Biography

Early life

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, Lovano was exposed throughout his early life to jazz by his father, tenorman Tony "Big T" Lovano, who also taught 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. 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.

Career

After Berklee he worked 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's 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 1980s Lovano began working in John Scofield's quartet and a bass-less trio with Paul Motian and Bill Frisell. Steeped in the tradition of Ornette Coleman, Motian's recordings show off Lovano's avant-garde abilities. 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."

Lovano's 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 (later replaced by Ravi Coltrane). Lovano played the tenor saxophone on the 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". Lovano and pianist Hank Jones released an album together in June 2007, entitled Kids.

In 2008 Lovano formed the quintet Us Five with rising star Esperanza Spalding on bass, pianist James Weidman formerly associated with Abbey Lincoln and the M-Base collective, and the two drummers Francisco Mela and Otis Brown III. Their initial album Folk Art was the first to comprise exclusively originals by Lovano, that the band was meant to interpret with intense interaction in the spirit of the avantgarde of the 1960s and the successive loft scene. Although the follow-up was not approached as such (according to Lovano), Bird Songs (2011) was a tribute to Charlie Parker. On Cross Culture, the third subsequent album by Us Five, released in 2013 on Blue Note, the quintet was augmented by West African guitarist Lionel Loueke. Lovano saw the occasion to play a variety of reed and percussion instruments he had been colleting since the late 1970s. "Ubergirl bassist" Spalding is replaced by Peter Slavov for six of the tracks, that were again all written by Lovano, with the exception of Billy Strayhorn's "Star Crossed Lovers". "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."

Lovano 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.

Lovano appears in Noah Buschel's film The Missing Person in 2008, starring Amy Ryan and Michael Shannon.

Instruments

Lovano has played 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.

Discography

As leader 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 Dave Douglas Sound Prints (Blue Note, 2013 ) 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 Antonio Faraò Evan (Cristal, 2013) With John Abercrombie Open Land (ECM, 1998) Within a Song (ECM, 2012) With Michael Bocian For This Gift (Gunmar 1982) 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 ) With Tom Harrell Sail Away (Contemporary, 1989) With Marc Johnson Shades of Jade (ECM, 2005) Swept Away (ECM, 2012) 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) Past Present (Impulse!, 2015) 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 Roseanna Vitro Reaching for the Moon (Chase Music Group, 1991) Tropical Postcards (A Records, 2004) With Yōsuke Yamashita Kurdish Dance (Verve, 1993) Dazzling Days (Verve, 1993)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]