Joe Maini (February 8, 1930 – May 7, 1964) was an American jazz alto saxophonist.
Maini was born February 8, 1930, in Providence, Rhode Island.[1] Early in his career Maini played in the big bands of Alvino Rey, Johnny Bothwell, and Claude Thornhill (1951). In the early 1950s he moved to Los Angeles, where he found work as a session musician and continued working in big bands, usually holding the lead alto chair. Some of the leaders he worked with were Terry Gibbs, Onzy Matthews, Gerald Wilson, Bill Holman, Louis Bellson, Dan Terry, and Shelly Manne. He recorded in small group settings with Clifford Brown and Max Roach (1954), Zoot Sims (1956), Jack Sheldon, Conte Candoli, Red Mitchell, Lin Halliday, Kenny Drew, and Jimmy Knepper.[1] He also worked with his close friend, comedian Lenny Bruce.
Maini died May 7, 1964, at age 34 in Los Angeles, California. Accounts of his death usually state that Maini died playing Russian roulette,[1][2] though his family and several witnesses contend that it was the result of a firearms accident.[3]
Forty-four years after Maini's death, Lone Hill Jazz issued a four-CD set with many of his small group recordings.[4]