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Joe Lovano |
Excerpt from Joe Lovano's Lesson:
I had a special upbringing in music. My father, who was born in 1925, grew up in
the bebop era and played tenor saxophone around Cleveland. Tadd Dameron was also
from Cleveland, and my dad grew up under Tadd. My dad taught me about melody. He
taught me how to play by teaching me songs and showing me how to develop ideas
with the melody and the chord progressions. My concepts about tone, rhythm and
melodic phrasing really developed in my younger days. I learned so much from
just playing with my father. Playing with another tenor saxophone and trying to
blend with his sound taught me how to listen. |
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One important thing that
my father always talked about was that, even though I played the
saxophone, I was going to play in bands with other musicians. The more
I knew about other instruments, like drums, trumpet, piano, bass,
guitar, trombone and so on, the better I would be able to blend in with
a band. Whether I played with a saxophone section, or a band with a lot
of brass, or in a duet with just a drummer, knowing how other
instruments sound and their ranges would help me find a common energy,
rhythm and tone. As a result of learning that when I was a kid, when I
play with a trumpet player in a band now, I play with a different kind
of articulation, a different attitude, than when I’m playing with just
piano, bass and drums. When I’m playing with a guitar player like John
Scofield, Bill Frisell or John Abercrombie, three very different
players, I focus on the sound, and the balance and the energy within
their sounds to direct my sound. My tone is always the same but my
articulation changes, my attitude and energy change depending on who I
play with.
What my father talked about when I was a kid also made me listen
differently when I studied records. Studying Miles Davis, for example.
I wouldn’t listen just to Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins
or Wayne Shorter, just to name some of the saxophone players in those
bands. I also studied the way Philly Jo Jones played. I studied the way
Jimmy Cobb played. I studied the way Tony Williams played, the way Jack
DeJohnette played, the way the energy changed, and the way Miles’s
playing changed. When Miles played with Max Roach he played differently
than when he played with Philly Jo Jones. The recording dates might
have only been six months apart, but a lot of things would be
different. Studying all of the piano players that played with Miles and
his different groups, such as Herbie Hancock, Wynton Kelly, Red
Garland, Bill Evens, Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea, opened up my ears
to the different voicings, harmonies and phrasing that they each
brought into the bands. I studied what the bass player, piano player
and drummer were playing as much as I studied what Coltrane or Wayne
Shorter played. I would listen to and memorize what was being played
without writing it out. I never transcribed solos note for note. What I
did was try to feel and internalize the music so that I could recall it
as I was playing, without specifically copying what somebody played.
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