| Name | The Miami Horns |
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| Background | group_or_band |
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| Origin | New Jersey, USA |
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| Years active | 1976-present |
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| Associated acts | Southside Johnny
Bruce Springsteen
E Street Band
Little Steven
The Max Weinberg 7 |
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| Current members | Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg (trombone)
Mark Pender (trumpet)
Eddie Manion (saxophones) |
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| Past members | Tenor Sax
Bob Malach, Stan Harrison, Jerry Vivino
Saxophone
Carlo Novi, Ed De Palma
Joey Stann, Mario Cruz,
Bud Matlin, Frank Elmo
Trumpet
Rick Gazda, Deacon Earl Gardener,
Tony Pallagrosi, John Binkley
Steve Paraczky, Bob Mucklin
Nelson Bogart, Mike Spengler
Chris Anderson
Baritone Sax
Bill Zazagni
Trombone
Louie Parente, Dennis Orlock |
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The Miami Horns are a horn section best known for touring and/or recording with Southside Johnny, Bruce Springsteen, Little Steven and The Max Weinberg 7. They have also toured, performed and/or recorded with, among others, Diana Ross, Gary U.S. Bonds, Robert Cray, Bon Jovi, Cissy Houston, Joe Cocker, Dave Edmunds, Darlene Love, The Allman Brothers Band, Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow and Ricky Martin. As individuals, the various members have also worked with the likes of Aerosmith, David Bowie, Duran Duran, Power Station, Graham Parker and They Might Be Giants .
The Miami Horns were first put together in 1976 by Steve Van Zandt as part of Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes. The connection with the city of Miami is only tenuous. Van Zandt had acquired the nickname Miami, due to his dislike of winter, and consequently the horn section also became known by that name. On occasions they have also been billed as The Jukes' Horns, La Bamba's Mambomen, The U.S. Horns, The J.A.M. Horns, The Tunnel Of Love Horns, The Horns of Love and The Late Night Horns. The line-up is very much impromptu and seems to depend on who is available at the time. As a consequence it has varied in size from a duo to a big band. Not unlike The Drifters, many performers have come and gone, and even returned. However Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg (trombone), Mark Pender (trumpet) and Eddie Manion (saxophone) have been the most consistent members. Other notable players have included Stan Harrison, Chris Anderson, Joey Stann and Mario Cruz. In 1991 Rosenberg, Pender, Manion and Harrison recorded an eponymous album as La Bamba & The Hubcaps.
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes
In January 1976
Steve Van Zandt set about finding a record deal for
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes. As well as being a full-time member of the
E Street Band, Van Zandt also acted as a singer, guitarist, songwriter, manager, producer and arranger for the band, which he and
Southside Johnny had co-founded in the early part of 1975. At the time, the Jukes horn section consisted of just one permanent member - sax player Carlo Novi. However for the recording of their debut release,
I Don't Want To Go Home, Van Zandt put together a horn section consisting of Rick Gazda (trumpet), Bob Malach (tenor sax), Deacon Earl Gardener (trumpet), Bill Zacagni (baritone sax) and Louie Parente (trombone). This quintet formed the original Miami Horns line up. However with the exception of Rick Gazda, they all went their separate ways in March 1976 once the album had been finished. Bob Malach would briefly return in 1977 to play a solo on the second Jukes album, ''[[This Time It's for Real (album)|
This Time It's For Real]]
. On May 30, 1976, the Jukes celebrated the release of I Don't Want To Go Home
with a show at The Stone Pony. It was broadcast live on nine radio stations, including WMMR, and featured guest appearances by Ronnie Spector, Lee Dorsey, Bruce Springsteen and various members of the E Street Band. By this time a new Miami Horns line up consisted of Carlo Novi (tenor sax), Eddie Manion (baritone sax), Tony Pallagrosi (trumpet) and Rick Gazda (trumpet). They eventually grew into a five-piece with the arrival of Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg (trombone) in November 1976 and went on to tour and record regularly with Southside Johnny during the 1970s.. They featured prominently on the album Hearts Of Stone. In 1992 they also featured on Better Days'', effectively a Jukes reunion album, produced by Van Zandt. It also featured guest appearances by Bruce Springsteen,
Jon Bon Jovi and honorary Jukes,
Max Weinberg and
Garry Tallent. The horns were provided by Rosenberg, Pender, Manion, Gazda,
Joey Stann, Frank Elmo and for the first time, Jerry Vivino.
