Joe Lovano


Joseph Salvatore Lovano is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist. Though best known as a tenor saxophonist, Lovano has also recorded on alto clarinet, flute and drums, amongst other instruments. 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.

Biography

Early life

Lovano was born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, to Sicilian-American parents; his father was the tenor saxophonist Tony Lovano. 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, he went to Berklee College of Music, where he studied under Herb Pomeroy and Gary Burton. 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.
In 1990 Lovano joined Blue Note Records. Many outstanding releases followed, including the highly diverse Rush Hour, collaborations with saxophonists Joshua Redman and Greg Osby, 52nd Street Themes, and four albums featuring the classic pianist Hank Jones.
In the late 1990s, he formed the Saxophone Summit with Dave Liebman and Michael Brecker. Streams of Expression was a tribute to both cool jazz and free jazz. Lovano and pianist Hank Jones released an album together in June 2007, entitled Kids.
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. Bird Songs was a tribute to Charlie Parker. West African guitarist Lionel Loueke appeared on the album Cross Culture. 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."
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 by Polish pianist Marcin Wasilewski.
Lovano has taught at the Berklee College of Music. He taught Jeff Coffin after Coffin was given a NEA Jazz Studies Grant in 1991. 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.

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.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

  • 1985: Tones, Shapes & Colors – live
  • 1986: Hometown Sessions
  • 1986: Solid Steps
  • 1988: Village Rhythm
  • 1989: Worlds – live
  • 1989: Ten Tales with Aldo Romano
  • 1990: Landmarks
  • 1991: Sounds of Joy
  • 1991: From the Soul
  • 1992: Universal Language
  • 1993: Tenor Legacy
  • 1994: Rush Hour
  • 1994–1995: Quartets: Live at the Village Vanguard – live
  • 1996: Celebrating Sinatra
  • 1996: Tenor Time
  • 1997: Flying Colors with Gonzalo Rubalcaba
  • 1997: Trio Fascination: Edition One
  • 1998: Friendly Fire with Greg Osby
  • 1999: 52nd Street Themes
  • 2000: Grand Slam: Live at the Regatta Bar with Jim Hall, George Mraz, and Lewis Nash
  • 2000: Flights of Fancy: Trio Fascination Edition Two
  • 2001: Fourth World with James Emery, Judi Silvano and Drew Gress
  • 2001: Viva Caruso
  • 2002: On This Day... at the Vanguard – live
  • 2003: I'm All For You
  • 2004: Joyous Encounter
  • 2005: Classic! Live at Newport feat. Hank Jones, George Mraz & Lewis Nash – live
  • 2005: Symphonica – live
  • 2005: Streams of Expression
  • 2006: Kids: Live at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola with Hank Jones
  • 2008: Folk Art
  • 2010: Bird Songs with Us Five
  • 2012: Cross Culture with Us Five
  • 2013: Sound Prints with Dave Douglas
  • 2015: The Mezzo Sax Encounter with Benjamin Koppel – live
  • 2018: Trio Tapestry with Marilyn Crispell & Carmen Castaldi
  • 2019: Roma with Enrico Rava
  • 2019: Garden of Expression with Marilyn Crispell & Carmen Castaldi
  • 2020: Arctic Riff with Marcin Wasilewski Trio
  • 2022: Our Daily Bread with Marilyn Crispell & Carmen Castaldi
  • 2023: Homage with Marcin Wasilewski Trio

    As a member

Saxophone Summit

  • Gathering of Spirits
ScoLoHoFo

  • Oh!
SFJAZZ Collective
  • Live 2008: 5th Annual Concert Tour - The Works of Wayne Shorter
  • Live 2009: 6th Annual Concert Tour - The Music of McCoy Tyner

    As sideman

With John Abercrombie
  • Open Land
  • Within a Song
With Marc Johnson
  • Shades of Jade
  • Swept Away
With Paul Motian
  • Psalm with Ed Schuller and Billy Drewes
  • The Story of Maryam with Ed Schuller and Jim Pepper
  • Jack of Clubs with Ed Schuller and Jim Pepper
  • It Should've Happened a Long Time Ago
  • Misterioso with Ed Schuller and Jim Pepper
  • One Time Out
  • Monk in Motian
  • On Broadway Volume 1
  • Bill Evans
  • On Broadway Volume 2
  • Motian in Tokyo
  • On Broadway Volume 3
  • Trioism
  • At the Village Vanguard
  • Sound of Love – live
  • I Have the Room Above Her
  • Time and Time Again
With John Scofield
  • 1989: Time on My Hands
  • 1990: Meant to Be
  • 1992: What We Do
  • 2015: Past Present
With Steve Slagle
  • New New York,
  • Alto Manhattan
With Lonnie Smith
  • Afro–desia
  • Keep on Lovin
With Bill Stewart
  • Snide Remarks
  • Think Before You Think
With Roseanna Vitro
  • Reaching for the Moon
  • Tropical Postcards
With Yōsuke Yamashita
  • Kurdish Dance
  • Dazzling Days
With others'