Folk Art is here. Visit Amazon to listen to samples and purchase this great music. |
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Check out Joe's gigs page for his complete 2009 schedule. "With Us Five, Lovano has found a flexible and exciting working band, a group that can play down the center or off on the side, that can swing joyously or reach for the heights of abstraction." Pop Matters Joe Lovano - Saxophones US Five Gigs: July 24 August 9 September 20 October 16 and 17 October 23 October 24 October 25 November 24 - 29, 2009 Photos: David Sinclair |
Joe's new group is US Five with new recording, Folk ArtAll Music Guide: "Jazz is essentially an African-American folk art, elements not lost on Joe Lovano as he presents this all-original program of progressive music. His updated quintet Us Five is one of his freshest units in some time...together they fulfill Lovano's vision as a band that is not afraid to take many chances, stay within a bop-based tradition, and cut loose on many levels in terms of adding diverse elements to this mix of music."
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Us 5 Debut At Ronnie Scott’s May 22, 2008 from JazzWise Magazine
Joe Lovano, as he told the first house audience at the weekend, on the warmest Saturday of the year in London so far, has been to Ronnie Scott’s many times. He clearly loves the place and as part of the club’s ongoing high profile 50th anniversary year concerts he brought his current band Us 5 to the club for the first time.
In probably another first for the club he also unleashed an unusual “double soprano” aulochrome which features on the group’s new album Folk Art into the set. The instrument is itself less than a decade old and gives an eerie manzello-like sound with Lovano harmonising via the two mouthpieces in his mouth at once. It summoned up the spirit of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, who made such an impact at the club many years ago.
Us Five is also all about two traps drummers, the Cuban Francisco Mela and the Newark, New Jersey-based Otis Brown III. They cross circulate rhythms in tandem with the new star on the upright bass, Esperanza Spalding. Lovano at the end of the set, introduced each member of the band like the very best sports announcer, so on piano it was, “James Weidman from Youngstown, Ohio” and he deserved, like the others, and Joe obliged, to have their names, cities and states said not once but twice to keen applause.
Of the material, title track ‘Folk Art’ with a nagging refrain had a distinctive narrative flow while ‘Dibango’, contained a strong rhythmic undertow that combined well with the stabbing, close clusters. One of the most effective moments was when what can only be described as the creation of the illusion of “reverse swing” into a decelerating slowness on the ballad ‘Wild Beauty’, and Lovano’s clarinet playing on ‘Page 4’ was just wonderfully judged. Let’s hope the band stays together for many tours.
Stephen Graham >