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Joe Lovano

Grammy-winning saxophonist, composer and producer Joe Lovano is fearless in finding new modes of artistic expression. With a Grammy Win for his 52nd Street Themes and 14 other nominations, he has won Down Beat Magazine’s Critics and Readers Polls countless times as Tenor Saxophonist, Musician of the Year, Jazz Album of the Year and Triple Crowns from Downbeat. He has also gotten numerous awards from Jazz Times and the Jazz Journalists Association for Tenor Saxophone, Album of the Year and Musician of the Year.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio on December 29, 1952 he attended the famed Berklee College of Music in Boston where years later he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate. Since 2001 he has held the Gary Burton Chair in Jazz Performance and is a founding faculty member since 2009 of the Global Jazz Institute at Berklee directed by Danilo Perez. He is a guest lecturer at New York University’s Jazz Program, Juilliard and Manhattan School of Music as well as Clinician at Universities around the globe.

He has toured with jazz greats such as Woody Herman Thundering Herd, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Jack McDuff, Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, Paul Motian Trio, Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra, Carla Bley Band, Elvin Jones Jazz Machine, Saxophone Summit and has created a body of work for his own large ensembles including strings, woodwinds, voice as well as his Horn-rich Nonet and more recently his UsFive group with double drummers which has been gathering kudos world-wide!

Since 1991 Lovano has been recording as a leader for Blue Note Records. “Joe Lovano Quartet: Classic! Live at Newport” featuring Hank Jones was recorded in 2005 and released in 2016 marking his 25th recording for the label.

Joe has also performed and recorded with a long list of jazz greats including Woody Herman, Mel Lewis, Bob Brookmeyer, Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, Tony Bennett, Abbey Lincoln, Charlie Haden, John Scofield, Gunther Schuller, Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Ed Blackwell, Herbie Hancock, Dave Holland, Hank Jones, Dave Liebman, Michael Brecker, Dave Douglas, Judi Silvano, Ravi Coltrane, Chucho Valdez, Ornette Coleman and many others.

In addition, composer Mark Anthony Turnage wrote a Concerto for Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra for Joe called “A Man Descending” which has been performed globally and Maestro Michael Abene orchestrated an album of all-Lovano originals called “Symphonica” for the WDR Symphonic Orchestra and Big Band, which was released on Blue Note and received a Grammy nomination.

Joe Lovano continues to explore new horizons within the world of music as a soloist, band leader and composer.

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Live Review

Tribute to Monk at Smoke Jazz Club

Read "Tribute to Monk at Smoke Jazz Club" reviewed by Paul Reynolds


Tribute to Monk Smoke Jazz and Supper Club New York, NY October 25, 2024 Jazz demonstrated its resilience on Friday at Smoke. At 4.30 pm on that day, tenorist and bandleader Joe Lovano got the bad news that master drummer {m: Al Foster was not going to make the gig that night. Serendipity intervened. Bill Stewart was in town and available, and the shows proceeded, albeit with no rehearsal with the new drummer ...

Live Review

Bergamo Jazz Festival 2024

Read "Bergamo Jazz Festival 2024" reviewed by Vincenzo Roggero


Bergamo Jazz Festival Bergamo Varie sedi 21-24.3.2024 La quarantacinquesima edizione di Bergamo Jazz coincide con il passaggio di testimone nella direzione artistica da Maria Pia De Vito allo statunitense Joe Lovano, più volte ospite come musicista della rassegna orobica. La formula è quella consolidata da anni: tre serate con doppio concerto al Teatro Donizetti, l'utilizzo di una serie di location dislocate tra città alta e città bassa, che recuperano luoghi storici e suggestivi, e la ...

Interview

Joe Lovano: da New York a Bergamo

Read "Joe Lovano: da New York a Bergamo" reviewed by Libero Farnè


Joe Lovano è di casa in Italia. Non so quanto in questo possa influire l'origine siciliana della sua famiglia; penso che la ragione sia da ricercare piuttosto, oltre che nell'estroversa giovialità del carattere, nella sua vocazione di globetrotter che lo ha portato in ogni angolo del mondo con le più svariate formazioni, sue o di altri leader. In una delle sue prime apparizioni italiane, nel novembre 1990, partecipò a Jazz'n Fall di Pescara come membro del quartetto di ...

3
Live Review

Umbria Jazz Winter 30

Read "Umbria Jazz Winter 30" reviewed by Libero Farnè


Umbria Jazz Winter 2023 Orvieto Varie sedi 28.12.2023--1.11.2024 Umbria Jazz Winter, tutto concentrato nel centro storico di Orvieto, è un festival a misura d'uomo. Prestigiose le sue sedi, tutte raggiungibili a piedi in trasferimenti di pochi minuti: il Teatro Mancinelli, prezioso teatro all'italiana della seconda metà dell'Ottocento, il maestoso Palazzo del Popolo, che sotto le sue volte medievali in tufo accoglie il pubblico nella Sala Quattrocento e, al piano terra, nella Sala Expo, dedicata ad ...

