Joe Lovano

Last updated

Joe Lovano
LovanoVlcsnap-2024-09-14-10h00m42s153.png
Lovano in 2024 at DROM (David Haney's New York Jazz Stories)
Background information
Birth nameJoseph Salvatore Lovano
Born (1952-12-29) December 29, 1952 (age 71)
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Genres Jazz, modal jazz
OccupationMusician
Instrument(s) Saxophones, clarinet, tárogató, flute, drums, gongs
Years active1970s–present
Labels Soul Note, Evidence, Enja, Blue Note, ECM
Website www.joelovano.com

Joseph Salvatore Lovano (born December 29, 1952) [1] is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist. Though best known as a tenor saxophonist, Lovano has also recorded on alto clarinet, flute [1] and drums, amongst other instruments. [2] He has earned a Grammy Award and several mentions in Down Beat magazine's critics' & readers' polls. His wife is singer Judi Silvano, with whom he records and performs. Lovano was a longtime member of the late drummer Paul Motian‘s trio alongside guitarist Bill Frisell. [3]

Contents

Biography

Early life

Lovano was born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, to Sicilian-American parents; his father was the tenor saxophonist Tony ("Big T") Lovano. [1] [4] His father's family came from Alcara Li Fusi in Sicily, and his mother's family came from Cesarò, also in Sicily. In Cleveland, Lovano's father exposed him to jazz throughout his early life, teaching him the standards, as well as how to lead a gig, pace a set, and be versatile enough to find work. Lovano started on alto saxophone at age six and switched to tenor saxophone five years later. John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, and Sonny Stitt were among his earlier influences. After graduating from Euclid High School in 1971, [5] [6] he went to Berklee College of Music, where he studied under Herb Pomeroy and Gary Burton. [1] Lovano received an honorary doctorate of music from the college in 1998.

Career

After Berklee he worked with Jack McDuff and Lonnie Smith. He spent three years with the Woody Herman orchestra, then moved to New York City, where he played with the big band of Mel Lewis. He often plays lines that convey the rhythmic drive and punch of an entire horn section. In the mid 1980s Lovano began working in a quartet with John Scofield and in a trio with Bill Frisell and Paul Motian.

Joe Lovano, Paul Motian, and Bill Frisell Frisell lovano motian by MT.jpg
Joe Lovano, Paul Motian, and Bill Frisell

In 1990 Lovano joined Blue Note Records. [7] Many outstanding releases followed, including the highly diverse Rush Hour (tracks range from solo to big band), collaborations with saxophonists Joshua Redman (Tenor Legacy) and Greg Osby (Friendly Fire), 52nd Street Themes (with a nonet), and four albums featuring the classic pianist Hank Jones.

In the late 1990s, he formed the Saxophone Summit with Dave Liebman and Michael Brecker (later replaced by Ravi Coltrane). Streams of Expression (2006) was a tribute to both cool jazz and free jazz. Lovano and pianist Hank Jones released an album together in June 2007, entitled Kids.

Joe Lovano, George Wein's CareFusion Jazz Festival 55, Newport, Rhode Island, 2009 Joe Lovano DSC0047.jpg
Joe Lovano, George Wein's CareFusion Jazz Festival 55, Newport, Rhode Island, 2009

In 2008 Lovano formed the quintet Us Five with Esperanza Spalding on bass, pianist James Weidman, and two drummers, Francisco Mela and Otis Brown III. Folk Art was an album of compositions by Lovano that the band hoped to interpret in the spirit of the avant-garde jazz and loft jazz of the 1960s. [8] Bird Songs (2011) was a tribute to Charlie Parker. [9] West African guitarist Lionel Loueke appeared on the album Cross Culture (Blue Note, 2013). Lovano played reed and percussion instruments he had collected since the 1970s. Peter Slavov replaced Esperanza Spalding on six tracks, all of them written by Lovano except for "Star Crossed Lovers" by Billy Strayhorn. "The idea [...] wasn't just to play at the same time, but to collectively create music within the music," Lovano wrote in the liner notes to Cross Culture. "Everyone is leading and following," and "the double drummer configuration adds this other element of creativity." [10] [11]

In recent years Lovano has released three records with trumpeter Dave Douglas in a co-led group called Sound Prints. He has also moved over to ECM records, largely adopting the mellow vibe and use of space characteristic of the label. He is a high-profile guest on the acclaimed Arctic Riff (2020) by Polish pianist Marcin Wasilewski.

