They also formed THE UMANO FOUNDATION, a non-profit, tax-exempt institution which fosters the establishment of a World Federation under real, enforced international law. The Umano Orchestra and Foundation were named after Gaetano Meale, an Italian judge who came into his own at the turn of the 20th century. His tireless work in cross-cultural studies and the feasability of a World Center of Communications were explained in his 1912 book entitled "Essay on the International Constitution." Judge Meale's pen name was UMANO, Italian for human being. His concepts were first introduced to Thom & Lorry when they (by chance) found a book by legendary journalist Lilian T. Mowrer entitled "Umano and the Price of Lasting Peace." They contacted the elderly Mrs. Mowrer and began The Umano Foundation with her. The Gambinos carry the torch for her and Judge Meale's dreams to this day. The orchestra also embodied Umano's concept. It was a group of men and women from many different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and the music reflected that. The music has a unique and mesmerizing blend of power that can either hypnotize you with its beauty or make you sit up and feel its explosive groove. Enjoy!

Members: Over the years, hundreds of the best jazz, rock, Broadway, television, recording and symphonic musicians in the New York City area have played with The Umano Orchestra. We salute them all for their donation of time, compositions, musicianship and wisdom. We thank them all for their friendship.

Influences: Phil Woods, Dr. Arthur Frank, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Parker, Quincy Jones, Dr. Hoyle Carpenter, Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, Stan Getz, Stan Kenton, Maynard Ferguson, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Gil Evans, Oliver Nelson, Vincent Persichetti, Arthur C. Clarke, Aldous Huxley, Ernest Hemingway--and, of course, Lilian T. Mowrer and Umano.

THOM GAMBINO

After studies withWilliam Moore, Anthony Shunk and Arthur Frank, Thom Gambino attended GSC-Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ, where he was the co-originator of thestudent composers’ concert called “Festival of Contemporary Music.” He was areporter on the school newspaper, “The Glassboro Whit.” Thom was also foundingeditor of the music department newsletter, “Crescendo.” He was named to Who’sWho Among Students in American Colleges and Universities and the Governor’sTercentennial List.

Upon graduation fromGSC-Rowan in 1964, Thom taught instrumental music at Trenton High School andHopewell Valley Regional High School. Private studies with Phil Woods and Chris Swansenled to his late-1967 move to New York City, where he performed with Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Bob Crosby, RalphMarterie, Ray McKinley, Warren Covington, Art Mooney, Tex Beneke, Buddy Morrow,Mel Torme, Machito, Cesar Concepcion and many others.

In 1970 Thom joinedthe Lionel Hampton Orchestra asalto/soprano saxophonist, flutist and arranger. His tenure with Hamp includedtours of the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Romania, Poland, Yugoslaviaand Hungary. (Thom appears on an album called “Lionel Hampton All Star JazzInner Circle, featuring Illinois Jacquetand Milt Buckner,” released on TremaRecords (04389)-Laserlight, and is available today on CD. The recording wasmade during a concert at Salle Pleyel in Paris during that March, 1971 Europeantour.)

As arranger,performer and music coordinator on Hamp’s 1972 TV special One Night Stand, Thom worked with such jazz greats as Mel Torme (Host), Johnny Mercer, JonFaddis, Moe Koffman, Woody Herman, Buddy Rich, Gerry Mulligan, Zoot Sims, B.B.King, Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa, Mel Lewis, Cat Anderson, Roy Eldridge, TyreeGlenn, Joe Bushkin, Milt Hinton and others. Dusty Springfield and the rock group Ocean also appeared on the program, which is available onvideotape.

After leaving Hamp,Thom performed with the John Shawand Rick Wald Orchestras, Bill Watrous’s Manhattan Wildlife Refuge, Brownie’sRevenge and was one of the founding members of the Manhattan Saxophone Quartet.

In 1972 Thom andLorry Gambino formed Sunrise Artistries,an international publishing firm that promotes new music, arrangements, books andrecords. The company also offered a mail list computerization service,advertising and all other forms of desktop publishing services, as well as afull range of promotional services for artists, musicians and merchandisers.

