TURK MAURO
Genres: Hard Bop, Soul Jazz • United States

Controversial saxophonist Turk Mauro was born in New York City on June 11, 1944. Born to a family of first-generation Italian-Americans, he first experienced jazz when his father, Dominick Turso, performed with local swing bands in his neighborhood. Mauro (real name: Mauro Turso) would follow his father around at gigs, idolizing Louis Armstrong and other jazz musicians of the time. He began to play the alto saxophone at 14, joining the musician's union only one year later. He would hang around restaurants that his favorite musicians were known to hang out in, eventually meeting his mentor, trumpet player Henry Allen. Allen started getting Mauro gigs around the city until he graduated from high school in 1962. Mauro began work in a bank mailroom, but he could not leave music for long and eventually started playing in jazz bands again. He married in 1965, but his relationship with his wife was read more...