Mariano was born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States,[2] the son of Italian immigrants, John (Giovanni) Mariano and Mary (Maria) Di Gironimo of Fallo, Italy. He grew up in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boston, enlisting in the Army Air Corps after high school, during World War II. After his service in the Army, Mariano attended what was then known as Schillinger House of Music, now Berklee College of Music.[2] He was among the faculty at Berklee from 1965 to 1971. Mariano moved to Europe in 1971, settling eventually in Köln (Cologne), Germany, with his third wife, the painter Dorothee Zippel Mariano.
His unusual application of the nadaswaram, a classical wind instrument from Tamil Nadu,[3] was a notable occasional feature of his work in the 1970s.
Mariano had six daughters, including four with his first wife, Glenna Gregory Mariano: Sherry, Cynthia, Melanie, and Celeste, and was step-father to Glenna's son, Paris Mariano. Mariano is father to musician Monday Michiru with his second wife, Toshiko Akiyoshi. He had his youngest daughter, Zana Mariano, with partner, Charlotte Bulathsinghla. Mariano had seven grandchildren, and two great-granddaughters. Mariano died of cancer on June 16, 2009, at the age of 85.[4]
Mariano performing with Pork Pie, c. 1976
As leader
Charlie Mariano With His Jazz Group (Imperial, 1950)[5]
The New Sounds From Boston (Prestige, 1951)
Charlie Mariano Boston All Stars (Prestige, 1953) reissued on CD with New Sounds
Charlie Mariano Sextet (Fantasy, 1953)
Charlie Mariano (Bethlehem, 1956)
Beauties of 1918/Something for Both Ears (World Pacific, 1957 [1958]) – co-led with Jerry Dodgion
