E.J.N. - JOE LOVANO

Joe Lovano was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1952, and began playing alto sax as a child. A prophetic early family photo is of the infant Joe cradled in his mother's arms along with a sax. His father, tenor saxophonist Tony "Big T" Lovano, schooled Joe not only in the basics but in dynamics and interpretation, and regularly exposed him to jazz artists traveling through such as Sonny Stitt, James Moody, Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Young, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. While still a teenager he immersed himself in the jam-session culture of Cleveland where organ trios were common and Texas tenor throw-downs a rite of passage. In high school he began to absorb the free jazz experiments of Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane and Jimmy Giuffre, and was greatly affected by the interaction which occurred between the musicians.

Upon graduation from high school he attended the famed Berklee School of Music in Boston where he met and began playing with such future collaborators as John Scofield, Bill Frisell, and Kenny Werner. He had been searching for a way to incorporate the fire and spirituality of late-period John Coltrane into more traditional settings. At Berklee he discovered modal harmony: "My training was all be-bop, and suddenly there were these open forms with deceptive resolutions. That turned me on, the combination of that sound and what I came in there with. I knew what I wanted to work on after that." In 1994 Joe was given the prestigious "Distinguished Alumni Award" from Berklee.
Joe's first professional job after Berklee was, not surprisingly given his roots, with organist Lonnie Smith, which brought him to New York for his recording debut, followed by a stint with Brother Jack McDuff. This segued into a three year tour with the Woody Herman Thundering Herd from 1976 to 1979, culminating in "The 40th Anniversary Concert" at Carnegie Hall, which also featured Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Flip Phillips and Al Cohn.

After leaving the Herman Herd Joe settled in New York City where he continues to live. His early years there were filled with jam sessions and rent gigs, but eventually he joined the Mel Lewis Orchestra for its regular Monday night concert at the Village Vanguard, playing from 1980 to 1992 and recording six albums with the Orchestra. In addition he worked with Elvin Jones, Carla Bley, Lee Konitz, Charlie Haden and Bob Brookmeyer, among others, eventually joining the modern drummer Paul Motion's band in 1981.

His first high-profile gig that brought him national attention was with guitarist John Scofield's Quartet, with whom he recorded and toured for three years. Of his playing Scofield says, "He's very sonically aware - he thinks about the effect different instruments and different personalities will have. He was perfect for what I was doing - his sense of swing and his tone reminded me of the older guys, in a really positive way." He gained further exposure and renown, particularly in Europe, through his work in the trailblazing Paul Motian Trio, which also features former Berklee classmate, guitarist Bill Frisell.

Beginning in 1991 with his first engagement as a leader (at the Village Vanguard), Joe has experimented with different ensembles which reflect his searching and dynamic personality. As much a composer as player, Joe is constantly seeking new ways to express his muse. His second Blue Note album Universal Language features the soprano voice of Judi Silvano, whose wordless vocals mesh beautifully in both ensemble and improvised passages with Joe, as well as trumpeter Tim Hagans and pianist Kenny Werner. The critical response to the Sextet's album and live concerts has been extraordinary, with Down Beat giving it a five star review which was considered so exceptional it was reprinted in their recent 60th Anniversary Issue. His next album, the 1994 release Tenor Legacy (Blue Note 27014), features tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman, and received wide critical acclaim, culminating in a Grammy nomination for "Best Jazz Small Group Recording."

Predictably unpredictable, Joe's Rush Hour (Blue Note 29629), released in early 1995, reflects his restless searching and desire to expand his musical palette. It features his tenor saxophone with voice, string and woodwind ensembles arranged and conducted by the legendary Gunther Schuller, in compositions by Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman, Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Gunther Schuller and Joe Lovano. As CD Review's "Disc of the Month", stated, "Music doesn't get any better than this. This disc is a wonder." In support of this historic release Joe toured most of 1995 with a group created to perform music from the album. Called the "Symbiosis Quintet" it features Joe along with voice, cello, bass and drums.

