Updated: November 11, 2024
Born: July 21, 1978
Joe Elefante is a pianist, saxophonist, vocalist, composer, arranger, and bandleader.
Joe has traveled 4 continents playing and conducting jazz and musical theater. Joe founded the Joe Elefante Big Band in 2001, which was the house band at Cecil's Jazz Club for three years, and was featured on ABC's Nightline and in the Wall Street Journal. He was named a Jazz Ambassador by the Kennedy Center, and has toured Eastern Europe and the Middle East as a jazz pianist for the U.S. State Department. He has also been selected to the prestigious BMI Jazz Composers Workshop in NYC and the Betty Carter: Jazz Ahead program at the Kennedy Center. He has also musically directed, conducted or played countless theater productions, including several at the Paper Mill Playhouse and Jersey Boys on Broadway and National Tour.
After majoring in jazz saxophone and piano at New Jersey City University, Joe performed and recorded music full time for the next fifteen years before settling down to raise a family. He worked as a school teacher and part-time musician for the next decade, losing touch with his jazz roots as the years passed and responsibilities piled up. After the tragic death of his wife of 16 years to cancer in 2024, Joe realized that life is too precious and fragile to not follow his true north: writing and performing vital, original jazz music with the best artists on the scene. This realization, in conjunction with his passion for Buddhist teachings - or dharma - are the fuel that ignites his artistry.
Joe's latest project is Joe Elefante's Wheel of Dharma, a jazz quintet featuring Freddie Hendrix on trumpet, Erena Terakubo on saxophone, Sameer Shankar on bass, and David Heilman on drums. WOD performs all original material, but with a reverent eye on the past, present, and future of the music.
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Take Five with Pianist / Composer Joe Elefante
by AAJ Staff
About Joe Elefante: Joe has traveled 4 continents playing and conducting jazz and musical theater. Joe founded the Joe Elefante Big Band in 2001, which was the house band at Cecil's Jazz Club for three years, and was featured on ABC's Nightline and in the Wall Street Journal. He was named a Jazz Ambassador by the Kennedy Center, and has toured Eastern Europe and the Middle East as a jazz pianist for the U.S. State Department. He has also been ...
read moreThe Joe Elefante Big Band: Vanity Fair
by Jack Bowers
Pianist/composer Joe Elefante's New York City-based big band has been quite favorably received by the local media, and now we can hear why--well-built ensemble, impressive soloists, splendid arrangements by Elefante, who assembled all the charts on the band's debut album, Vanity Fair, and wrote everything save Ray Noble's “The Touch of Your Lips."
“Lips," usually played as a ballad, is an arresting example of Elefante's innovative approach, as the tempo is accelerated and the familiar melody bracketed by free-form exchanges ...
read moreJoe Elefante’s Wheel Of Dharma Quintet Releases New Album, Featuring Freddie Hendrix And Erena Terakubo
Source:
Joe Elefante
I’m thrilled to release the debut album of my latest project, Wheel of Dharma. This quintet, featuring Freddie Hendrix (trumpet), Erena Terakubo (saxophone), Sameer Shankar (bass), and Dave Heilman (drums), combines my original compositions with a focus on honoring jazz’s rich history while pushing its modern boundaries. Freddie, Dave, and I share a special bond that goes back over 25 years to our college days, when we first met and began playing together. Reuniting for Wheel of Dharma has allowed ...
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Joe Elefante Jazz Trio in concert to Benefit New Orleans, St. John's Lutheran Church, Summit, NJ - June 10, 2006
Source:
All About Jazz
St. John's Lutheran Church, Summit, New Jersey hosts Joe Elefante Jazz Trio in concert to Benefit New Orleans, June 10
Summit, New Jersey - The exceptional Joe Elefante Trio will perform an evening of jazz music to benefit the rebuilding of people's lives in New Orleans at St. John's Lutheran Church, 587 Springfield Avenue, Summit, New Jersey on Saturday June 10, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. The Joe Elefante Trio will entertain while guests enjoy a buffet dinner featuring favorite selections ...
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"Elefante is a thoroughly modern musician... talented, charismatic." - Dave Marash, ABC News
