Clemons' nephew to play sax on Springsteen tour

NEW YORK — It takes two men to replace The Big Man.

Bruce Springsteen announced Thursday that two musicians — Jersey Shore sidekick Eddie Manion and Clarence Clemons' nephew Jake — will "share the saxophone role" during the E Street Band's "Wrecking Ball" world tour, which begins March 18 in Atlanta.

The new "Wrecking Ball" album, which will be released March 6, is Springsteen's 17th, and the first since the sudden death of the E Street Band's saxophonist last summer.

The long-awaited, and much-speculated-upon, sax decision also included news that singers Cindy Mizelle and Curtis King, trombonist Clark Gayton and trumpeter Curt Ramm will tour with E Street, along with newcomer Barry Danielian on trumpet.

Jake Clemons, son of a former Marine Corps band director, began performing with his family as a child, and his career was championed by his famous uncle.

Eddie "Kingfish" Manion is a longtime saxophonist with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, a group that has cross-pollinated for decades with Springsteen and E Street. He was with the horn section during Springsteen's Tunnel of Love tour in 1988, and also played with the Seeger Sessions Band, along with Ramm and Gayton.

Manion recently told New Jersey's Star-Ledger that he had sometimes been urged to "just sound like Clarence Clemons. ... But you couldn't. Nobody could sound like that. He had a sound of his own, and that's what made him great."

The decision on how to fill the Big Man's larger-than-life role in the E Street Band was not an easy one. The personal and professional aftershocks from the devastating June 18 loss have not subsided. His sax was a pillar of the E Street sound; Clemons also was the band's spiritual center.

His comrades have struggled through the healing process, offstage and on.

Last July, E Street's Steven Van Zandt joined Southside Johnny Lyon and his Jukes for an outdoor musical tribute to Clemons in Asbury Park, N.J. Instead of a moment of silence, the mayor led the crowd in a moment of noise in the Big Man's memory. Manion poured his heart into Clemons' most famous solo, "Jungleland."

E Street's equally broken-hearted Nils Lofgren dedicated his album "Old School" to Clemons, and has included references to him in live performances of "Miss You Ray," a song originally written about Ray Charles.