Joe Lovano ended 1996 with, Quartets at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note 29125 2), winning "Jazz Album of the Year" in the 1996 Down Beat Readers Poll. Recorded at two separate engagements at the historic Village Vanguard in New York City, the special set features Joe with Mulgrew Miller, Christian McBride and Lewis Nash on one CD, and with Tom Harrell, Anthony Cox and Billy Hart on the other. Down Beat Magazine's five-star review says simply "The Vanguard sessions are extraordinary." Joe and Gunther subsequently collaborated on the score for a Showtime movie, "Face Down'" which starred Joe Montegna.

Joe began 1997 with two Grammy nominations for the Village Vanguard recording and the release of his most eagerly anticipated Celebrating Sinatra (Blue Note CDP 37718) with Joe's tenor sax surrounded by string quartet, woodwind quintet, voice and rhythm section in arrangements by Manny Albam. As Peter Watrous in the New York Times observed, "It's a perfectly balanced piece of work, quiet chamber jazz at its best, with Mr. Lovano's odd phrasing, with its halts and velocity, taking the music somewhere new."

Joe Lovano began 1998 with yet another Grammy nomination for Joe Lovano Celebrating Sinatra and the release of yet another completely different recording, Flying Colors (Blue Note CDP 56092), a duo album with the great Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba. In a four star review the Los Angeles Times said, "Each piece reveals yet another perspective on the talent of two extraordinary players, clearly inspired by the setting and each other, creating some of the finest jazz in recent memory."

Joe's release Trio Fascination (Blue Note 33142) features what is arguably the finest rhythm section in jazz, drummer Elvin Jones and bassist Dave Holland. The Times of London noted "In Joe Lovano, a player firmly grounded in swing values yet discerningly alive to subsequent developments from Charlie Parker through Coltrane to Ornette Coleman, the trio format has found one of its most natural exponents since Sonny Rollins or Joe Henderson. . . this is state-of-the-art trio jazz."

A recent collaboration is Friendly Fire (Blue Note 98125) with reedman Greg Osby in a high-energy exchange that echoes the great sax duels of the Fifties.
His latest collaboration project, 52nd Street Themes (Blue Note 96667) holds a deep, personal meaning for Joe. It's as if he has worked his entire life to prepare for the work of this past year - culminating in the rich, expansive Nonet charts of 52nd Street Themes.
Of special interest to music schools and departments will be the opportunity to bring in Joe with his trio and then add six student musicians for workshops and residencies focused around the project. Joe says, "When we play gigs, it's going to be combinations of the Nonet throughout the evening, not just the band sound all the time. Each personality in the ensemble emerges as a solo voice; I wanted a band where everybody isn't just sitting around playing parts - everyone contributes to this joyous celebration. It's organized in a way where we're trying to shape the music together and complement each other. You see for me this Nonet is the beginning of something special, a traveling ensemble where we can draw upon players and the amazing amount of repertoire that's out there. 52nd Street Themes is the beginning of something that's going to grow. It's all about playing together-the community of musicians, and how we can create music as an ensemble."

Critics' Choice

"Move over Pavarotti, the greatest Italian tenor around today isn't Luciano, but Lovano." - Will Friedwald, The Village Voice

"Lovano . . . fully justifies the growing view of him as an important, world-class jazz talent." - Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times

"the most heralded jazz musician of 1995." - Bob Blumenthal, Boston Globe

"A master of his Promethean craft, the tenor saxophonist strikes a balance between passion and intellect as he ventures from the touchstone of lyricism to the outer limits of free expression." - Steve Dollar, Atlanta Journal

"he is surely one of the most exciting, a sublimely confident player with provocative musical ideas and the vigor to bring them crying forth." - Steve Dollar, Atlanta Journal

"... a savior has been slowly materializing in the Nineties-the astonishing tenor saxophonist and composer Joe Lovano." - Whitney Balliett, The New Yorker

"No matter the mood or the tempo, Lovano delivered the kind of play that made one forget his prodigious technique and instead fall under the spell of his continually unfolding story line." - Bill Kohlhaase, Los Angeles Times

September 2002

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