An Interview with Eddie Manion by Maggie Powell – October 2004 -
For the first time ever on CD, Eddie Manion, saxophonist with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, has exchanged his role as band member, to that of band leader and has produced an outstanding collection of mainly original material entitled, “Follow Through”.
Comprising of instrumentals as well as vocal tracks, the tempos on this excellent, début release from Eddie, range from jazz to blues to rock/pop and to soul. As well as adding incredible depth to the music, Eddie’s superb sax solos are mellow, rich and wonderfully melodious; but on the tracks where Eddie’s vocal prowess emerges, “Follow Through” moves onto another level.
My initial reaction upon hearing Eddie’s album was to look around the room to see if he had somehow snuck in when I wasn’t looking such was the clarity of the sound coming out of my CD player.
From my own perspective, I guess I’ve always associated Eddie with the saxophone that has become his musical trademark over the years; so where had Eddie been hiding his vocal talents all this time I wondered… and, I’m happy to say that while the Jukes were on the German leg of their recent and hugely successful European tour, Eddie was kind enough to take time out of his hectic schedule to answer that question as well as some others I had prepared. I found Eddie’s answers incredibly enlightening and what follows is a bit of an insight into the making of his brand new CD, “Follow Through”.
THE ASBURY PARK PRESS – BY KELLY-JANE COTTER – MUSIC WRITER – JUNE 24, 2001 – Jersey Shore guitarist is everybody’s sideman -or so it seems. Mild-mannered Bobby Bandiera could be considered the Kevin Bacon of the Jersey Shore’s veteran music scene.
Although much of the credit for the rise of the New Jersey shore rock scene has been attributed to Bruce Springsteen, the fact is that Little Steven Van Zandt had just as much influence as the Boss if not more…
