Joseph Alessi Sr.

I want to thank everyone, on behalf of the Alessi family, for their kind words and expressions of sympathy during this time of bereavement. The funeral for my father-in-law, Joseph Alessi, was truly wonderful; his wife Maria sang Trees, his favorite song, his son Joe played O Mio Babbino Caro, and his son Ralph played an improvisation on Amazing Grace with Ravi Coltrane on sax. There was a trumpet choir of close to 30 of Mr. Alessi's former students, and several loving and sometimes amusing...

I was a young trombone player in San Francisco when I first met Joe Alessi. He was unfailingly kind and motivating to many young musicians.

One of my favorite musical memories is the night that I went to a concert at City College of San Francisco (I was in high school). Joe saw me in the audience, insisted I grab a trombone, and sight-read the performance. I had a blast and I owe that to Joe. He was a great teacher.