albani
November 27, 2014

La Big Band di Ed Palermo ha iniziato a suonare le composizioni di uno dei più grandi musicisti del secolo scorso, Frank Zappa, per puro e immenso amore nei confronti di quel genio poco dopo la sua scomparsa avvenuta il 4 dicembre del 1993. A parte la risaputa difficoltà tecnica ed esecutiva delle partiture zappiane, ci sono davvero ben poche band al mondo capaci di tanta fedeltà e bontà qualitativa quanto quella della formazione del sassofonista e ...

Interview

Ed Palermo: Not Only In It For The Money

by Duncan Heining
March 19, 2014

It's been twenty years since saxophonist-composer-arranger Ed Palermo and his Big Band began playing the music of Frank Zappa. Twenty years, not a lot of bread but a whole lot of love from fans and musicians alike. Oh No! Not Jazz!! on Cuneiform Records marks the band's fourth Zappa album and the third for that remarkable independent label but it also adds something new to the mix. It's a double CD set with the second CD devoted to Palermo's own ...

Recording

The Ed Palermo Big Band Releases A Blues-Rich Tribute To The Music Of Edgar Winter

Source: The Music Outpost Publicity
February 22, 2022

The Ed Palermo Big Band Delivers an Entrancing Tribute to Legendary Texas Blues/Jazz Multi-Instrumentalist Edgar Winter with I’ve Got News For You: The Music of Edgar Winter. An Instrumental and Vocal Tour de Force, the Sky Cat Records Release Features Palermo’s Swaggering 17-Piece Jazz Orchestra Joyfully Conjuring a Soul-filled, Blues-Drenched Sound. For acclaimed jazz big band leader, arranger, composer and saxophonist Ed Palermo, Edgar Winter wasn’t just a gateway drug to jazz. To a youth raised on New Jersey's shore, ...
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Recording

The Ed Palermo Big Band  Flaunts the Union Jack with The Great Un-American Songbook Vol. 3: Run for Your Life

Source: The Music Outpost Publicity
October 28, 2020

While pundits and experts debate whether the United States of America has entered an age of decline as a world power, New York saxophonist, composer, arranger, bandleader and inveterate troublemaker Ed Palermo makes an incontrovertible case for un-American ascendance. With The Great Un-American Songbook Volume 3: Run for your Life, slated for release on guitarist/vocalist Bruce McDaniel’s Sky Cat label on November 6, 2020, he turns his attention to the music of the nation’s former colonial overlords. Focusing on material ...
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Recording

A Lousy Day in Harlem is a great day for jazz with The Ed Palermo Big Band! Available now!

Source: All About Jazz
September 30, 2019

A Lousy Day in Harlem is a great day for jazz with The Ed Palermo Big Band, as the band known for reinventing the music of Frank Zappa turns its attention to a riveting program of Monk, Coltrane, Ellington, and hard-swinging originals, confirming Ed Palermo’s place in jazz’s top ranks of contemporary big band arrangers. In a radical departure, jazz’s state-of-the-art orchestra—The Ed Palermo Big Band—has recorded a thrilling program of…jazz! An ingenious arranger, composer and alto saxophonist, Ed Palermo has spent much of ...
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Recording

The Ed Palermo Big Band brings together two fave 1960s American Pop/Rock Superheroes for "The Adventures of Zodd Zundgren"

Source: All About Jazz
October 13, 2017

Ed Palermo may have gained an international following with his ingenious orchestral arrangements of Frank Zappa tunes, but he’s hardly a one-trick pony. Earlier in the year, the saxophonist released an uproarious double album The Great Un-American Songbook Volumes 1 & 2, a project celebrating an expansive roster of songs by successive waves of British invaders, from the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Jeff Beck to King Crimson, Traffic, and Jethro Tull. With his new big band project, slated for release ...
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Recording

The Ed Palermo Big Band Releases The Great Un-American Songbook Volumes 1 & 2

Source: Glass Onyon PR - William James
March 6, 2017

The Ed Palermo Big Band is Making America Un-Great Again with a Brilliant Blast of Anglophilia, transforming British Rock Treasures into Wildly Inventive Jazz Vehicles on the Double Album: The Great Un-American Songbook Volumes 1 & 2 (Cuneiform Records). From the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Jeff Beck to King Crimson, Traffic, and Jethro Tull, Palermo’s 18- piece ensemble Storms the British Invasion and Plants the American Flag (upside down). Crazy times call for outrageous music, and few jazz ensembles are ...
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Contest

Enter the "Ed Palermo - Oh No! Not Jazz!!" Giveaway at All About Jazz!

