“Joseph Lepore is a fine bassist and composer who is stepping out with his first recording as a leader. This is good news for all of us listeners. Joseph has a warm and very fluid style of bass playing…Check this record out!!! – John Patitucci

“I’ve experienced something of a revelation when first playing with Joseph Lepore….He is an amazing player with great immagination and composing skills. I enjoy his music and spirit.” – Marc Copland

Bassist Joseph Lepore was born in New York and raised in Salerno, Italy when his parents moved the family back to their home country. Classically trained Lepore graduated from the Conservatory in Salerno with high honors and not too long after, left his hometown for Rome, where he joined a teaming musical scene and thriving jazz community.
Soon he began playing with some of Italy’s more prominent members and visiting US jazz musicians, including Bob Dorough, Antonio Farao’, Roberto Gatto, Joy Garrison, George Garzone, Steve Grossman, Tom Kirkpatrick, David Liebman, Mike Maineri, Bob Mover, Romano Mussolini, Jimmy Owens, Enrico Pieranunzi, Tony Scott, Gary Smulian, Elliot Zigmund, and others.

Among other activities, Lepore worked on Italian television shows and taught jazz bass performance and theory in music schools both in Salerno and Rome, with the same energy and enthusiasm, as when he was performing. From 1997 through 1999 Joseph has played with the quartet of saxophonist Rosario Giuliani. Throughout the latter part of the ‘90s, he played with Giuliani and other significant groups traveling the festival circuits and he performed at some of the better known jazz festivals: Gexto Jazz Festival (Bilbao, Spain), Jazz a Liegi (Belgium), the Umbria Jazz Festival (Perugia, Italy), Jazz & Image – (Rome, Italy), Ancona Jazz (Italy), just to name a few.

In September 1997, he competed in the Europ Jazz Contest, one of the most important competitions, held annually in Brussels. Out of 60 groups, most of them coming from various parts of the European continent, the quartet he was performing with (Rosario Giuliani Quartet) claimed first prize and were crowned the best musical group that year.

Two years later, Joseph returned to New York City and landed a gig playing as a member of Trio 65, the house band at Rockefeller Center’s Rainbow Room, performing six days a week. New York being a mecca for jazz and jazz musicians, he was able to stay employed playing with some of the best jazz artists anywhere: J.D.Allen, Tim Armacost, Ehud Asherie, David Berkman, Peter Bernstein, Adam Birnbaum, Chris Byars, Paul Bollenback, Steve Cardenas, Terri Lyne Carrington, Marc Copland, Billy Drummond, Duane Eubanks, Wayne Escoffery, Joe Farnsworth, Joel Frahm, Rick Germanson, Aaron Goldberg, Ned Goold, Tardo Hammer, Rufus Harley, Frank Hewitt, Jeff Hirshfield, Victor Jones, Michael Kanan, Billie Kay, Ralph LaLama, Brad Leali, Eric Lewis, Jimmy Lovelace, Joe Magnarelli, Pete

Malinverni, Ronnie Matthews, Bill McHenry, Eric McPherson, Francisco Mela, Dado Moroni, John Mosca, Eric Person, David Schnitter, Cynthia Scott, James Spaulding, Grant Stewart, Richie Vitale, Nasheet Waits, Harry Whitaker, Michael Wilner, Eric Wyatt, Michael Weiss, Lenny White, Jeff Williams, Richard Wyands, Leroy Williams, Sam Yahel.

Joseph had an opportunity to work in the film industrty appearing in Anthony Minghella’s film “The Talented Mr. Ripley” which starred Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow. In 2006 Lepore returned to academe when he was admitted into the jazz program at CCNY, to further hone his virtuosity, while still gigging around the New York City area. Among his tutors was the legendary bassist, John Patitucci.

Two years later (2008) he was “hand picked” by renowned saxophonist Greg Osby for his new band of upcoming talents (with which he has recorded the album 9 Levels), which provided him significant exposure, and brought him closer to record his own album. Osby had launched Inner Circle Music, in 2007, providing a fresh crop of gifted jazz artists, with the opportunity to record and distribute their own projects. But before Lepore signed on to record, he accepted a teaching grant that took him to the Ecole Nationale De Musique in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, to teach jazz performance. He had been to Africa in 2004, with singer Cynthia Scott, traveling and performing as part of the American Music Abroad program sponsored by the State Department and the Kennedy Center and in 2007, he had returned with the Charlie Porter Quartet as part of the same Music Abroad program, sponsored by the State Department and Jazz at Lincoln Center. Upon his return, he resumed where he had left off with Osby.

His debut album as a band leader, Journal, has been released in August 2010 for Inner Circle Music. Since then it has received great reviews from both the US and European media.

He has had the opportunity to perform with notable sax players Mark Turner and Joe Lovano.
In 2007 starts a collaboration with London pianist Jonathan Gee and records his album “Dragonfly”,

released in 2012.
In 2011 he has cofounded TrioKinesis with Eric Person and Shinnosuke Takahashi and together they

recorded one self-titled album that has been released in spring 2012.
Throughout 2012 he has played with tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana and has recorded her second album

for Inner Circle Music, “Second Cycle”.
In 2013/2014 he has studied with bass legend Ron Carter.

Throughout 2012-2015 he has played with guitar master Paul Bollenback and has recorded his new album “Portraits In Space And Time”, released in Sep 2014.

In 2015 he has played regularly in another sax-bass-drums trio with Tim Armacost on saxophone and Michael Petrosino on drums. In December 2017 this trio has toured and presented workshops in Sudan.

Joseph currently also plays with saxophonist Troy Roberts (Australia), trumpeter Greg Glassman (US), trombonist David Gibson (US) and pianist Silvano Monasterios (Venezuela).