• It's About Time (2009)

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Joseph Salvatore Lovano (born 29 December 1952 in Cleveland, Ohio) is a post bop jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer. Since the late 1980s, Lovano has been one of the world's premiere tenor saxophone players, earning a Grammy award and several nods on Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' polls. He is married to jazz singer Judi Silvano.

Early years

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Lovano was exposed throughout his early life to jazz by his father, Tony "Big T" Lovano. John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, and Sonny Stitt were among his earlier influences. He developed further at Berklee College of Music where he studied under Herb Pomeroy and Gary Burton. Following this, he served a big band apprenticeship with Woody Herman's Thundering Herd and the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra.

"Big T" Lovano, a fine Cleveland tenorman, was his first inspiration. He taught Joe all the standards, how to lead a gig, how to pace a set, and to be versatile enough to always find work. Joe started on alto at age six and switched to tenor five years later. He attended Berklee before working 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' 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.

Recent work

One of the top saxophonists of the 1990s, Joe Lovano continues to grow and explore as a musician. He has a husky tenor tone and takes a modern approach to improvisation. In the early '80s he 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. Scofield's Quartet straddled the line between "inside" and "outside". These recordings feature some of Lovano's best work.

Lovano has enduring musical partnerships with John Scofield and Paul Motian, having participated in some of their most noteworthy projects over the years.

In 1993, at the suggestion of musicologist Gunther Schuller, fellow Clevelander and bebop guitar legend 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, De Arango died. "He knew we were there," said Lovano. "His heartbeat raced. He knew we were there."

He is currently a jazz artist on the international level. His live work, specifically 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 (now deceased, replaced with Ravi Coltrane). He played the tenor saxophone on the critically acclaimed 2007 McCoy Tyner album Quartet. In 2006 Lovano released Streams Of Expression, a tribute to two different genres of jazz, cool and free. He did this with the help of Gunther Schuller who contributed his "Birth Of The Cool Suite". In a surprise loss Lovano and his nonet did not win the Grammy for best large ensemble jazz record of 2006. Joe Lovano and Hank Jones released an album together in June 2007 entitled Kids.

"It's fair to say that he's one of the greatest musicians in jazz history." Ben Ratliff, The New York Times

"Move over Pavarotti, the greatest Italian tenor around today isn't Luciano, but Lovano." Will Friedwald, The Village Voice

"Lovano . . .fully justifies the growing view of him as an important, world-class jazz talent." Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times

"A master of his Promethean craft, the tenor saxophonist strikes a balance between passion and intellect as he ventures from the touchstone of lyricism to the outer limits of free expression. . . he is surely one of the most exciting, a sublimely confident player with provocative musical ideas and the vigor to bring them crying forth." Steve Dollar, Atlanta Journal

". . . a savior has been slowly materializing in the nineties--the astonishing tenor saxophonist and composer Joe Lovano." Whitney Balliett, The New Yorker

"No matter the mood or the tempo, Lovano delivered the kind of play that made one forget his prodigious technique and instead fall under the spell of his continually unfolding story line." Bill Kohlhaase, Los Angeles Times

"Gruff-toned, melodically gifted and thoughtfully fluent, the saxophonist revelled in the creative freedom and intuitive support of a premier rhythm section." Mike Hobart, London Financial Times

"Mr. Lovano has earned his place as one of the most respected musicians working today." William Carey, All About Jazz

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