Joe Lovano Quartet
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SONOKLECT '06-'07 A Concert Series of Modern Music TERRY VosBEIN, DIRECTOR Joe Lovano Quartet WnsoNHALL LENFEST CENTER FOR THE ARTS WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY 30 SEPTEMBER 2006 8:00 P.M. PROGRAM SET 1 - INTERMISSION - SET 2 Joe Lovano, tenor sax James Weidman, piano Esperanza Spalding, bass Francisco Mela, drums 2 Joe Lovano You mi ght th ink by glancin g ov er the list of accolades ga rne red by saxophoni st/compo ser Joe Lovano , that this ren owned mu sician has found a tried -and -tru e formul a for success, and that he has. Unlik e lesser arti sts who w ill take what see ms to wor k for them and keep com ing back w ith more of the same, the secre t to Lovano's success is his fearless ability to always challenge and pu sh the concep tual and themat ic choices he mak es in a quest for new modes of artistic exp ression and new takes on what defines the jazz idiom . Comin g this summ er is a dynami c live recordin g by the Gramm y-winnin g Joe Lovano Nonet. Recorded Live at the Village Vanguard , this swing ing dat e shows off incend iary ch arts and hip impro visation of one of Lovano 's mo st acclaimed ensembles. One of the mo st antici pated jazz proj ects of the new year hit the streets in Januar y of 2003- Oh! by ScoLoH oFo. The dynamic all-star co-op find s Joe Lovano in caho ots with John Scofield, Dave Holland and Al Foster for a program of origina l compo sitions from each of the leaders ' pens. This impres sive line-up of some of the most acclaimed mu sicians of the pa st 25 years is a natural. They ha ve all per formed toge ther in a variety of situations but never all at once until the formation of this group for a dat e at the Montr eal Jazz Festival. On tour and on record they create a new jazz alchemy from the symbioti c relations hip of four of the most distinctive improvisational voices in the world tod ay. 3 Joe Lovano was born in Clevel and, Oh io in 1952 and began playing alto sax as a child . A prophetic ear ly fam ily photo is of the infant Joe cradled in his mot her's arms along with a sax. His father, tenor saxophonis t Tony "Big T" Lovano, schooled Joe not on ly in the basics but in dynamics an d interpretation and reg ularly exposed him to jazz artists traveling through such as Sonny Stitt, James Moody, Dizzy Gillespie, Gene Amm ons and Rahsaa n Roland Kirk. While still a teenager he immerse d himself in the jam-sess ion cultu re of Clevela nd wh ere orga n trios were comm on and Texas teno r th row-dow ns a rite of passage. In high school he began to absorb the free jazz experiments of Ornette Coleman , John Coltrane an d Jimm y Giuffre, and wa s grea tly affected by the inter action wh ich occurred between th e musicians. Upon grad uation from high school he attend ed the famed Berklee College of Music in Boston where he met and began playing with future collaborators such as John Scofield, Bill Frisell and Kenny Werner. He had been searchin g for a way to incorpor ate the fire and spiritu ality of late-period John Coltrane into mor e traditional sett ings . At Berklee he discovered moda l harm ony: "My train ing was all be-bop, and su dd enly ther e were these open form s wit h decep tive reso luti on s. That turn ed me on, the combin ation of that sound and what I came in there with. I knew what I wanted to work on after that." In 1994 Joe was given the p restigious "Distinguished Alumni Award" from Berklee and was awa rded an hon orary doct orate in 1998. Berklee also awa rde d Joe the first "Gary Burton Chair for Jazz Per formance" in 2001. Joe's first professional job after Berklee was, not surprisingly given his roots, w ith organist Lonni e Smith , which brought him to New York for his recordi ng d ebut, followed by a stint with Brother Jack McDu ff. This segued into a three-year tou r with the Woody Herman Thund ering Herd from 1976 to 1979, culm inating in "The 40th Anni versary Concert" at Carn egie Hall, whic h also features som e of Joe's heroes and fellow saxo phoni sts Stan Getz, Zoo t Sims, Flip Ph illips, Al Cohn and Jimmy Giuffre. After leaving the Herman He rd, Joe settled in New York City w here he continu es to live. His early years there filled with jam sess ions and rent gigs, but event ua lly he joined the Mel Lew is Orc hestra for its regu lar Mond ay ni ght concer t at the Village Vangua rd, p lay ing from 1980 to 1992 and recordin g six album s with the Orchestra. In