7
Album Review

Ivo Perelman: Reed Rapture in Brooklyn

Read "Reed Rapture in Brooklyn" reviewed by Jeff Schwartz


Is this album fundamentally unreviewable? Are there jazz fans who do not immediately know if they need an 11-hour collection of 103 improvised duets between Ivo Perelman and a dozen saxophonists and clarinetists? It is at least describable. Perelman is faithful to his tenor, while his partners bring examples of nearly every type of saxophone, from soprillo to contrabass, as well as most of the clarinet family. Although all tracks are free improvisations, the default mode is ...

13
Album Review

Joe Lovano Trio Tapestry: Our Daily Bread

Read "Our Daily Bread" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


Rising from a serene inner place, the music takes shape like prayer. That it is prayer that lies at the beating heart of all eight spacious spirituals that comprise Our Daily Bread, should come as no surprise. Bearing the expressive quietism of his ancestors--John Coltrane, Sonny Stitt, and Ornette Coleman among them--saxophonist Joe Lovano has never hid his leaning towards higher powers. Imagine Trio Tapestry's third deep listening, deeply rewarding ECM release as a house of worship at ...

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Interview

Joe Lovano: Cleveland's Ultimate Jazz Titan

Read "Joe Lovano: Cleveland's Ultimate Jazz Titan" reviewed by Matthew Alec


Friday, June 24th, 2022, saxophonist Joe Lovano's group Sound Prints (alongside trumpeter and co-leader Dave Douglas) delivered a tour de force performance to spellbound audience members at the historic Mimi Ohio Theatre in Playhouse Square as a part of Cleveland's annual Tri-C JazzFest. Seasoned group interplay between drummer Rudy Royston, bassist Matt Penman, and pianist Leo Genovese characterized the quintet's languid execution of modern bop-fueled repertoire and served as the perfect complement to the colorfully virtuosic musical conversations between Lovano ...

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Event

Destination JAZZ to present Grammy Award winner Joe Lovano Quartet and 'Rising Stars' quintet with Patrick Bartley & Georgia Heers – April 27 & 28, 2024

Destination JAZZ to present Grammy Award winner Joe Lovano Quartet and 'Rising Stars' quintet with Patrick Bartley & Georgia Heers – April 27 & 28, 2024

Source: Michael Ricci

Destination JAZZ will be held Saturday and Sunday, April 27 and 28 at Waynesboro Area Senior High School auditorium, 550 E. 2nd St., Waynesboro, PA. Presented by the Arts Alliance of Greater Waynesboro/Destination ARTS!, this new event will feature world renowned jazz musicians including Joe Lovano, Patrick Bartley, Georgia Heers, and Alex Claffy as well as local student jazz bands from Waynesboro and Chambersburg. GET TICKETS Headlining this inaugural festival on Saturday, April 27, at 7 pm is Grammy Award ...

1

Performance / Tour

Heritage/Evolution: PRISM Quartet With Joe Lovano in Philadelphia (June 3) and New York City (June 4)

Heritage/Evolution: PRISM Quartet With Joe Lovano in Philadelphia (June 3) and New York City (June 4)

Source: Matthew Levy

Joe Lovano: “My new work, 'Super Sonix,' is inspired by and dedicated to the genius and Third Stream pioneer Gunther Schuller, as well as modern jazz master Ornette Coleman, both of whom I’ve been associated with. I also drew from my personal experiences playing within some great saxophone sections: The Woody Herman Band, Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, Carla Bley Band, and The Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra. ‘Super Sonix’ is a piece which explores the natural beauty found in the ...

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Book / Magazine

Bebop, Swing, and Bella Musica: Jazz and the Italian American Experience

Bebop, Swing, and Bella Musica: Jazz and the Italian American Experience

Source: Michael Ricci

A book by Bill Dal Cerro and David Anthony Witter. Frank Sinatra, Louis Prima, Louie Bellson, Lennie Tristano, Tony Bennett, Buddy DeFranco, Flip Phillips, and Joe Lovano: These are just some of the hundreds of musicians of Italian descent whose talents have enriched jazz. Bebop, Swing, and Bella Musica is more than just a book about jazz. From the lynching of Italian immigrants in jny: New Orleans in 1891 through the headliners and award winning performers of today, this book ...

1

Recording

Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, And Ravi Coltrane Release Fan-Funded “Visitation” CD Through ArtistShare

Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, And Ravi Coltrane Release Fan-Funded “Visitation” CD Through ArtistShare

Source: Brian Camelio

ARTISTSHARE RELEASES SAX SUMMIT’S FAN-FUNDED VISITATION CD – FEATURING JAZZ SAXOPHONE GIANTS JOE LOVANO, DAVE LIEBMAN, AND RAVI COLTRANE. SAXOPHONE SUMMIT RETURNS FOR THEIR THIRD RECORDING AS LIEBMAN, LOVANO, AND COLTRANE EXPLORE NEW CONCEPTUAL REALMS IN THEIR LATEST FAN-FUNDED ALBUM, VISITATION Saxophone Summit features saxophonists Dave Liebman, Joe Lovano, and Ravi Coltrane, along with pianist Phil Markowitz, bassist Cecil McBee, and drummer Billy Hart. Individually, Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, and Ravi Coltrane are widely recognized as contemporary titans of jazz ...

Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: Joe Lovano and Us Five, Cornet Chop Suey, Jeff Anderson and Chad Evans, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes, and More

Jazz This Week: Joe Lovano and Us Five, Cornet Chop Suey, Jeff Anderson and Chad Evans, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Though it's the last day of Jazz Appreciation Month and some local not-for-profit presenters already have wound down their seasons, there's still some interesting jazz and creative music to be heard in St. Louis this week, including the long-awaited return of one of the top tenor saxophonists working today. That would be Joe Lovano, who will be back in St. Louis for the first time since the year 2000 with his band Us Five for a four-night stand opening this ...

2

Recording

Half Note Records Announces A Release From The Brussels Jazz Orchestra Featuring Joe Lovano "Wild Beauty"

Half Note Records Announces A Release From The Brussels Jazz Orchestra Featuring Joe Lovano "Wild Beauty"

Source: hubtone PR

AVAILABLE IN STORES AND ONLINE SEPTEMBER 10, 2013 Following its triumphant partnership with pianist Kenny Werner (Institute of Higher Learning), the award-winning Brussels Jazz Orchestra turns its attention to Joe Lovano, long heralded a towering soloist among tenor saxophonists. Wild Beauty illuminates the composer side of Lovano’s musicianship, featuring a palette of earthy tunes previously recorded with small groups, but now re-imagined for the 17-piece BJO. Gil Goldstein wrote the evocative arrangements. The album is a summational work, filled with ...

Interview

Lovano at 60

Lovano at 60

Source: RJ on Jazz by R.J. DeLuke

Heralded as one of the greats of his generation (my generation), Lovano keeps moving forward. But knows where he came from. Joe Lovano plays the shit out of the saxophone, that much is clear. He's paid all his dues, come up though the ranks, including stints with big bands like Woody Herman. But he doesn't just play. He's an artist. The sound comes from inside a big heart, informed, of course, by his study and hard work on the instrument. ...

2

Event

Jazzhouse Is Back!

Jazzhouse Is Back!

Source: Rasmus Steffensen

Denmark's primary venue for contemporary jazz has opened it's doors again after a major renovation and is ready to present the brand new concert hall and the full program for June and July. Finally: Jazzhouse (formerly Copenhagen Jazzhouse) has reopened. Last summer Jazzhouse was flooded due to a heavy thunder storm and since August 2011 it has been closed for renovation. On June 1st 2012 the venue once again kicked open the doors to carry on with the mission of ...

16

Festival

Celebrating 50 Years Of Reno Jazz, 1962-2012!

Celebrating 50 Years Of Reno Jazz, 1962-2012!

Source: Michael Ricci

Two Grammy winners—Joe Lovano and The Mingus Big Band—set to kick off 50th anniversary of the Reno Jazz Festival, April 26-28, 2012 RENO, NV: Considered one of the best of its kind in the world, and lauded by the San Francisco Chronicle as “showcasing music's future," the Reno Jazz Festival has been bringing jazz superstars and the finest emerging young artists to town for decades. Celebrating 50 years of jazz, 1962-2012, the Reno Jazz Festival marks its 50th anniversary with ...

39

Interview

Saxophonist Joe Lovano Interviewed at All About Jazz!

Saxophonist Joe Lovano Interviewed at All About Jazz!

Source: All About Jazz

Penned as “one of the greatest musicians in jazz history," saxophonist Joe Lovano has successfully created a unique voice within the jazz tradition and has contributed significantly to the continuance and development of the idiom. In just over a quarter of a century he has created an expansive body of work that has covered a broad spectrum of styles. This includes swing, bebop, hard-bop, post-bop, the avant-garde and interpretations of the music of Frank Sinatra and Enrico Caruso. He has ...

Dennis Mitcheltree
saxophone, tenor
Dave Wilson
saxophone
Dan Andersen
guitar, electric
David Borgo
saxophone
Dimitris Tsakas
saxophone, alto
Jonathan Suazo
saxophone
Daryl Gott
saxophone, alto
Marcio Resende
saxophone, tenor
Waxwing
band / ensemble / orchestra
Jon Bentley
saxophone, tenor
Jason Kush
saxophone
Dom Franks
saxophone, tenor
Cene Resnik
saxophone
Oleksandr Kolosii
saxophone, tenor
Moritz Stahl
saxophone
Gabriel Genest
saxophone, tenor
CODE Quartet
band / ensemble / orchestra
Jérôme Masco
saxophone
Jackson Cotugno
saxophone, tenor
Aretha Tillotson
bass, acoustic
Alex Madeline
saxophone
Victor Valdebenito
saxophone, tenor

Photos

Concerts

Music

Our Daily Bread

From: Our Daily Bread
By Joe Lovano

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