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The Grammy-winning Joe Lovano Nonet with Jazz Legend Hank Jones at Dizzy's, 5/18-20 |
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Written by Ronaldo Oregano
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Wednesday, 16 May 2007 |
“Whatever key or tempo, there’s no routine with Hank, Some musicians go through the motions each night. Hank creates anew every set.” -Joe Lovano
 Joe Lovano © Andrea Canter
In 2000 Lovano introduced his nonet by releasing, 52nd Street Themes on Blue Note. Recorded with a stellar cast of musicians, the charts penned by Joe and legendary Cleveland arranger Willie "Face" Smith, are jazz classics recast for ensembles as large as nonet, including five Tadd Dameron tunes. Winner of a Grammy for "Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album", 52nd Street Themes, is Joe's tribute to the days when swing and bebop co-mingled freely. The five star Down Beat: review said: "...[Lovano's] most important and most fully realized recording to date....He plays here with a balance of imaginative abandon and technical control that has not been heard since John Coltrane..." In the summer of 2003 a Joe followed up with a dynamic live recording by his Nonet. Recorded On This Day…At The Vanguard.
Joseph Salvatore Lovano was born in Cleveland, Ohio on December 29, 1952 and grew up in a very musical household. After high school, Joe attended Berklee and his college years were pivotal, a precursor of future collaborations and career opportunities. Joe had been searching for a way to incorporate the fire and spirituality of late-period John Coltrane into more traditional settings and at Berklee, he found it, discovering modal harmony.
After his studies at Berklee. Joe soon got the call from Dr. Lonnie Smith, and joined the organist for a series of gigs in the Motor City, as well touring on the Chitlin circuit in 1974. A six month tenure with Brother Jack McDuff and the Heating System was next. The album Joe recorded with Dr. Lonnie Smith, Afrodesia, started getting a lot of airplay on Jazz radio across the country at that same time, resulting some early name recognition when Joe worked new clubs with McDuff.
After he relocated to New York, Joe joined Woody Herman’s 40th Anniversary tour in 1976, which included "The 40th Anniversary Concert" at Carnegie Hall. For his second Carnegie Hall appearance, Joe shared the stage with Stan Getz on the classic Early Autumn, and was a featured soloist during the celebration, along with Frank Tiberi, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Jimmy Guiffre and Flip Phillips.
In 1980, Joe joined the Mel Lewis Orchestra when Bob Brookmeyer served as Musical Director, becoming part of the group’s weekly Monday night concert at the Village Vanguard for the next eleven years. During his tenure with Mel’s band, Joe began working gigs as a leader, with Mel as his drummer. Tones, Shapes and Colors, was his first recording as a leader, a live date done at the Jazz Coalition Center in New York.
In addition to his work with Woody and Mel, Joe also played in other large ensembles with Carla Bley, Bob Brookmeyer, Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra and Gunther Schuller. These experiences served as the catlyst for creating his own musical environments utilzing larger ensembles, including his current Nonet.
As his reputation escalated, Joe began recording and touring with the major Jazz musicians of the late 20th century, including: Gunther Schuller, Herbie Hancock, Elvin Jones, Charlie Haden, Carla Bley, Bobby Hutcherson, Dave Brubeck, Billy Higgins, Dave Holland, Ed Blackwell, Michel Petrucciani, Lee Konitz, Abbey Lincoln, Tom Harrell, McCoy Tyner, Jim Hall, and Bob Brookmeyer, among many others. Joe has long experimented with varying ensembles and formats, including playing unaccompanied saxophone and gongs, as well in duets, trios, quartets, quintets, his Wind Ensemble, Street Band and Nonet, all reflecting his searching and dynamic personality.
 Hank Jones
In late 1947, he joined the Jazz at the Philharmonic, and from 1948 to 1953 he became the pianist for Ella Fitzgerald. During this period Jones also made several recordings for Norman Granz's various labels, including historical sessions with Charlie Parker and Lester Young. After leaving Ella, he formed a steady rhythm section with Barry Galbraith, Milt Hinton and Osie Johnson. This unit recorded with some of the finest talent in New York at the time, like Roy Eldridge, Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson, Rex Stewart and many others.
After several years as a freelance player, including a brief stay with Benny Goodman (1956) and Artie Shaw, Jones joined the staff of CBS records, where he stayed for the next seventeen years, until the staff was disbanded in 1976. During this period he worked with large studio bands, performing on some of the top radio and TV programs, such as the Ed Sullivan Show, but continued to lead jazz groups (mostly trios) through the eighties, showcasing the talents of Ron Carter, Buster Williams, or George Duvivier on bass and Tony Williams, Al Foster, or Oliver Jackson on drums. His recordings fronting The Great Jazz Trio were multi-awarded in Japan, where he is almost a "national hero". During this period, Jones also did important duo recordings with fellow pianist Tommy Flanagan.
During the nineties Jones has been leading his own trios featuring some of the finest young musicians in the world, like drummers Marvin "Smitty" Smith, Lewis Nash or Kenny Washington, and bassists like Ray Drummond and George Mraz. His music is in great demand as the years go by, and he does an average of 70 concerts a year overseas, mostly in Japan and Europe, on top of his busy agenda at home.
Hank Jones is regarded today as the father of contemporary Jazz piano, and his influence can be heard in the work of most every jazz pianist in the world: the so-called Detroit Piano School is, in fact, the Hank Jones School, and musicians such as Barry Harris, Kenny Barron or Tommy Flanagan regard Hank Jones as a strong influence on their careers.
Dizzy's is located at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center Broadway at 60th Street, on the 5th Floor. For Reservations Call: 212 258-9595 or -9795. Seating is available on a first-come first-served basis either at tables or at the bar. For more information, visit: www.jalc.org/dccc
Jazz at Lincoln Center is a not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to jazz. With the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra and a comprehensive array of guest artists, Jazz at Lincoln Center advances a unique vision for the continued development of the art of jazz by producing a year-round schedule of performance, education and broadcast events for audiences of all ages. |
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 Sunday, 07 September 2008
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