Joe Manis

"Fabulous... Will thrill fans of Monk, Rollins." -- Eugene Weekly Saxophonist Joe Manis released his first album "Evidence" in January 2009 on 8bells Records. Manis has played with Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited and appears on their album "Rise Up!" on Real World Records. He currently shouts background vocals and plays alto saxophone and baritone saxophone with the Cherry Poppin' Daddies and appears on their album "Susquehanna" and their forthcoming album "Ska Boy JFK: The Skankin' Hits of..." Manis has also played with the Ken Schaphorst Big Band featuring trombonist Andre Hayward, The Temptations, and the many incarnations of the Joe Manis Trio. He has toured Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Slovenia, Switzerland, UK, & the US. Manis received a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies from the University of Oregon in Eugene in 2005. He received a Masters of Music in Jazz Studies-Performance with Academic Honor from the New England Conservatory in Boston, MA in 2007. Manis attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY in 2005. As both a leader and a sideman, Manis has presented performances and jazz masterclasses at Whitman College, Bates College, University of Oregon, Columbia University Teachers College, and South Eugene, Sisters, Klamath Union, and Pleasant Hill High Schools, and Spencer Butte Middle School. Manis is currently an instructor at South Eugene High School and The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts, and has a private teaching studio.