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Joe Elefante

Keeping a reverent eye on the past, present, and future of the music.

About Me

Joe Elefante is a pianist, saxophonist, vocalist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. ”Elefante is a thoroughly modern musician... talented, charismatic.” - Dave Marash, ABC News

Joe has traveled 4 continents playing and conducting jazz and musical theater. Joe founded the Joe Elefante Big Band in 2001, which was the house band at Cecil's Jazz Club for three years, and was featured on ABC's Nightline and in the Wall Street Journal. He was named a Jazz Ambassador by the Kennedy Center, and has toured Eastern Europe and the Middle East as a jazz pianist for the U.S. State Department. He has also been selected to the prestigious BMI Jazz Composers Workshop in NYC and the Betty Carter: Jazz Ahead program at the Kennedy Center. He has also musically directed, conducted or played countless theater productions, including several at the Paper Mill Playhouse and Jersey Boys on Broadway and National Tour.

After majoring in jazz saxophone and piano at New Jersey City University, Joe performed and recorded music full time for the next fifteen years before settling down to raise a family. He worked as a school teacher and part-time musician for the next decade, losing touch with his jazz roots as the years passed and responsibilities piled up. After the tragic death of his wife of 16 years to cancer in 2024, Joe realized that life is too precious and fragile to not follow his true north: writing and performing vital, original jazz music with the best artists on the scene. This realization, in conjunction with his passion for Buddhist teachings - or dharma - are the fuel that ignites his artistry.

Joe's latest project is Joe Elefante's Wheel of Dharma, a jazz quintet featuring Freddie Hendrix on trumpet, Erena Terakubo on saxophone, Sameer Shankar on bass, and David Heilman on drums. WOD performs all original material, but with a reverent eye on the past, present, and future of the music.

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