addition he joined th e Paul Motian band in 1981 an d has wo rked with John Scofield, Herbie Hancock, Elvin Jones, Charlie Haden, Carla Bley, Bobby Hu tcherson, Billy Higgins , Dave Ho llan d, Ed Blackwe ll, Miche l Petru cciani, Lee Konit z, Abbey Lincoln, Tom Har rell, McCoy Tyner, Jim Ha ll, Bob Brookm eyer and many more. 4 His first high-profi le gig that brought him national attention was with guitarist John Scofield's Quartet, with whom he recorded and toured for three years. Of his playing Scofield says, "He's very sonically aware - he thinks about the effect different instruments and different personalities will have. He was perfect for what I was doing-his sense of swing and his tone reminded me of the older guys, in a really positive way." He gained further exposure and renown, particularly in Europe, through his work in the trail-blazing Paul Motian Trio, which also featured former Berklee class ma te, gu itarist Bill Frisell. Lovano's debut Blue Note release Landmarks(Blue Note 96108) was released in 1991 and featured guitarist John Abercro mbie. Joe's first engagemen t as a leade r (at the Village Vanguard), coincided with the release of that record. The critically acclaimed From the Soul (Blue Note 98636) followe d with Michel Petrucciani, Dave Holland and the legendary Ed Blackwell. Recently, readers of AIIAboutJazz.com voted From the Soul #34 in their all-time Top 100 Jazz CDs poll. Joe has long experimented with different ensembles, which reflects his searching and dynamic personality. As much a composer as player, Joe is constantly seeking new ways to express his muse. His third Blue Note album Universal Language (Blue Note 99830) features the soprano voice of Judi Silvano, whose wordless voca ls mesh beautifully in both ensemble and improv ised passages with Joe, as well as trumpeter Tim Hagans and pianist Kenny Werner. His next album, the 1994 release Tenor Legacy (Blue Note 27014), features tenor saxophonist Josh Redman, and received wide critica l acclaim, culminating in a Grammy nomination for "Best Jazz Small Group Recording." Predictably unpredictab le, Joe's Rush Hour (Blue Note 29629), released in early 1995, reflects his rest less searching and desire to expand his musical pa lette . It features his tenor saxophone with voice, str ing and woodwind ensembles arranged and conducted by the legendary Gunther Schuller, in composi tions by Char les Mingus, Ornette Coleman, The lonious Monk, Duke Ellingto n, Gun ther Schu ller and Joe Lovano. As CD Review's "Disc of the Month" stated, "Music doesn't get any better than this. This disc is a wonder." Joe and Gu nther subsequen tly collaborated on the score for a Showt ime movie, "Face Down," which starred Joe Montegna. Joe Lovano ended 1996 with Joe LovanoQuartets at the VillageVanguard (Blue Note 29125), winning "Jazz Album of the Year" in the 1996 Down Beat Readers Poll. Recorded at two separate engagemen ts at the historic Village Vanguard in New York City, the special set features Joe with Mulgrew Miller, Chr istian McBride and Lewis Nash on one CD, and with Tom Harrell, Anthony Cox and Billy Hart on the other . Down Beat Magazine's 5-star review says simply, 'The Vanguard sessions are extraordinary." 5 Joe began 1997 with two Gra mm y nomination s for the Village Vanguard reco rdin g and th e release of his mos t eage rly ant icipated Joe Lovano CelebratingSinatra (B lue Note CDP 37718) with Joe's tenor sax su rround ed by string quartet, woodw ind quint et, voice and rhythm section in ar rangements by Manny Albam. As Peter Watro us in the New York Times observed, "This is a per fectly balanced piece of wo rk, quiet chamber jazz at its best, w ith Mr. Lovano's od d phr asing, with its halts and velocity, taking the mu sic somew here new." Joe Lovano rolled into 1998 w ith yet another Gramm y nomin ation - for foe Lovano Celebrating Sinatra - and the release of yet another compl etely different recordin g, Flying Colors (Blue Note CDP 56092), a du o albu m with the grea t Cuban pianist Gonza lo Rub alcaba. In a four-star review the Los Angeles Times said, "Each piece reveals yet another perspective on the talent of two extraordin ary p layers, clearly inspired by the settin g and each oth er, creatin g som e of the finest jazz in recen t mem ory." Joe followed Flying Colors with the fiery release Trio Fascination: Edition One (Blue Note CDP 33114) featurin g what is arguably the finest rhythm section in jazz, drumm er Elvin Jones and bassist Dave Holland .