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Joe Lovano | |
|---|---|
 Lovano in 2024 at DROM (David Haney's New York Jazz Stories) | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Joseph Salvatore Lovano |
| Born | (1952-12-29)December 29, 1952 (age 72) Cleveland,Ohio, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz,modal jazz |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Saxophones,clarinet,tárogató,flute,drums,gongs |
| Years active | 1970s–present |
| Labels | Soul Note,Evidence,Enja,Blue Note,ECM |
| Website | www |
Joseph Salvatore Lovano (born December 29, 1952)[1] is an Americanjazz multi-instrumentalist. Though best known as atenor saxophonist, Lovano has also recorded onalto clarinet,flute[1] and drums, amongst other instruments.[2] He has earned aGrammy Award and several mentions inDown Beat magazine's critics' & readers' polls. His wife is singerJudi Silvano, with whom he records and performs. Lovano was a longtime member of the late drummerPaul Motian‘s trio alongside guitaristBill Frisell.[3]
Lovano was born inCleveland,Ohio, United States, toSicilian-American parents; his father was the tenor saxophonist Tony ("Big T") Lovano.[1][4] His father's family came fromAlcara Li Fusi in Sicily, and his mother's family came fromCesarò, 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, andSonny Stitt were among his earlier influences. After graduating fromEuclid High School in 1971,[5][6] he went toBerklee College of Music, where he studied underHerb Pomeroy andGary Burton.[1] Lovano received an honorary doctorate of music from the college in 1998.
After Berklee he worked withJack McDuff andLonnie Smith. He spent three years with theWoody Herman orchestra, then moved to New York City, where he played with the big band ofMel 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 withJohn Scofield and in a trio withBill Frisell andPaul Motian.
In 1990 Lovano joined Blue Note Records.[7] Many outstanding releases followed, including the highly diverseRush 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 theSaxophone Summit withDave Liebman andMichael Brecker (later replaced byRavi Coltrane).Streams of Expression (2006) was a tribute to bothcool jazz andfree jazz. Lovano and pianistHank Jones released an album together in June 2007, entitledKids.
In 2008 Lovano formed the quintet Us Five withEsperanza Spalding on bass, pianistJames 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 andloft jazz of the 1960s.[8]Bird Songs (2011) was a tribute toCharlie Parker.[9] West African guitaristLionel Loueke appeared on the albumCross 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" byBilly 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 toCross 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 acclaimedArctic Riff (2020) by Polish pianist Marcin Wasilewski.
Lovano has taught at theBerklee College of Music.[12] He taughtJeff Coffin after Coffin was given a NEA Jazz Studies Grant in 1991.[13] He also taughtMelissa Aldana, who graduated in 2009.
Downbeat magazine gave its Jazz Album of the Year Award to Lovano forQuartets: Live at the Village Vanguard.[14]
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]
WithDave Douglas
WithJames Emery,Judi Silvano andDrew Gress
WithJim Hall,George Mraz, andLewis Nash
WithHank Jones
With Benjamin Koppel
WithGreg Osby
WithEnrico Rava
Saxophone Summit (withMichael Brecker,Dave Liebman)
ScoLoHoFo (withJohn Scofield,Dave Holland,Al Foster)
WithJohn Abercrombie
WithMarc Johnson
WithPaul Motian
WithJohn Scofield
WithSteve Slagle
WithLonnie Smith
WithBill Stewart
WithRoseanna Vitro
WithYōsuke Yamashita
| With others
|
The acclaimed Cleveland-born saxophonist Joe Lovano came to Blue Note Records in 1990