Lovano has taught at the Berklee College of Music. [12] He taught Jeff Coffin after Coffin was given a NEA Jazz Studies Grant in 1991. [13] He also taught Melissa Aldana, who graduated in 2009.

Downbeat magazine gave its Jazz Album of the Year Award to Lovano for Quartets: Live at the Village Vanguard . [14]

Instruments

Lovano has played Borgani saxophones since 1991 and exclusively since 1999. He has his own series called Borgani-Lovano, with a pearl silver body and 24K gold keys. [15]

Discography

As leader

As co-leader

With Dave Douglas

With James Emery, Judi Silvano and Drew Gress

With Jim Hall, George Mraz, and Lewis Nash

With Hank Jones

With Benjamin Koppel

With Greg Osby

With Gonzalo Rubalcaba

With Enrico Rava

With Marcin Wasilewski Trio

As group

Saxophone Summit (with Michael Brecker, Dave Liebman)

ScoLoHoFo (with John Scofield, Dave Holland, Al Foster)

SFJAZZ Collective

As sideman

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Holland (bassist)</span> British jazz musician

David Holland is an English double bassist, bass guitarist, cellist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States since the early 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Motian</span> American jazz drummer, percussionist, and composer

Stephen Paul Motian was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, and composer. He played an important role in freeing jazz drummers from strict time-keeping duties.

Marc Alan Johnson is an American jazz bass player, composer and band leader. Johnson was born in Nebraska and grew up in Texas. He is married to the Brazilian jazz pianist and singer Eliane Elias.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marilyn Crispell</span> American jazz pianist and composer

Marilyn Crispell is an American jazz pianist and composer. Scott Yanow described her as "a powerful player... who has her own way of using space... She is near the top of her field." Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote: "Hearing Marilyn Crispell play solo piano is like monitoring an active volcano... She is one of a very few pianists who rise to the challenge of free jazz." In addition to her own extensive work as a soloist or bandleader, Crispell is also known as a longtime member of saxophonist Anthony Braxton's quartet in the 1980s and '90s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Smith (saxophonist)</span> Scottish jazz saxophonist, composer, and educator

Thomas William Ellis Smith is a Scottish jazz saxophonist, composer, and educator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Garzone</span> Musical artist

George Garzone is a saxophonist and jazz educator from Boston, Massachusetts.

<i>Monk in Motian</i> 1989 studio album by Paul Motian

Monk in Motian is a 1988 album by American jazz drummer Paul Motian, his first to be released on the German JMT label and his 11th as a bandleader. The album features ten compositions by Thelonious Monk performed by Motian with his longtime trio, guitarist Bill Frisell and tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano. Pianist Geri Allen and tenor saxophonist Dewey Redman also appear. The album was reissued in 2002 on the Winter & Winter label.

In the 1990s in jazz, jazz rap continued progressing from the late 1980s and early 1990s, and incorporated jazz influence into hip hop. In 1988, Gang Starr released the debut single "Words I Manifest", sampling Dizzy Gillespie's 1962 "A Night in Tunisia", and Stetsasonic released "Talkin' All That Jazz", sampling Lonnie Liston Smith. Gang Starr's debut LP, No More Mr. Nice Guy, and their track "Jazz Thing" for the soundtrack of Mo' Better Blues, sampling Charlie Parker and Ramsey Lewis. Gang Starr also collaborated with Branford Marsalis and Terence Blanchard. Groups making up the collective known as the Native Tongues Posse tended towards jazzy releases; these include the Jungle Brothers' debut Straight Out the Jungle and A Tribe Called Quest's People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm and The Low End Theory.

<i>Trio Fascination: Edition One</i> 1998 studio album by Joe Lovano

Trio Fascination: Edition One is an album by the American jazz saxophonist Joe Lovano, recorded in September 1997 and released the following year on the Blue Note label.

<i>Friendly Fire</i> (Joe Lovano and Greg Osby album) 1998 studio album by Joe Lovano & Greg Osby

Friendly Fire is an album by the American jazz saxophonists Joe Lovano and Greg Osby recorded in 1998 and released on the Blue Note label.

<i>Flights of Fancy: Trio Fascination Edition Two</i> 2001 studio album by Joe Lovano

Flights of Fancy: Trio Fascination: Edition Two is an album by the American jazz saxophonist Joe Lovano recorded in 2000 and released on the Blue Note label. The album is a sequel to Lovano's Trio Fascination: Edition One (1998) but, unlike the earlier album which featured a conventional sax-bass-drums lineup, Edition Two finds Lovano shifting between four different and often eclectic trio configurations.

