Lost On The Shelves – Joe Lovano: Quartets: Live at the Village Vanguard

I have come to reappreciate CDs after the recent purchase of a new DAC. I have been pulling some great-sounding albums on CD and streaming to get familiar with the DAC. Quartets: Live at the Village Vanguard is a great pair of live performances, impeccably recorded. This really showcases the capabilities of a Redbook CD (16-bit/44.1 kHz). I have been to the Village Vanguard, and this album is like being there.

During the early 1990s, saxophonist Joe Lovano led multiple working ensembles simultaneously. This album documents two distinct quartet lineups performing across two separate engagements at the historic Village Vanguard. Lovono plays – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, C melody saxophone on the album.

Quartet #1 (without piano): Joe Lovano (sax), Tom Harrell (trumpet/flugelhorn), Anthony Cox (bass), and Billy Hart (drums).

Quartet #2 (with piano): Joe Lovano (sax), buy (piano), Christian McBride (bass), and Lewis Nash (drums).

I became aware of this album when it won the 1995 Downbeat readers’ poll Jazz Album of the Year. I picked up the double CD and instantly loved Joe’s style. As the liner notes point out: “Lovano is as comfortable playing improvised duos with English Free-Jazz-Master Evan Parker as in-the-pocket bebop with an organ trio.”

Disk one (Quarter #1) features the combination of Lovano and Tom Harrell (trumpet/flugelhorn), and it is jazz heaven. These are two guys on the same page. Two guys with the same aesthetic but different horns. The rhythm section of Cox and Hart perfectly supports the soloists. If you focus on the rhythm section, it is complex and interesting in its own right (Cox gets plenty of solos too). Lovano composed four of the seven tunes (Harrell wrote one too).

This is mellow, but real jazz, not smooth jazz. A friendly entryway into the jazz door, yet with plenty of depth for the serious jazz head. The kind of esteemed place that the likes of Miles Davis’ Kind Of Blue occupy – accessible, yet innovative.

In the liner notes, Lovano continues:

“Whether Miles’ group was a quartet or quintet or however big it was, it would come down to a trio sound a lot, the bass, drums, and horn. I think that’s the essence in jazz, and there are certain feelings that happen in that intimate setting. In a quartet like this, with two horns you have the opportunity to change the orchestration as you play, to play backgrounds, to cut in on each other, to trade, to create a real ensemble sound as four people.”

This is a great-sounding quartet.

This is a great-sounding CD. Very lively and immersive.

It is amazing how different swapping out a horn for piano is. Disk two (Quartet 2) is a completely different vibe. The piano quartet allows for Lovano to solo unleashed. The set list is covers and jazz standards (John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, and Charles Mingus, a standard by Gordon Jenkins) with the final tune composed by Lovano. Let’s talk about the players.

Lovano has the rare ability to be accessible, yet he absolutely shreds. He can bleed a ballad and fly his freak flag.

Mulgrew Miller (piano) was a boss. He was influenced by Ramsey Lewis, Oscar Peterson, and McCoy Tyner, but has his own voice. His solos are soulful, yet epic. This cat can play.

Christian McBride (bass), was a 23 year old kid building his reputation. He sounds great both in the rhythm section and as a soloist. He has a unique voice and sticks out (in a good way) even at this young age. No surprise he became a jazz superstar. What I love about McBride is that he swings.

Lewis Nash (drums) now has a reputation as a go-to jazz drummer. According to Modern Drummer magazine, Nash has one of the longest discographies in jazz and has played on over 400 records, earning him the magazine’s honor of Jazz’s Most Valuable Player in its May 2009 issue. He has some impressive solos too.

In the liner notes, Lovano states:

“I wanted to make a counter-statement to the first quartet and not just be throwing some tunes together. We challenged each other throughout the week on each tune. It didn’t matter what the tempo was or what key it was in or what the tune was. We could have played ‘Happy Birthday.'”

Needless to say, this is a tight combo. A great environment for pros like. Lovano and Miller can seriously solo.

This disk is also impeccably recorded and mixed. I like the audience mix as it makes me feel like I am in the club.

The combination of these two quartets at the top of their game, led by a horn player in the stratosphere, makes this one of my top fifty jazz albums (assuming I had such a list). I am really enjoying revisiting this album. Joe Lovano knows how to assemble and lead a jazz band. This is a prime example of live jazz at its best. The mix of band and audience is fantastic. An immersive experience (sorry, I keep repeating that – but the “in the club” vibe is fantastic).