Source: Justin Vargo
April 21, 2014

All About Jazz members are invited to enter the Cuneiform Records “The Ed Palermo Big Band - Oh No! Not Jazz!!“ giveaway contest starting today. We'll select FIVE winners at the conclusion of the contest on May 19th. Click here to enter the contest (Tracking Ed Palermo at AAJ automatically enters you in the contest.) Good luck! Your Friends at Cuneiform Records About The Ed Palermo Big Band and Oh No! Not Jazz!! The Ed Palermo Big Band ...
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Performance / Tour

Central Bucks Jazz Presents "The Music of Frank Zappa" with Ed Palermo on January 11

Source: Neil Delson
December 23, 2011

The Central Bucks Music Department would like to invite you and your students to an exciting event happening on Wednesday, January 11, 2012. The CB East, South, and West Jazz Ensembles will be hosting New York jazz artist Ed Palermo, founder of the Frank Zappa Big Band. The concert will feature Mr. Palermo's (fantastic) big band arrangements of Frank Zappa's music. All three CB Bands, as well as our Central Bucks Faculty Jazz Big Band, will perform. Many of Zappa's ...
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150

Interview

Big Band Leader/Zappa Archivist Ed Palermo Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
November 16, 2009

It's got to be love, hasn't it? Why else would someone bother to transcribe 200 of Frank Zappa's tunes? For what other reason would someone dedicate himself for over 15 years to presenting his arrangements of Zappa's music in the setting of a 17-piece jazz big band, and at a loss to boot?

Yes, it's safe to say that saxophonist, composer and arranger Ed Palermo really, really loves Frank.

AAJ Contributor Ian Patterson spoke at length with Palermo recently, about ...
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258

Recording

The Ed Palermo Big Band Pays Tribute to Music Legend Frank Zappa

Source: Glass Onyon PR - William James
June 24, 2009

New York, NY -- Jazz is not dead - at least not when the Ed Palermo Big Band plays it. Part of the Cuneiform 'Contemporary Masters' series, Eddy Loves Frank is the third album to feature the music of Frank Zappa as arranged by Ed Palermo and performed by the Ed Palermo Big Band. A brilliantly original and entertaining big band jazz CD, 'Eddy Loves Frank' shows that Zappas music has become assimilated into the American songbook. It also reveals ...
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197

Performance / Tour

April 16 - Northern VA - Ed Palermo and the Army Blues Perform the Music of Frank Zappa

Source: All About Jazz
April 10, 2009

On Thursday, April 16, big band leader and arranger Ed Palermo will conduct the U.S. Army Blues ensemble in a program of the music of 20th century composer Frank Zappa. As a jazz arranger, composer, bandleader and saxophonist, Ed Palermo works magic with Frank Zappa’s music. Since 1994, he has devoted the bulk of the performance by his NY-based, 16-piece Ed Palermo Big Band to his arrangements of Zappa’s compositions. These big-band jazz arrangements are no mere transcriptions; they are ...
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“[Palermo's] wisely chosen to emphasize Zappa's early and mid-career work, as that's the music which is more fluid and graceful—and more apt to swing... reveals the lighthearted playfulness and rhythmic intelligence at the core of Zappa's best work...” —Downbeat.

“In arranging Zappa's tunes for big band, Ed Palermo has thrown new light on his legacy while retaining the composer's original melodic and harmonic designs. The arrangements also leave plenty of room for the band's gifted soloists...” —The Washington Post.