Thom toured thenow-defunct Soviet Union in 1974 as a member of the Joffrey Ballet’s rock group, the Vegetables, the first Americanrock group to visit that country. After overcoming the State Department’s attemptsto censor the manuscript, Thom’s book, NYET–AnAmerican Rock Musician Encounters the Soviet Union, was published by Prentice-Hall in 1976. He promoted thebook on radio and television, including an appearance on “To Tell The Truth.”

Gambino is the authorof Jazz Patterns for the Instrumentalist,My Gentle Pearl (poetry), The Wooden Flower (a novel) and Sunrise (a poetry and music album). Hisarticles and record reviews have appeared in Model’s Circle Magazine and Allegro,publication of Local 802, AFM. He serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of World Peace News. Thom is also the bookeditor of Principles of Harmonic Substitution,Musician’s Manual for Chord Substitutionand Stress Points, all authored by Dom Minasi and published by Sunrise Artistries.

In 1978 Thom andLorry Gambino founded The UMANOOrchestra, a 26-piece jazz-rock ensemble that utilizes many cross-culturalmusical influences. They also formed TheUMANO Foundation, a non-profit, tax-exempt institution that fosters theestablishment of real, enforced international law under the framework of aWorld Federation. The UMANOFoundation also fosters study of UMANO(Gaetano Meale) and his work, cross-cultural studies and the feasibility of aWorld Center of Communications. Thom explained UMANO’s ideas at seminars and meetings held during and since the1978 and 1982 U.N. General Assembly’s Special Sessions on Disarmament. Thefirst translation of a work by UMANO,Essay on the International Constitution(1912), was produced and released in 1992.

In early 1980 Thomserved a stint as arranger and musical director for Esther Satterfield, former vocalist with Chuck Mangione. From 1982to 1984, Gambino was an instructor at FiveTowns College, a Long Island, N.Y. jazz college. He is a member of BMI, Local 802 AFM, and Pi KappaLambda, a national music honor society.

The Gambinos founded Pachay Records in 1983. Deriving itsname from the phonetic spelling of the Italian word for “peace,” Pachay Recordsreleased its first 45-RPM EP record featuring Laura Theodore with TheUMANO Orchestra.

Thom assistedcomposer Marty Dunayer with the filmscore for the Republic Films motionpicture, Deadly Obsession, in early1988.

In 1991 Thom wasnamed Associate Producer, Conductor and Orchestrator for the CD, video, albumand TV special called “Let It Be EarthDay Every Day.” Produced by MartyDunayer, the project hoped to benefit the environmental group Earthtrust and featured 100 young filmand television celebrities.

In 1991, Sunrise Artistries introduced itscomputer/laser generated music notation service. In 1993, Lorry and Thomprovided the computer music graphics, typeset and layout for A Singer’s Guide to Reading Rhythms byDom Minasi, and for Let’s Enjoy Piano,written by Gary Rosato and published by G.R. Educational Publications.

As an actor, Gambinoplayed a supporting role in 1994 in German filmmaker Janina Quint’s documentary on philosopher/filmmaker Jean-François Lyotards.

In 1995, Thomreprised his role as Associate Producer, Conductor and Orchestrator with Marty Dunayer for his New Age CD called“Songs of the Muses,” a collectionof piano compositions accompanied by a full array of strings, horns and guestsoloists. Producer/Engineer Steve Boyerrounded out the team. All production was done exclusively at Power Station Recording Studios, astate-of-the-art facility.

In 1995, Thomperformed on and helped arrange a CD featuring Symbiose, a Paris-based group from Zaire (Dem. Rep. of the Congo).The CD was released on Global BeatRecords in 1995. He also recorded with his actress/vocalist daughter Kimberly Gambino on compositions by Arturo Vacio, a pianist from Seville,Spain.

In 2002, Thom anddaughter Kim contributed spoken word tracks for the CD “Land of the Forgotten People: A Tribute to Native American Culture andMusic.” The Native American prose was accompanied by original music writtenby Thom’s lifelong friend, Joe DeLapo,who, together with his wife Nancy,produced the album.

Gambino’s new book, The Vagabonds: A Musician’s Odyssey,was published by Outskirts Press in late 2011.

