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Joe Lovano - General discussion


Alon Marcus

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By the way, Lovano has written at least two direct tributes to Ornette: "Fort Worth" and "Etterno."

Count me as another who loves the Mostly Coltrane disc with Kuhn. He can sound a lot like Trane on some moody, ballad-type pieces (more often on other records), but ultimately Lovano always plays Lovano.

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Yes, the new disc is nice. He is also wonderful on Antonio Sanchez "Three Times Three" as well.

Yeah, i like that one too. Slight sidetrack but i'm looking forward to Meridian Suite.

I really like Lovano on all of the Paul Motian albums that i've heard him on. The only leader dates of his that i have are From the Soul and Sounds of Joy, both of which i like. Haven't heard much of his recent stuff other than the Zorn album that he was on. Wouldn't mind checking out some more of his music, always been interested to check out the Trio Fascination stuff. From memory when i've looked before it was out of print, probably not too hard to find second hand though. Just not high on my priority list (no snark intended). I have actually seen him perform live, with Scofield, Matt Penman and Matt Wilson in 2008. Excellent show!

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Yes, I like all the albums I have by him but I must say that I was very disappointed when I saw him live at The Sage last year. Part of a stellar group (The Spring Quartet) with Leo Genovese, Esperanza Spaulding and Jack DeJohnette, they never seemed to get going. Lots of drum and bass solos and mainly squeaks from Joe. Maybe it was just a bad night.....

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  • 2 years later...

Just re-reading this thread. I've been digging into Lovano's music lately -- particularly recordings he made with his Us Five band.

I would strongly recommend these two:

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I like Lovano's sound. It's varied; there are lots of colors and tones. And you can hear many different influences mixed in there -- from old heavies like Hawkins and Webster to free/free-ish players like Archie Shepp and Dewey Redman. So there's tradition in his horn -- but it's been integrated into his own unique voice.  

Us Five is interesting because they use two drummers (both playing a regular drum kit), so the music sounds sorta "clattery" -- in appealing way. Since the drummers have to listen carefully to not play over top of each other, there's a sense of continuous improvisation. The overall effect is cool and unique. 

I haven't heard the other record by Lovano's Us Five band, Cross Culture.  Any thoughts from folks who've heard it?  

I suppose I need to check it out. 

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On 6/16/2015 at 6:37 AM, Scott Dolan said:

The only Lovano I own to this point is his excellent Quartets: Live at the Village Vanguard. The first disc with the Ornette-like piano-less quartet is the standout, but both discs are really, really good.

That's my favorite album by Lovano- by far. I like his work with Paul Motian groups and on Steve Kuhn Coltrane tribute, and live album of duets with Hank Jones can be a pleasant late evening music, but most of his own projects leave me cold, for no discernible reason.

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@HutchFan, thanks for the recommendation on the UsFive stuff.  I haven't picked up any Lovano-led stuff that post-dates JOYOUS ENCOUNTER (Jones/Mraz/Motian) but maybe time to reopen the wallet.

As I stated during many years ago up-thread, I like the guy's playing a lot though I am not a Lovano nut.  He tends to be an asset to most recordings where he is present, especially ones where the other musicians would otherwise be too "sweet" or "slick"

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Celebrating Sinatra

Picked this one up on the cheap and have really enjoyed it. Looks like the reviews are really mixed here, but I have to say that as someone that has never really gotten into Lovano despite his impressive chops, I find this one quite interesting and enjoyable. Not sure if it is Manny Albam's orchestration that should get the credit here or Lovano's ideas, but anyone that has had difficulty with Lovano might like to give this one a try. IMHO

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I haven't been quite as much into Lovano since Cross Culture, the last of the Us Five records.  There is some nice stuff on the second Sound Prints album, with Dave Douglas.  But with his new home at ECM, I didn't much care for Trio Tapestry (by far the most low-key Lovano I have ever heard).   

There's a new record coming with Enrico Rava, or maybe it's already out.

 

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  • 4 months later...

The record with Rava is pretty decent, very much a collaboration of the two, though curiously the album closes with a piano reading of "Over the Rainbow."  This version of "Fort Worth" falls quite a bit short of the original, but otherwise I like what I'm hearing.

Enrico Rava is quite mellow, but what else could he be given his age?  But I can't compare it to other work; this amounts to my first exposure to Rava.

 

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