Mario Pavone talks about Street Stories and Connecticut

Mario Pavone (photo credit steven sussman)
Mario Pavone (photo credit steven sussman)

Mario Pavone had a three day residency at the Cornelia Street Cafe in Brooklyn. On three consecutive nights he celebrated his 50 year history in jazz. When he started playing bass with Paul Bley in 1964 he only had two years on the instrument. He also played with Bill Dixon and was a member of the Thomas Chapin Trio for ten years until Chapin’s early death from leukemia in 1998.

He has been a leader of his own groups since the early 1980s and was the founder of Alacra Records. He has also been on the board of directors of the Litchfield Jazz Festival since it’s inception and has dedicated his a part of his summer to teaching at the Litchfield Jazz Camp for the last eighteen years.

This interview was recorded on July 23, 2014. We talked about his new album Street Songs, his ties to Connecticut, teaching at the jazz camp, Alacra records and how he writes and arranges music.

He will be performing an expanded version of Street Songs with an added brass quartet at the Litchfield Jazz Festival on Sunday August 10th.