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Joe Lovano: Joyous Encounter
by Bret Primack
Joe Lovano is a lucky man and he knows it. “Who would have imagined I'd start playing with Hank Jones when I turned 50, he told me recently after returning from a string of European gigs with the pianist. His respect and admiration for Hank serves as the catalyst for what is now a truly remarkable ongoing collaboration, most notably on the new Blue Note CD, Joyous Encounter. In fact, Joe's eclectic seventeen Blue Note recordings bear witness to a ...
Continue ReadingJoe Lovano: Joyous Encounter
by Jim Santella
The aptly titled Joyous Encounter reunites the best with the best. Unlike last year's I'm All For You, however, this program includes much more than just ballads. Up-tempo jaunts and leisurely strolls balance the program in much the same way that our lives turn each day. And the end result is, of course, a joyous experience for the audience.
Joe Lovano and Hank Jones caress each melody and stretch out considerably. What they do with Oliver Nelson's “Six ...
Continue ReadingJoe Lovano: Joyous Encounter
by Paul Olson
A lot of people seemed to like Joe Lovano's all-ballads record from last year, I'm All For You (Blue Note), and I was one of them: I thought it was his best since Trio Fascination: Edition One (Blue Note, 1998). So it's not that surprising that the All For You quartet of Lovano, pianist Hank Jones, bassist George Mraz, and drummer Paul Motian reconvened in October of 2004 to record Lovano's new Joyous Encounter. Good though the ballads session was, ...
Continue ReadingJoe Lovano: The Beauty of Expression
by R.J. DeLuke
There are few things as soulful, it seems, as the sound of the tenor saxophone when played by Joe Lovano. Call him the next great Italian tenor, if you will. He plays with full, robust sound and the instrument, in his hands, is liable to be sweet and ethereal at one moment, or volcanic and explosive the next. It depends on the context and the moment----like all great jazz. And, as Lovano explains it, it depends on the ...
Continue ReadingJoe Lovano: I'm All For You
by Jim Santella
Joe Lovano’s unique tone gives his ballad album a whispering quality that stays up close and intimate throughout. He’s with you back there at the corner table as you nurse your drink for another hour in one of your town’s respected nightclubs. Most of the crowd has already called it a night, but you’re loving this mood too much to go home. The tenor saxophone sound that wafts gently from his horn lifts your spirits and reminds you of the ...
Continue ReadingJoe Lovano: I'm All For You
by Russell Moon
Joe Lovano's I'm All For You is subtitled Ballad Songbook. Every song is taken at a leisurely pace, and the recording reminds me of Charlie Haden's Quartet West album Haunted Heart. All of the renditions are indeed haunting and very soulful. Lovano has collected three of the best to join him—Hank Jones on piano, George Mraz on bass and Paul Motian on drums. The great ones make it look easy.
Half of the 59 minute album is made up of ...
Continue ReadingPat Martino: Think Tank
by Joel Roberts
It's been nearly twenty years since Pat Martino's comeback from a near-fatal brain aneurysm. In that time he's re-established himself as one of the jazz world's premier guitarists, a technically advanced post bop player who combines forward-thinking musical ideas with native Philly grit; think Pat Metheny with more soul. Think Tank , as the name suggests, finds Martino at his most cerebral, which has its pros and cons. The title track, for example, is a blues of ...
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