<i>I Have the Room Above Her</i> 2005 studio album by Paul Motian

I Have the Room Above Her is an album by American jazz drummer Paul Motian recorded for ECM in April 2004 released on January 24, 2005. The trio features guitarist Bill Frisell and tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano, their first release since At the Village Vanguard in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avishai Cohen (trumpeter)</span> Israeli jazz musician and composer

Avishai Cohen is a New York City–based jazz musician and composer originally from Tel Aviv, Israel.

<i>Kids: Live at Dizzys Club Coca-Cola</i> 2007 live album by Joe Lovano and Hank Jones

Kids: Live at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola is a live album by pianist Hank Jones and saxophonist Joe Lovano recorded at Lincoln Centre in 2006 for the Blue Note label.

This is the discography of American jazz musician Paul Motian.

<i>52nd Street Themes</i> 2000 studio album by Joe Lovano

52nd Street Themes is a studio album by the American jazz saxophonist Joe Lovano. It was recorded in early November 1999 and released by the Blue Note label on April 25, 2000. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. It is named after the jazz standard by Thelonious Monk.

<i>Classic! Live at Newport</i> 2016 live album by Joe Lovano

Classic! Live at Newport is a live album by American jazz saxophonist Joe Lovano recorded in 2005 during the 51st Newport Jazz Festival and released on July 29, 2016 via Blue Note label. This is the 25th and final album in his Blue Note catalog.

<i>Trio Tapestry</i> 2019 studio album by Joe Lovano

Trio Tapestry is a studio album by American jazz saxophonist Joe Lovano recorded in March 2018 and released on ECM January the following year—his debut as bandleader for the label. The trio features pianist Marilyn Crispell and percussionist Carmen Castaldi.

<i>Garden of Expression</i> 2021 studio album by Joe Lovano

Garden of Expression is a studio album by American jazz saxophonist Joe Lovano recorded in November 2019 and released on ECM in January 2021. The trio features pianist Marilyn Crispell and percussionist Carmen Castaldi.

<i>Our Daily Bread</i> (album) 2023 studio album by Joe Lovano

Our Daily Bread is a studio album by the American band Trio Tapestry led by Joe Lovano. The album was released by ECM on 5 May 2023 to favorable critical reviews. This is the band's third release. The album contains eight original tracks written by Lovano.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Joe Lovano." Contemporary Musicians. Vol. 13. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 1994. Retrieved via Biography in Context database, May 5, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Joe Lovano - Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Joe Lovano". Grammy.com. November 23, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  4. ↑ Heckman, Don (May 17, 1992). "Joe Lovano: Following in the Big T's Footsteps". Los Angeles Times. latimes.com. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  5. ↑ Mosbrook, Joe (September 16, 1996). "Jazzed in Cleveland: Part Twelve Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine ". Cleveland, the New American City website. Retrieved 2012-05-16.
  6. ↑ "Lovano, Joe". Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians. jazz.com. Archived from the original on April 14, 2016. Eds. Tim Wilkins and Ted Giola; originally compiled by Lewis Porter.
  7. ↑ "Joe Lovano - Trio Fascination: Edition One 2LP (Blue Note Tone Poet Series)". Blue Note Records. Retrieved January 15, 2024. The acclaimed Cleveland-born saxophonist Joe Lovano came to Blue Note Records in 1990
  8. ↑ Cf. Folk Art on Lovano's homepage.
  9. ↑ About Bird Songs on Lovano's homepage.
  10. ↑ Eugene Holley Jr. (January 15, 2013). "Joe Lovano Us Five at Longwood Gardens". Philadelphia Weekly. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  11. ↑ About Cross Culture on Lovano's homepage.
  12. ↑ Small, Mark. "Joe Lovano '72 Will Be First to Occupy Gary Burton Chair in Jazz Performance". Berklee Today. Retrieved November 22, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Clinics/Education Jeff Coffin Music". Jeffcoffin.com. Archived from the original on March 22, 2010. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  14. ↑ Yanow, S. Allmusic Review accessed July 21, 2011
  15. ↑ Joe Lovano. "Pearl Silver body and Gold 24K keys". borgani.eu. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  16. ↑ Paul Verna (January 25, 1997). "Reviews & Previews". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 59. ISSN   0006-2510.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.