Bruce Springsteen
The Miami Horns first toured with
Bruce Springsteen & the
E Street Band in 1976 and 1977 during the latter stages of the
Born to Run tour. For many years it was assumed that that horns line-up for this tour was the same quintet that featured on
I Don't Want To Go Home. However research by the Asbury Jukes historian, Mike Saunders, revealed that the horns were actually provided by two separate quartets, both billed as the Miami Horns. The first quartet consisted of Carlo Novi (tenor sax),
Eddie Manion (baritone sax), Tony Palligrosi (trumpet) and Rick Gazda (trumpet). They made their debut with Springsteen on August 1 at the Monmouth Arts Centre in
Red Bank, New Jersey. At the time
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes where temporarily inactive due to
Southside Johnny suffering from an illness. However, by September, Southside was fully recovered and Novi, Manion, Palligrossi and Gazda rejoined the Jukes. A second Miami Horns was then recruited to accompany Springsteen and the E Street Band. This line up featured Ed De Palma (sax), Dennis Orlock (trombone), John Binkley (trumpet) and Steve Paraczky (trumpet) and were based out of
Philadelphia. They made their debut with Springsteen at the
Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum on September 26 and continued to tour with the him until March 1977 .
On the Born in the U.S.A. Tour the Miami Horns, featuring Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg (trombone), Mark Pender (trumpet), Eddie Manion (baritone sax), Mike Spengler (trumpet) and Stan Harrison (tenor sax), made a guest appearance at the Meadowlands Arena on August 20, 1984; they featured prominently on Dobie Gray's "Drift Away", performed as a duet by Bruce and Little Steven, and on "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out". This version of the latter song was later featured on Live/1975-85. On August 22 Springsteen returned the favour when he guested with La Bamba & The Hubcaps during a show at The Stone Pony . The Tunnel Of Love Express Tour of 1988 featured a horn section much more prominently. Rosenberg, Manion, Pender, Spengler and Mario Cruz, sometimes referred to as The Tunnel Of Love Horns or The Horns of Love, accompanied Springsteen throughout the tour. On September 19, 1988 at the JFK Stadium they also made a guest appearance during the Human Rights Now! Tour . On June 24, 1993, during The "Other Band" Tour they also guested once again at Meadowlands Arena .
More recently they have featured on the The Rising and . Rosenberg, Manion and Pender also toured with Springsteen as part of The Seeger Sessions Band and subsequently featured on . They also played with Springsteen at the halftime show during Super Bowl XLIII.
A photo of The Miami Horns playing behind Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the Boston Music Hall on March 24, 1977 can be found here:
Little Steven
As well as arranging the horn parts when they toured and recorded with
Southside Johnny and
Bruce Springsteen,
Steve Van Zandt has also used the Miami Horns when he produced for other artists. In 1981 he used them on
Dedication, an album he produced for
Gary U.S. Bonds, and they then featured prominently on his own debut
Men Without Women. This was released under the name
Little Steven & The Disciples Of Soul and the horns were credited as
La Bamba's Mambomen. They also toured to promote the album. Van Zandt also used the horns on "
All Alone on Christmas", a single he wrote and produced for
Darlene Love which was also featured on the
Home Alone 2 soundtrack.
The Max Weinberg and the Tonight Show Band
In 1993
Max Weinberg became music director for
Late Night With Conan O'Brien and when putting together a band, he recruited
Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg,
Mark Pender and Jerry Vivino. The three played until 2009 as members of
The Max Weinberg 7, which moved that year with
Conan O'Brien to become the latest iteration of the
Tonight Show Band. When not on TV, this trio has worked regularly as session musicians. In 2010, the trio toured North America as part of the Legally Prohibited Band (essentially the Tonight Show Band under a different name, with Weinberg's place taken by James Wormwood) in support of Conan O'Brien's 32-city "Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television" tour.
