Dec. 20--Chicago singer Paul Marinaro has canceled the CD-release concert he had scheduled for Tuesday night at the Jazz Showcase due to the death of his father.
Joseph Marinaro died Saturday morning in Buffalo, N.Y., at age 87. Listeners in Chicago -- and far beyond -- became familiar with Joseph Marinaro's work as a young singer thanks to Paul Marinaro's 2013 debut recording "Without a Song." The critically acclaimed album featured vintage, homemade recordings of Joseph Marinaro intercut with contemporary singing by Paul Marinaro.
Joseph Marinaro had traveled with his family from Buffalo to Chicago to celebrate the release of "Without a Song" in June 2013, with Paul Marinaro singing its repertoire at the Jazz Showcase. The event represented a kind of vindication for Joseph Marinaro, who as a young man had to put aside his musical aspirations to support his growing family.
When Joseph Marinaro first heard the old recordings on his son's album, "I couldn't hold myself from crying out loud," he told the Tribune in 2013. "It's a marvelous thing to (hear) something that was put away. I had to put it away because I had too much to do. ... I didn't get mad at God because that's the process of life: We go from young to old, and we take on a lot of things that we don't particularly care for."
To illustrate the point, Joseph Marinaro cited a famous line from the classic Marlon Brando film "On the Waterfront."
"A lot of times I watch that movie (in which Brando says), 'I could've been a contender,' " Joseph Marinaro said in the Tribune interview. "That's how I feel. But I'm glad Paul's got a lot of that (spirit), and he keeps striving."
Paul Marinaro said he hopes to reschedule the CD release concert for his new album, "One Night in Chicago."
Howard Reich is a Tribune critic.