Thom is listed inWho’s Who in the East, Contemporary Authors, The Blue Book–Leaders of the English-SpeakingWorld, Dictionary of International Biography (Cambridge, England), Men ofAchievement (Cambridge, England), Personalities of America, The InternationalWho’s Who of Contemporary Achievement, Community Leaders of the World,Biography International (India), 5,000 Personalities of the World, Who’s Who inAmerican Entertainment, International Who’s Who in Music in the Light andClassical Fields, 2000 Outstanding Musicians of the 20th Century, Strathmore’sWho’s Who, Strathmore’s Who’s Who Worldwide and Outstanding People of the 20thCentury.

THOM GAMBINO

888 Eighth Ave. Ste.8T

New York, NY 10019

(212) 246-4935

(800) 373-9615

umano@mac.com

http://www.myspace.com/umanoorchestra

http://outskirtspress.com/webpage.php?ISBN=9781432781811

THOM GAMBINO and The UMANO Orchestra

RIGA SUITE** (Composed and arranged by Thom Gambino) Solos: Thom Gambino, alto and soprano saxes; Marc Tobac, piano; Anatole Gerasimov, tenor sax.

Three Movements:

1. NIGHT TRAIN TO RIGA

2. THE CAMP

3. A SONG FOR IVAN’S CHILDREN

Thom Gambino returned from a trip with the Joffrey Ballet to the Soviet Union in December, 1974. Riga, the capitol of Latvia, had a special affect on him and he expressed it in his book "Nyet: An American Rock Musician Encounters the Soviet Union." This excerpt from Thom's upcoming memoir, "The Vagabonds: A Musician's Odyssey," explains the meaning of the three movements:

"Riga Suite" was recorded in a loft on Monday, October 18, 1976. Don Pinto’s Brownie’s Revenge, 27 strong, premiered “Riga Suite” during our regular gig at Trude Heller’s. “Riga Suite” had three movements: “Night Train to Riga” was an up-tempo piece featuring the saxophone section. I played soprano sax lead and took a solo, followed by one by pianist Mark Toback. “The Camp” was a slow, ponderous lament for those prisoners that Penny Curry saw in the concentration camp. “A Song For Ivan’s Children,” featuring a spunky ensemble section, was reminiscent of the snowball fight we had with the children in the park in Riga. Anatole Gerasimov, a recent Russian arrival, played the tenor sax solo.

The entire suite was taped in one take on a four-track machine that night and included on Don's roster. Don wanted to use the tape to drum up more work for his orchestra. He plugged my book at least once a night on every gig for an entire year.

TEXAS PEARL (composed by Jean Fineberg, arranged by Thom Gambino) Solos: Jean Fineberg, tenor sax; Rick Ulfik, piano. Bodybuilder Music, ASCAP. Used with Permission.

MEDIEVAL GARDENS** (Composed and arranged by Peter Piacquadio) Solos: Thom Gambino, alto sax; Bob Roman, flute; Mitch Endick, baritone sax; Marco Katz, trombone; Mike Holover, trumpet; Pam Fleming, flugelhorn.

I CAN ONLY GIVE YOU A SONG** (Composed and arranged by Thom Gambino) Solos: Thom Gambino, flute; Dom Carelli, trombone.

YESTERDAY’S GOODBYE** (Composed and arranged by Thom Gambino) Solos: Thom Gambino, alto sax; Mike Molaro, trumpet; Ray Maldonado, trumpet; Bart McLaughlin, drums.

LONG TIME NO FEEL** (Composed and arranged by Thom Gambino) Solos: Jim Satten, guitar; Thom Gambino, alto sax.

WAKE UP** (Composed by Stephanie Chapman, arranged by Thom Gambino) Laura Theodore, vocalist (visit: http://lauratheodore.com); Marc and Kim Gambino, backup vocals; Thom Gambino, alto sax.

IF I COULD TOUCH THE STARS** (Lyrics by Stan Bronstein and Flo Moree, music and arrangement by Thom Gambino) Laura Theodore, vocalist (visit: http://lauratheodore.com); Thom Gambino, alto sax.

** Published by SUNRISE ARTISTRIES, INC. (BMI)

888 Eighth Ave Ste. 8T

New York, N.Y. 10019

(212) 246-4935