Other Artists
In the early 1980s
Southside Johnny temporarily broke up The Asbury Jukes, and the Miami Horns, featuring
Mark Pender for the first time, went on tour with
Diana Ross. Touring with Springsteen raised the profile of The Miami Horns and led to more work, including sessions with
Joe Cocker. In 1989 they also toured as part of
Dave Edmunds' Rock 'n' Roll Review which also featured
Graham Parker,
Dion,
Kim Wilson and
Steve Cropper. In October 1991 they played at the
Legends Of Guitar Festival in
Seville, performing with such artists as
Keith Richards,
Bob Dylan,
Jack Bruce,
Robert Cray,
Phil Manzanera,
Robbie Robertson,
Albert Collins,
B.B. King,
Bo Diddley and again with Edmunds and Cropper. The concert was broadcast live on
TVE2 and some of the recordings also appeared on the Manzanera album
Million Reasons Why.. Manion and Pender also played and arranged horns on the acclaimed
Robert Cray album,
Shame + A Sin and between 1991 and 1994, Manion was a full-time member of The Robert Cray Band .
Discography
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes
* I Don't Want To Go Home (1976)
* Live At the Bottom Line (1976)
* This Time It's for Real (1977)
* Hearts of Stone (1978)
* The Jukes (1979)
* Love Is a Sacrifice (1980)
* Reach Up and Touch the Sky (1981)
* Trash It Up! (1983)
* In the Heat (1984)
* At Least We've Got Shoes (1986)
* Better Days (1991)
* Messin' With the Blues (2000)
* Goin' To Jukesville (2002)
* Into the Harbour (2005)
*Southside Johnny & La Bamba's Big Band
* Grapefruit Moon: The Songs of Tom Waits (2008)
*Bruce Springsteen
* Live/1975-85 (1986)
* Chimes of Freedom (1988)
* Tracks (1998)
* 18 Tracks (1998)
* The Rising (2002)
* (2006)
* (2007)
*Gary U.S. Bonds
* Dedication (1981)
* Standing In the Line of Fire (1984)
*Debbie Davies
* Picture This (1993)
* Loose Tonight (1994)
*Phil Manzanera
* Manzanera Collection (1995)
* Million Reasons Why (1997)
*Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
* Talkin' About The Blues (1998)
* Xtra Acme USA (1999)
* Emergency Call From Japan (1999)
* Magical Colours (2000)
*Selected Others
* Various artists: The Sounds Of Asbury Park (1980)
* Little Steven & The Disciples Of Soul: Men Without Women (1982)
* Power Station: The Power Station (1985)
* J.A.M: We've Got The Love / Save Love, Save Life (1986)
* Joe Cocker: One Night Of Sin (1989)
* La Bamba & The Hubcaps: La Bamba & The Hubcaps (1991)
* Killer Joe: Scene Of The Crime (1991)
* Tyler Collins: Tyler (1992)
* Various artists: Home Alone 2 (1992)(soundtrack)
* Robert Cray: Shame + A Sin (1993)
* Bon Jovi: These Days (1995)
* Cissy Houston: He Leadeth Me (1997)
* New York Voices: The Songs Of Paul Simon (1997)
* Joe Pesci: Vicent Laguardia Gambine (1998)
* Various artists: Where Have All The Flowers Gone (1998)
* Lucky Peterson: Lucky Peterson (1999)
* Various artists: A Very Special Christmas Live (1999)
* Son Seals: Lettin' Go (1999)
* The Max Weinberg 7: The Max Weinberg 7 (2000)
* Ricky Martin: Sound Loaded (2001)
* Various artists: Autofocus (2002)(soundtrack)
* Sherie Rene: Men I've Had (2002)
* Various artists: Camp (2003)(soundtrack)
* Sinner: There Will Be Execution (2003)
* Joe D'Urso & The Stone Caravan: Both Sides Of Life (2003)
* Bradley Cole: In Our Time (2004)
* Sean Costello: Sean Costello (2004)
References
Category:Musical groups established in 1976
Category:Musical groups from New Jersey
Category:Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes members
Category:Jersey Shore musical groups
Category:Bruce Springsteen
Category:Steven Van Zandt
