During the 1970s he was a member of the New York Jazz Quartet and in the 1980s a member of Quest.

Discography

As leader

As sideman

With Toshiko Akiyoshi

With Mal Waldron

With others

References

External links

Category:1944 births Category:Living people Category:Berklee College of Music alumni Category:Czech jazz double-bassists Category:Czech jazz musicians Category:Jazz alto saxophonists Category:New York Jazz Quartet members Category:Milestone Records artists Category:People from Písek

Biography

Cleveland tenorman "Big T" Lovano was his son's first inspiration, teaching him all the standards, how to lead a gig, pace a set, and be versatile enough to always find work. Joe started on alto at age six and switched to tenor five years later. He attended Berklee before working with Jack McDuff and Dr. Lonnie Smith. After three years with Woody Herman's orchestra, Lovano moved to New York and began playing regularly with Mel Lewis’ Big Band. This influence is still present in his solos. He often plays lines that convey the rhythmic drive and punch of an entire horn section.

In the early ‘80s he began working in John Scofield’s quartet and a bass-less trio with Paul Motian and Bill Frisell. Steeped in the tradition of Ornette Coleman, Motian’s recordings show off Lovano’s avant-garde abilities. Lovano has enduring musical partnerships with John Scofield and Paul Motian, having participated in some of their more noteworthy projects over the years. In 1993, at the suggestion of musicologist Gunther Schuller, fellow Clevelander and bebop guitarist Bill DeArango recorded the album "Anything Went" with Lovano. "He was a major mentor for all of us round here," said Lovano. In 1999, having developed dementia, DeArango was taken into a nursing home, where Lovano visited him on December 26, 2005. Two hours after Lovano left, DeArango died. "He knew we were there," said Lovano. "His heartbeat raced. He knew we were there."

He is currently a jazz artist on the international level. His live work, specifically ''Quartets: Live at the Village Vanguard'', garnered a Down Beat "Jazz Album of the Year" award. Other releases include ''Trio Fascination'' and ''52nd Street Themes''. In the late 1990s, he formed the Saxophone Summit with Dave Liebman and Michael Brecker (now deceased, replaced with Ravi Coltrane). He played the tenor saxophone on the critically acclaimed 2007 McCoy Tyner album ''Quartet''. In 2006 Lovano released ''Streams Of Expression'', a tribute to cool jazz and free jazz. He did this with the help of Gunther Schuller who contributed his "Birth Of The Cool Suite". Joe Lovano and Hank Jones released an album together in June 2007 entitled ''Kids''. Lovano also currently leads his quartet with Berklee Faculty and students Esperanza Spalding, James Weidman, and Otis Brown.

He has been the teacher of Jeff Coffin after the latter received an NEA Jazz Studies Grant in 1991.

Joe Lovano has been playing Borgani saxophones since 1991 and exclusively since 1999. He has his own series called Borgani-Lovano, which uses Pearl-Silver Alloy with Gold 24K keys.

He appears in Noah Buschel's film ''The Missing Person'', with Academy Award Nominees Amy Ryan and Michael Shannon.

Discography

As leader

As sideman

References

External links

Category:1952 births Category:Living people Category:Post-bop jazz musicians Category:American saxophonists Category:Berklee College of Music alumni Category:Jazz tenor saxophonists Category:Berklee College of Music faculty Category:Grammy Award winners Category:American jazz musicians of Italian descent Category:American people of Sicilian descent

Biography

He joined Miles Davis's group when Jack DeJohnette left. As a member of the Davis band from 1972 to 1985, Foster's contribution to Davis' music is articulated by Davis himself in his 1989 autobiography, Miles: The Autobiography, where Davis describes the first time he heard Foster play live in 1972 at the Cellar Club on 95th Street in Manhattan: 'He [Foster] knocked me out because he had such a groove and he would just lay it right in there. That was the kind of thing I was looking for. AI could set it up for everybody else to play off and just keep the groove going forever."

Other artists Foster has performed and recorded with include Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, McCoy Tyner, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Hutcherson, John Scofield, Pat Metheny, Charlie Haden, Randy & Michael Brecker, Bill Evans, George Benson, Kenny Drew, Carmen McRae, Stan Getz, Toots Thielemans, Dexter Gordon, Hank Jones, George Mraz, Blue Mitchell and Chick Corea. Over the years, Foster has toured extensively with Herbie Hancock, Sonny Rollins, and Joe Henderson, becoming a major attraction in all three bands as well as an integral part of them.

