John Longo has been working as a musician his whole life. He started playing the accordion as a child and later switched to sax after being drawn to its sound and how much soul it expressed. He quickly mastered the sax and started working gigs on a regular basis.

John grew up in Niagara Falls, New York where during his high school senior year he was asked to join a music group called the Diplomats which was a traveling show band. John was to replace the existing tenor player who was leaving the group to pursue other things. So, during that senior year John rehearsed with the group and after graduating high school he went on the road with them.

The Diplomats were comprised of musicians from the Niagara Falls/Buffalo area: George Carere (alto sax), Don Davis (Drums), Pete Hankinson (guitar), Jack Eggar (bass/piano), and John Longo (tenor sax). The group traveled primarily in the Southeast states; and later on while in Atlanta, Joe Lagano (vocalist) also joined the group. Another change came when George left the band and was replaced by Mike Shapiro (a.k.a. Mike Sharp, alto sax). After a few years of traveling, several of the members were called to the service of our country. In turn, the band broke up while being in the Atlanta area. Pete went back home and the rest of the members took up residence in the Atlanta area.

Through the years he has played with such greats as Stevie Wonder, The Platters, Billy Preston and countless others. He primarily plays tenor, but has one of the coolest sounds on baritone sax. You can hear him on a plethora of recordings and is one of Atlanta's top tenor players when it comes to soul and drive.

Pops, as he likes to be called, works around town with many groups including his son's band Nick Longo. When a group is in need of two horns, they get the call. This has led to them working many gigs together. They have been a horn team since 1980 and work up to 10 gigs a month together which is unheard of for any horn duos. Their unique sound has been sought by many bands in the studio to add that extra element of soul that has been established in the many years of playing together.

Come see a show sometime,
you'll see what all the talk is about.