Joe Lovano

Joe Lovano
Photo by Ed Newman
Background information
Birth name	Joseph Salvatore Lovano
Born	(1952-12-29) December 29, 1952 Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Genres	Post bop
Instruments	Tenor saxophone Alto saxophone C melody saxophone Clarinet Flute
Associated acts	Saxophone Summit SFJAZZ Collective McCoy Tyner Quartet Shades of Jazz
Notable instruments
Tenor saxophone

Joseph Salvatore "Joe" Lovano (born December 29, 1952) is an American post bop jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer. Since the late 1980s, Lovano has been one of the world's premiere tenor saxophone players, earning a Grammy Award and several mentions on Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' polls. He is married to jazz singer Judi Silvano.

Biography

Lovano was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Sicilian-American parents. His father's family came from the town of Alcara Li Fusi in Sicily, and his mother's family came from Cesarò, also in Sicily. In Cleveland, Ohio, Lovano was exposed throughout his early life to jazz by his father, Tony "Big T" Lovano. John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, and Sonny Stitt were among his earlier influences. After graduating from Euclid High School in 1971, he developed further at Berklee College of Music where he studied under Herb Pomeroy and Gary Burton, then served a big band apprenticeship with Woody Herman's Thundering Herd and the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra.

Cleveland tenorman "Big T" Lovano was his son's first inspiration, teaching him all the standards, how to lead a gig, pace a set, and be versatile enough to always find work. Joe started on alto at age six and switched to tenor five years later. He attended Berklee college of music before working with Jack McDuff and Dr. Lonnie Smith. After three years with Woody Herman's orchestra, Lovano moved to New York and began playing regularly with Mel Lewis’ Big Band. This influence is still present in his solos. He often plays lines that convey the rhythmic drive and punch of an entire horn section.

In the early ‘80s he began working in John Scofield’s quartet and a bass-less trio with Paul Motian and Bill Frisell. Steeped in the tradition^{[citation needed]} of Ornette Coleman, Motian’s recordings show off Lovano’s avant-garde abilities. Lovano has enduring musical partnerships with John Scofield and Paul Motian, having participated in some of their more noteworthy projects over the years. In 1993, at the suggestion of musicologist Gunther Schuller, fellow Clevelander and bebop guitarist Bill DeArango recorded the album "Anything Went" with Lovano. "He was a major mentor for all of us round here," said Lovano. In 1999, having developed dementia, DeArango was taken into a nursing home, where Lovano visited him on December 26, 2005. Two hours after Lovano left, DeArango died. "He knew we were there," said Lovano. "His heartbeat raced. He knew we were there."

He is currently a jazz artist on the international level. His live work, specifically Quartets: Live at the Village Vanguard, garnered a Down Beat "Jazz Album of the Year" award. Other releases include Trio Fascination and 52nd Street Themes. In the late 1990s, he formed the Saxophone Summit with Dave Liebman and Michael Brecker (now deceased, replaced with Ravi Coltrane). He played the tenor saxophone on the critically acclaimed 2007 McCoy Tyner album Quartet. In 2006 Lovano released Streams Of Expression, a tribute to cool jazz and free jazz. He did this with the help of Gunther Schuller who contributed his "Birth Of The Cool Suite". Joe Lovano and Hank Jones released an album together in June 2007 entitled Kids. Lovano also currently leads his Us Five quintet with Esperanza Spalding, James Weidman, Francisco Mela, Otis Brown and occasionally Peter Slavov.

He has been the teacher of Jeff Coffin after the latter received an NEA Jazz Studies Grant in 1991. He currently holds the Gary Burton Chair in Jazz Performance at Berklee College of Music.

Joe Lovano has been playing Borgani saxophones since 1991 and exclusively since 1999. He has his own series called Borgani-Lovano, which uses Pearl-Silver Alloy with Gold 24K keys.

He appears in Noah Buschel's film The Missing Person, with Academy Award Nominees Amy Ryan and Michael Shannon.

In his late Us Five quintet, which consists of two drummers, Otis Brown, III and Francisco Mela, pianist James Weidman and bassist Esperanza Spalding, Loevano has published two albums on Blue Note Records: Bird Songs (2011) and Cross Culture (2012).


