JOE LOVANO
I'm All For You

Blue Note

Right from the start, Joe Lovano’s latest release, I’m All For You, reminds us of the legendary Blue Note albums from the late 1950s and early 60s. The cover photo of the saxophonist, while not exactly retro, conveys the same aesthetic as many of the color photographs found on classic Blue Note recordings. The combo is made up of stellar players, a post-bop summit, really; Lovano is joined by supreme bassist George Mraz and two veterans whose work is always perfection, pianist Hank Jones and drummer Paul Motian. The appearance and personnel of the CD immediately make the listener expect a solid and unpretentious performance that will stand the test of many listenings. The great news is that Lovano, Jones, Mraz, and Motian deliver on that promise with an album of ballads that will satisfy any jazz fan who hungers for that classic period in recorded jazz history.

I don’t wish to give the impression that this is a throwback album, a conscious effort to mimic something that came and went many years ago. This CD matches the classic recordings that it aspires to in both performance and mood. In addition, Jones and Motian were out there performing during the first classic Blue Note period. Jones recorded some amazing sides for Verve as a leader, and played on a number of classic albums such as Cannonball Adderley’s Somethin’ Else. Motian, of course, was part of the first Bill Evans Trio. These musicians bring their years of experience to this recording, but in the end it just sounds like some musicians who both admire and respect each other getting together and having some fun playing a set of standard ballads. And that’s exactly what it is and precisely why this recording conjures up the classic Blue Note experience without coming across as phony or contrived in any way.

Lovano evokes the best tenor saxophonists of their time and the ballad genre—Lester Young, Ben Webster, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane—without sacrificing his own voice, a difficult trick for any tenor player coming up in the post-Trane jazz world. Lovano closes I’m All For You with a dramatic reinterpretation of Coltrane’s “Countdown.” Whereas Coltrane played the track at a rapid tempo, Lovano brings it downtempo and Motian opens the arrangement up by moving well outside the role of timekeeper, engaging in feisty dialogue with Lovano and Jones. If Coltrane’s classic quartet had reimagined “Countdown” around 1961-62, it might have sounded something like this.

Lovano has been involved in many high-profile projects in recent years, including his trio work with Motian and guitarist Bill Frisell, his recording of opera tunes, Viva Caruso!, his collaboration with Lovano, Dave Holland, and Al Foster, ScoLoHoFo, and his big band CD On This Day Live at the Village Vanguard. All have been excellent groups and featured Lovano playing well in a variety of settings, but there is a special edge to I’m All For You that comes from a project that is very, very close to Lovano’s heart and from the ability of these incredible musicians to come together and create the sound of a seasoned combo that has played together for many years. This disc will stand out in Lovano’s impressive discography and will be listened to and enjoyed by jazz fans for years to come.