Artist Profile,
6 Essential Joe Lovano Recordings
Like many a jazz veteran, saxophonist Joe Lovano has amassed quite the back catalogue - but where to start? As a leader Lovano has recorded over 30 studio albums (on top of his numerous sideman appearances) since entering the New York scene in the 1970s. Mostly known as a saxophonist, Lovano is also an alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer, though recorded appearances with these instruments are quite rare. First coming to prominence as a member of the Woody Herman Orchestra before his move to New York, he later found success in the band of drummer Mel Lewis, before perhaps his most acclaimed collaborations began to take shape - those being a quartet with guitarist John Scofield, and a trio with Bill Frisell and Thomas Morgan. While his recent releases like 2019's Trio Tapestry and 2021's Garden of Expression have landed on German label ECM, for much of his career Lovano enjoyed a healthy stream of releases on Blue Note Records, from 1990's Landmarks right through to 2016's Classic! Live at Newport.
If you're not quite sure where to begin with Joe Lovano's music, we've compiled some of our favourites below...
The first of Lovano's Blue Note recordings also happens to be one of his most fondly-remembered. Recorded with a studio band rather than Lovano's usual troupe at the time, From the Soul has them taking on a mixture of Lovano originals and standards (including one Coltrane tune), with swinging romantic tracks like 'Body and Soul' or 'Portrait of Jenny' to more explosive tunes like the opening 'Evolution'.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Another 'first' here; Psalm was the start of the celebrated recordings that drummer Paul Motian would produce with guitarist Bill Frisell and of course Lovano (we've already recommended the trio's excellent It Should've Happened a Long Time Ago in our 'Bill Frisell Essentials' guide, which is also well worth a listen). Here the three are joined by Billy Drewes who also takes on sax duties, and Ed Schuller on bass, and although none of the material on Psalm exactly took off with other jazz players, in many ways it's Motian's selection of sidemen that really make this record.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Often hailed as a standout of Lovano's 2000s output, Joyous Encounter features mostly standards - as well as a handful from Thad and Hank Jones - from funky numbers like the title track or Oliver Nelson's 'Six and Four' to the smoky opener 'Autumn In New York'. Lovano's joined here by long-time collaborator Paul Motian on drums, with the quartet completed by pianist Hank Jones and bassist George Mraz - and there's not much to complain about with that line-up.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Taken from two appearances at the Village Vanguard (with roughly ten months between them) in 1994 and 1995, this double-CD set acts as a showcase of some of Lovano's most exciting tendencies. With Tom Harrell accompanying on trumpet and flugelhorn and Mulgrew Miller on piano, both discs feature differing rhythm sections - Anthony Cox and Billy Hart appear on bass and drums respectively on the first disc, while Christian McBride and Lewis Nash fill in on the second. Especially given the amount of music included on Quartets, it's hardly a difficult recommendation to give if you're after Lovano on top form.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
The most recent recording on this list, Trio Tapestry marked Joe Lovano's first album as a bandleader on ECM (though he'd appeared on many of their albums in the past as a sideman), as well as his transition into the meditative sounds we also heard on 2021's Garden of Expression. The new trio in question features Carmen Castaldi on drums and percussion, and Marilyn Crispell on piano, while Lovano himself also takes up the gong and the Hungarian/Romanian woodwind instrument the tárogató.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Another excellent release from Lovano during his 90s period with Blue Note, this time he's playing alongside a full orchestra arranged and conducted by Gunther Schuller (a horn player himself whose other jazz clients included the Modern Jazz Quartet and Dizzy Gillespie). The pair - along with the many featured musicians on this album - tackle Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus and Ornette Coleman, with an arrangement that still sounds modern to this day. Already having established himself as quite the force to be reckoned with by the mid-1990s, Joe Lovano's Rush Hour still takes the spot as one of the most unique items in his catalogue.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Joshua Lee - Jazz Content
