Ed Palermo Big Band

The Ed Palermo Big Band is a big band that has been active for nearly 30 years playing the compositions and arrangements of their leader and namesake Ed Palermo. They are best known for the arrangements of the music of Frank Zappa that Palermo has prepared for them. To date they have released two LP records of original content and three CDs of arrangements of Frank Zappa music.

Ed Palermo
Ed Palermo started playing the alto saxophone and the guitar in high school. By that point he already knew that he wanted to be a musician. Early influences that pushed him in that direction were the Beatles and the Mothers of Invention. Palermo also discovered a love for the music of Edgar Winter while in high school. This inspired him to emulate musicians such as Cannonball Adderley, Phil Woods, and Charlie Parker. In college he switched from alto saxophone to tenor saxophone due to influences from John Coltrane, Michael Brecker, and David Liebman. After graduating college, Palermo moved to New York in order to become a jazz tenor saxophonist. At this point, an album called “Impact” by Charles Tolliver inspired him to try his hand at arranging. Palermo looked to his friend Dave LaLama, already an arranger, for advice and he began to compose and arrange music. Soon he began playing with Tito Puente, and during this time Palermo assembled a group which later expanded into the Ed Palermo Big Band.

Early years
In 1977 Ed Palermo assembled a nine-piece band to play his own compositions. The band expanded into a big band and began a three year residency at a New York club called Seventh Ave. South. During this time the band played primarily compositions by Palermo as well as his arrangements of other music. After three years the Ed Palermo Big Band was replaced by Gil Evans.

In 1982 the Ed Palermo Big Band recorded their first LP and released it as “Ed Palermo” under a label called Vile Heifer. Later the LP became known as “Papier Mache” after the first song on the album. This LP featured guests such as Randy Brecker, David Sanborn, and Edgar Winter. The material on this album was mostly Palermo’s original work, except for a few pieces that were co-written.

Due to the hassle involved in producing an album under one’s own label, the Ed Palermo Big Band did not release another album until a record company showed interest. This happened in 1987. “Ping Pong” was released under the label of Pro Jazz Records and featured much different material from the Ed Palermo Big Band’s first LP. This album featured less complicated music and more swing. From 1987 to 1993 the band alternated shows between the clubs Visiones and the Bitter End.

Recent years
The band had been playing shows of original music at the New York City club the Bitter End. After Frank Zappa’s death in 1993, Palermo decided to play a show of all Frank Zappa music. Before the show, Palermo posted up a notice for the show on an internet Zappa bulletin board. The turnout to the show was the largest that the Ed Palermo Big Band had had to date.

"Up until then, my own shows at the Bitter End were drawing next to nobody," said Palermo. "For some reason, the word got out about the Zappa show and the place was swamped. And it was incredibly exciting--people there were Zappa fanatics.”

The show had a good turnout however the original idea was for only one tribute concert. However the band was contacted by Alan Pepper of the Bottom Line. This began a nine-year residency for the Ed Palermo Big Band at the Bottom Line. For these shows the Ed Palermo Big Band played primarily arrangements (done by Ed Palermo) of Frank Zappa songs, however each show was different from the one before it. The band often featured special guests at these shows such as Zappa alum Mike Keneally.

In 1997 the Ed Palermo Big Band recorded their first Zappa CD. “The Ed Palermo Big Band Plays the Music of Frank Zappa,” also known as “Big Band Zappa,” was released under the label of Astor Place Records.

After nine years at the Bottom Line (1994 to 2003) the Ed Palermo Big Band took a break from regular shows for a period of about a year. After that they began another series of regular shows at the Iridium in New York City. This series of shows lasted for four years and featured primarily arrangements of Frank Zappa music.

In 2006 the Ed Palermo Big Band released their second CD, “Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance” under the label of Cuneiform Records.

In 2009 the Ed Palermo Big Band released their third, and latest, CD. “Eddy Loves Frank” was released under the label of Cuneiform Records. Recently the band has been playing sporadically about three or four times per year.

In a 2010 interview linked-to at Palermo's official site he states "My main focus now is our next CD which will be a double CD for the price of one. One disc Zappa, the other my original material."

Ed Palermo is also an amazing music teacher at the outstanding school, Hoff Barthelson. He is often seen parading around the school with his alto saxophone, which currently has a photograph of Frank Zappa's head taped onto the bell.

==Roster ==

Special Guests

 * Napoleon Murphy Brock
 * Gary Lucas
 * Felix Cabrera
 * Mike Keneally
 * Mike Stern
 * Elliott Randall
 * John Sebastian
 * Ike Willis
 * Howard Levy
 * Carl Restivo
 * Wycliffe Gordon
 * Deb Lyons
 * George Naha
 * Candy Zappa
 * Catherine Russell
 * Mats & Morgan
 * Jimmy Vivino
 * Russ Bonagura
 * John Tabacco
 * Rob Paparozzi
 * Tom Bowes
 * Denny Walley
 * Will Lee

Discography
Papier Mache (Released as "Ed Palermo")

1982 Vile Heifer

Ping Pong

1987 Pro Jazz Records

The Ed Palermo Big Band Plays the Music of Frank Zappa (aka Big Band Zappa)

1997 Astor Place Records

Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance

2006 Cuneiform Records

Eddy Loves Frank

2009 Cuneiform Records