Active during a period of jazz history when it seemed radical innovation was a thing of the past, Joe Lovano nevertheless coalesced various stylistic elements from disparate eras into a personal and forward-seeking style. While not an innovator in a macro sense, Joe Lovano has unquestionably charted his own path. His playing contains not an ounce of glibness, but possesses in abundance the sense of spontaneity that has always characterized the music's finest improvisers. Joe Lovano doesn't adopt influences -- he absorbs them -- so that when playing a standard, he exudes the same sense of abandon as when playing totally free (which, it should be pointed out, he does well, if infrequently). Joe Lovano's most significant achievement is his incorporation of free and modal jazz expressive devices into traditional chord-change improvisation.

Joe Lovano is the son of the respected Cleveland saxophonist Tony "Big T" Lovano. Joe started playing alto sax as a child, taught by his father, who also introduced him to jazz. In his youth, Joe would hear many of the prominent jazz artists who passed through town, including Dizzy Gillespie, James Moody, Sonny Stitt, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Joe Lovano began playing in jam sessions around Cleveland while still in his teens. Although thoroughly steeped in bebop, he also developed an interest in the jazz experimentalism of the 1960s, listening to such musicians as John Coltrane, Jimmy Giuffre, and Ornette Coleman. Following high school, Joe Lovano moved to Boston and attended the Berklee School of Music. Fellow students included such future collaborators as John Scofield, Bill Frisell, and Kenny Werner. While at Berklee, Joe Lovano discovered modal jazz harmony and opened up to the broad areas of tonal freedom that he found so attractive in the music of John Coltrane, among others.

After leaving Berklee, Joe Lovano worked with organists Lonnie Smith (with whom he made his recording debut) and Jack McDuff. He toured with Woody Herman from 1976-1979. After leaving Herman, Joe Lovano settled in New York City, where he quickly established himself. He joined drummer Mel Lewis' orchestra in 1980; he played the band's regular Monday night gigs at the Village Vanguard until 1992. He also recorded several times with the band. Joe Lovano would also work with Elvin Jones, Carla Bley, Lee Konitz, Charlie Haden, and Bob Brookmeyer, among others. He joined drummer Paul Motian's band in 1981 (which also included his Berklee classmate Frisell), and played with guitarist John Scofield's quartet. Joe Lovano began leading dates for Blue Note in the '90s, and continued doing so throughout that decade and into the next, recording in a variety of contexts ranging from trios to larger woodwind and brass ensembles. Joe Lovano received a number of Grammy nominations for his work on Blue Note. His 1996 album Quartets: Live at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note) was named Jazz Album of the Year by readers of Downbeat Magazine. Joe Lovano's wife is vocalist Judi Silvano.

Since then, Joe Lovano has split his time in the studio between releasing impressive original recordings and albums reinterpreting the work of artists who have influenced him, including vocalist Frank Sinatra on 1996's Celebrating Sinatra, various hard bop-era stalwarts including pianist Tadd Dameron on 2000's 52nd Street Themes, and opera tenor Enrico Caruso on 2001's Viva Caruso. In 2004, the always unpredictable reedman released the ballads album I'm All for You, featuring pianist Hank Jones. Joyous Encounter followed in spring 2005 with Streams Of Expression appearing on Blue Note a year later. Joe Lovano once agian paired up with Jones for the live duets album "Kids: Duets Live at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola" in 2007. ~ Chris Kelsey, Rovi