Joe Lovano kicks the lead out of Tanglewood Jazz

by Seth Rogovoy

LENOX, Mass., Sept. 3, 1996 -- The 1996 Tanglewood Jazz Festival ended on Monday afternoon not with a whimper but a bang, as tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano and his quartet played a fierce, radiant program of neo-hard bop in as far out a manner as you can go today and still be considered mainstream.

From the moment the burly Lovano took the stage and blew his first few notes, you knew you were about to hear the sort of music that should be prevalent at a "jazz festival," but that was sorely lacking throughout the weekend in the Seiji Ozawa Hall: music that was full of vitality and personality, music that was on the edge, music that took risks.

Backed by Kenny Werner on piano, Anthony Cox on bass and Yoron Israel on drums, Lovano was an intensely physical frontman. He didn't just stand there and play his saxophone. He alternately grabbed it, pushed it, wrestled it and attacked it, taming it to produce a big, warm, fuzzy sound full of color and dynamics.

On his own "Fort Worth," the first number, Lovano worked his way slowly up the scales and then peeled the skin off of some high notes, as his band laid down a frenzy of rhythmic and chordal vamping. Werner and Israel then played simultaneous solos, and the former was so percussive and the latter so musical it wasn't clear who was playing which instrument. In this case, the piano player was the one who kept popping off of his seat.

"Birds of Springtime Gone By," another Lovano original, was more lyrical and impressionistic. Cox soloed with great finesse, while Werner shattered clusters of chords that were echoed and amplified by Israel.

Lovano next tackled Jimmy Van Heusen's "Imagination," a melodic ballad full of lyrical, rounded edges. His own, two-part "New York Fascination" began with an Ellingtonian intro, but quickly broke into a free-bop excursion, with traffic flying in all different directions: Werner vamping modally, Israel playing heavy, stop-time rhythms, and Lovano painting with large, wild brushstrokes that evoked the city's anarchy and density. The second half featured a more romantic look at the city -- perhaps it was nighttime -- beginning with a delicate segment by Werner followed by a slow, bluesy meditation by Lovano -- perhaps a rooftop idyll.

The quartet blew free for its last number, with Werner matching Lovano's energy and intensity note for note, while Cox bowed a bassline behind and Israel supplied a New Orleans parade beat. Lovano then played a series of repetitive figures atop a modal floor laid down by Werner, who slammed a chord in return for every honk by Lovano. Lovano finished up with circular patterns and riffs, with Werner tagging along, and Israel brought the curtain down with the best drum solo of the entire festival. Lovano's was a witty, exciting demonstration of improvisational music at its contemporary finest.
Beautiful.

Lovano was preceded by the Christian McBride Quartet, featuring saxophonist Tim Warfield, keyboardist Joey Calderazo and drummer Carl Allen. McBride is one of the best, young sidemen around, but his set as a leader paled in comparison to his other work. His first two numbers, "Whirling Dervish" and "Youthful Bliss," showed him to be a composer of modest invention. The former had an appealing circularity, and the latter had a cool, '60s sort of elegance, and featured a very pianistic bass solo by McBride.

"Stars Fell on Alabama" was a lush ballad on which McBride took the lead, bowing the melody as if it were a vocal line. But then McBride's set took an unfortunate turn when he strapped on an electric bass and played a couple of fusion tunes. They may have been fun to play, but their impact was lost, even with McBride strutting some James Brown- style, fancy footwork.

If you would like to purchase Joe Lovano's latest CD on-line, please click on the SoundStone logo to the right.

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