Discography

As leader

Joe Lovano, Paul Motian and Bill Frisell

• Tones, Shapes & Colors (Soul Note, 1985)
• Hometown Sessions (JSL, 1986)
• Solid Steps (Jazz Club, 1986)
• Village Rhythm (Soul Note, 1988)
• Worlds (Evidence, 1989)
• Landmarks (Blue Note, 1990)
• Sounds of Joy (Enja, 1991)
• From the Soul (Blue Note, 1991)
• Universal Language (Blue Note, 1992)
• Tenor Legacy (Blue Note, 1993)
• Quartets: Live at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note, 1994)
• Rush Hour (Blue Note, 1994)
• Ten Tales (Sunnyside, 1994)
• Celebrating Sinatra (Blue Note, 1996)
• Tenor Time (Somethin' Else, 1996)
• Trio Fascination: Edition One (Blue Note, 1998)
• 52nd Street Themes (Blue Note, 2000)
• Flights of Fancy: Trio Fascination Edition Two (Blue Note, 2001)
• Viva Caruso (Blue Note, 2002)
• On This Day ... at the Vanguard (Blue Note, 2003)
• I'm All for You (Blue Note, 2004)
• Joyous Encounters (Blue Note, 2005)
• Streams of Expression (Blue Note, 2006)
• Symphonica (Blue Note, 2008)
• Folk Art (Blue Note, 2009)
• Bird Songs (Blue Note, 2011) with Us Five
• Cross Culture (Blue Note, 2013) with Us Five

As co-leader

With James Emery, Judi Silvano, and Drew Gress

• Fourth World (Between the Lines, 2001)

With Jim Hall, George Mraz, and Lewis Nash

• Grand Slam: Live at the Regatta Bar (Telarc,2000)

With Hank Jones

• Kids: Live at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola (Blue Note, 2007)

With Greg Osby

• Friendly Fire (Blue Note, 1999)

With Gonzalo Rubalcaba

• Flying Colors (Blue Note, 1997)

With Saxophone Summit (Michael Brecker, Dave Liebman)

• Gathering of Spirits (Telarc, 2004)

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

• Oh! (Blue Note, 2003)

As sideman

With John Abercrombie

• Open Land (ECM, 1998)

With Furio di Castri

• Unknown Voyage (A Témpo, 1985)

With Peter Erskine

• Sweet Soul (Novus/BMG, 1991)

With Charlie Haden

• The Montreal Tapes: Liberation Music Orchestra (Verve, 1989 [1999])

With Marc Johnson

• Shades of Jade (ECM, 2005)

With Steve Kuhn

• Mostly Coltrane (ECM, 2008)

With Masada Quintet

• Stolas: Book of Angels Volume 12 (Tzadik, 2009)

With Paul Motian

• Psalm with Ed Schuller and Billy Drewes (ECM, 1982)
• The Story of Maryam with Ed Schuller and Jim Pepper (Soul Note, 1984)
• Jack of Clubs with Ed Schuller and Jim Pepper (Soul Note, 1985)
• It Should've Happened a Long Time Ago (ECM, 1985)
• Misterioso with Ed Schuller and Jim Pepper (Soul Note, 1986)
• One Time Out (Soul Note, 1987)
• Monk in Motian (JMT, 1988) trio + guests
• On Broadway Volume 1 (JMT, 1989)
• Bill Evans (JMT, 1990)
• On Broadway Volume 2 (JMT, 1990)
• Motian in Tokyo (JMT, 1991)
• On Broadway Volume 3 (JMT, 1993)
• Trioism (JMT, 1993) trio + guest
• At the Village Vanguard (JMT, 1995) trio
• Sound of Love (JMT, 1995) trio (live)
• I Have the Room Above Her (ECM, 2004) trio
• Time and Time Again (ECM, 2006) trio

With John Scofield

• Time on My Hands (Blue Note, 1990)
• Meant to Be (Blue Note, 1991)
• What We Do (Blue Note, 1993)

With Dan Silverman

• Silverslide (Around the Slide, 2007)

With Bill Stewart

• Snide Remarks (Blue Note, 1995)
• Think Before You Think (Evidence, 1998)

With McCoy Tyner

• Quartet (2007)

With Yōsuke Yamashita

• Kurdish Dance (Verve, 1993)
• Dazzling Days (Verve, 1993)

External links

• Official website
• Streams of Expression Video Scrapbook
• Borgani saxophones - as played by J.Lovano
• Joe Lovano at NPR Music
• Podcast featuring "The One You Love to Hate" performed by Joe Lovano