Artist: Joe Lovano

Joseph Salvatore Lovano is an American jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist,  and drummer. He has earned a Grammy Award and several mentions on Down Beat  magazine's critics' and readers' polls. His wife, with whom he records and performs, is singer Judi Silvano.

He went to  Berklee College of Music, where he studied under Herb Pomeroy and Gary Burton. Lovano received an honorary doctorate of music from the college in 1998. 

After Berklee he worked with Jack McDuff and Lonnie Smith. He spent three years with the Woody Herman orchestra, then moved to New York City, where he played with the big band of Mel Lewis. He often plays lines that convey the rhythmic drive and punch of an entire horn section. In the mid 1980s Lovano began working in a quartet with John Scofield and in a trio with Bill Frisell and Paul Motian. 

In 1991, Lovano began a lengthy and acclaimed run on Blue Note Records with  Landmarks and From the Soul (the latter featuring Michel Petrucciani, Dave Holland and Ed Blackwell). Many outstanding releases followed, including the highly diverse Rush Hour (tracks range from solo to big band), collaborations with saxophonists Joshua Redman (Tenor Legacy) and Greg Osby (Friendly Fire), 52nd Street Themes (with a nonet), and four albums featuring the classic pianist Hank Jones. 

In 1993, he played on the album Anything Went by guitarist Bill DeArango, a native of Cleveland. In the late 1990s, he formed the Saxophone Summit with  Dave Liebman  and Michael Brecker (later replaced by Ravi Coltrane). Streams of Expression (2006) was a tribute to both cool jazz and free jazz. Lovano and pianist Hank Jones released an album together in June 2007, entitled Kids. He played the tenor saxophone on the 2007 McCoy Tyner album Quartet.