Tommy Porto
Saxophones, flutes and vocals
Tommy has ‘lived’ music all of his life; starting with the clarinet and shifting to saxophone at 14. In the 1970’s Tommy was a member of ‘Traveling Shoes’, a top 40 show band who regularly backed early rock icons and pioneers like The Platters, The Coasters and Shirley Owens & The Shirelles. Today, Tommy plays with some of New York Hudson Valley’s most innovative bands including The BBoyz, Sass and Brass, Journey Blue Heaven and Circus of Wolves.
Tommy has a wide range of musical influences. Michael Brecker is his favorite sax player for sheer technical virtuosity. He has a life-long love of Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. All three are constant sources of inspiration. Tommy attended Berklee College of Music to further refine his musical ‘chops’.
He enjoys playing in bands that work at the crossroads between different musical styles from jazz fusion to soul and funk to the eclectic mix of styles that define Circus of Wolves. Tommy enjoys the musicianship, the space for creativity and personal expression offered by the band’s original songs.
giorno is an innovative and creative addition to the band. He grew up on Long Island in the 60s/70s and has been playing and composing music for close to four decades. Although his specialty is the bass, he is a multi-instrumentalist and fluent on a variety of instruments including various guitar configurations (6/8/12 strings), guilele (guitar/ukelele hybrid), and mountain dulcimer. Joe has spent recent years focused on original compositions and free style jams, most recently collaborating with Markus Reuter and Pat Mastelotto (of Stick Men fame).