Joe Maini

Who was Joe Maini?

Joe Maini was an American jazz alto saxophonist.

Maini played early on in the big bands of Alvino Rey, Johnny Bothwell, and Claude Thornhill. Soon after, he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked frequently as a session musician. He continued working in big bands, playing in those of Terry Gibbs, Gerald Wilson, Bill Holman, Louis Bellson, Dan Terry, and Shelly Manne; he also did work with Lenny Bruce. He recorded with Clifford Brown and Max Roach, Zoot Sims, Jack Sheldon, Red Mitchell, Lin Halliday, Kenny Drew, and Jimmy Knepper.

Maini died at age 34 in Los Angeles. Historians and reference works usually state that Maini died playing Russian roulette, though his family contends that the death was a firearms accident.

Forty-four years after Maini's death, Lonehill issued a four-CD set with his small group recordings.