Classic! Live At Newport Joe Lovano Quartet

• 1Big Ben07:11
• 2Bird's Eye View11:06
• 3Don't Ever Leave Me10:23
• 4I'm All For You09:55
• 5Kids Are Pretty People08:10
• 6Six And Four11:04
• Total Runtime57:49

Info for Classic! Live At Newport

Hailed by the New York Times as “one of the greatest musicians in jazz history,” GRAMMY award-winning saxophone giant, Joe Lovano, has distinguished himself for three decades as a pathfinding force in the arena of creative music. He has earned praise not just for his compelling saxophone tone and improvisational ability, but also for his forward-thinking presentation of new musical ideas and ensemble concepts.

With this summer's Newport Jazz Festival about to begin, Joe Lovano has pulled from the vaults his 2005 performance there with a quartet that included the late pianist Hank Jones, then 87.

The six-tune set features material drawn from the studio albums Lovano recorded with Jones in 2004-05. Bassist George Mraz and drummer Lewis Nash complete the quartet, and everyone is in fine form, including Jones, who makes each note count and never sounds like he's coasting. Phased retirement wasn't part of the plan.

"Classic!" opens with the Lovano composition "Big Ben," and he takes two quick turns before handing off to Jones, who delivers a soulful, swinging solo. The pianist is at his best on the Lovano ballad "I'm All for You," digging deep into the dictionary of jazz and even offering a nod to Debussy.

The bandleader seems inspired by his senior sideman. At times Lovano deploys a broad tone, like a painter trying to cover the entire canvas with one stroke, and elsewhere pushes his sax to the brink with squeaks, squawks and squeals. He really lets 'er rip on the finale, the boisterous "Six and Four," and Jones easily matches the pace, like the thoroughbred he was.

Audience noise is rarely a distraction, and the crowd's appreciative reaction reaffirms the remarkable staying power of Jones, who died in 2010. Following his solo on "Don't Ever Leave Me," one especially enthusiastic fan shouts "Ah-woooo!" — which pretty well describes Jones' contribution to the album.

„Bestowing an album with the "classic" designation upon its release may seem a bit presumptuous, but this appears to be one of those if-the-shoe-fits cases that says otherwise. A classic, by its own definition, is something "of the first or highest quality, class, or rank," and this surely fits the bill.“ (AllAboutJazz)

Joe Lovano, tenor saxophone
Hank Jones, piano
George Mraz, bass
Lewis Nash, drums

Joe Lovano
Grammy-winning saxophonist and composer Joe Lovano stands alone at the vanguard of large and small group jazz. From his Grammy-nominated symphonic work to his role as Gary Burton Chair of Jazz Performance at Berklee College of Music, the Cleveland native fearlessly challenges and pushes his conceptual and thematic ventures in a quest for new modes of artistic expression and new ways to define the jazz idiom. In 2014 Lovano won awards for Multi-reeds Player and Tenor Saxophonist of the Year from the Jazz Journalists Association and Tenor Saxophonist of the Year from Down Beat Magazine. He has released 23 celebrated albums on the Blue Note label; with the last three focusing on his quintet Us Five.

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