He is an all-round drummer, who has played in musical styles ranging from bebop to free form to jazz/rock.

Recently Foster has recorded and toured with his own band. He began composing in the 1970s. He likens it to playing chess with the piano. Although he does not read music, he can play his songs on the piano with a groove. Since 1996 Al has been touring with his own band, featuring bassist Douglas Weiss. The current band also features Israeli born Saxophonist Eli Degibri, and Adam Birnbaum on piano. The band has played over 1000 concert and club dates all over the world, including the UK, Italy, France, Holland, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Russia, South Africa.

Discography

As leader

As co-leader

As sideman

With others

References

Category:American jazz drummers Category:Jazz drummers Category:Miles Davis Category:Musicians from New York Category:1944 births Category:Living people Category:People from Richmond, Virginia

Thomas Lee Flanagan (16 March 1930 – 16 November 2001, New York City) was an American jazz pianist born in Detroit, Michigan, particularly remembered for his work with Ella Fitzgerald. Flanagan played on a number of critically acclaimed recordings, such as John Coltrane's ''Giant Steps'', Sonny Rollins' ''Saxophone Colossus'', ''The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery'', and Art Pepper's ''Straight Life''.

Biography

Flanagan's style was both modest and exceptionally musical. He embodied many of the most important qualities associated with jazz: swing, harmonic sophistication, melodic invention, bluesy feel and humour. Interestingly, he appeared on a number of highly innovative albums. (His awkward solo on the extremely fast and harmonically complex title-track of ''Giant Steps'' is a rare [if famous] instance on record of the usually unflappable pianist being caught off-guard.)

Tommy Flanagan is mentioned by Japanese Author Haruki Murakami in the short story, ''Chance Traveller'', in which he describes his experiences at a Tommy Flanagan performance.

During his career, Flanagan was nominated for four Grammy Awards — two for Best Jazz Performance (Group) and two for Best Jazz Performance (Soloist).

Discography

As leader

As sideman

References

External links

Category:American jazz pianists Category:Mainstream jazz pianists Category:Bebop pianists Category:Hard bop pianists Category:Savoy Records artists Category:John Coltrane Category:1930 births Category:2001 deaths Category:Musicians from Detroit, Michigan Category:Enja Records artists Category:Timeless Records artists Category:Verve Records artists Category:Prestige Records artists Category:Xanadu Records artists

In 1977 he was awarded a year's scholarship to study composition and arrangement with Herb Pomeroy at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He then continued his composition studies with Jarmo Sermila, George Crumb and Václav Kučera. Since returning to Prague, he has led his own ensembles (primarily quartets and quintets), composed and arranged, and - since the death of Karel Velebný - worked as director of the Summer Jazz Workshops in Frydlant. He has lectured at a similar workshop event in Glamorgan, Wales. Between 1991 and 1995, Viklický was President of the Czech Jazz Society, and since 1994 he has worked with the Ad lib Moravia ensemble, whose performances combine elements of Moravian folk music, modern jazz and contemporary serious music. In 1996, the ensemble undertook a highly successful concert tour of Mexico and the United States.

As a pianist, Viklický often performs in international ensembles alongside musicians from the U.S. and other European countries, including the Lou Blackburn International Quartet, the Benny Bailey Quintet, and multi-instrumentalist Scott Robinson. He has made frequent appearances in Finland (with the Finnczech Quartet and in particular with Jarmo Sermila) and Norway (with the Czech-Norwegian Big Band and Harald Gundhus) and has performed in the USA, Japan, Mexico, Israel, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands (at the North Sea Festival) and elsewhere.

As a composer, Viklický has attracted attention abroad primarily for having created a synthesis of the expressive elements of modern jazz with the melodicism and tonalities of Moravian folk song that is distinctly individual in contemporary jazz. Besides this, however, he also composes “straight-ahead” modern jazz as well as chamber and orchestral works that utilize certain elements of the New Music, and at times his music requires a combination of classical and jazz performers. He also composes incidental and film music and has produced scores for several full-length feature films (''e.g.'' the German horror comedy ''Killer Condom'') and television series. Throughout the 1990s he devoted an increasing amount of time to the composition of contemporary classical music for a great variety of instrumental combinations ranging from small chamber ensembles and electronic instruments to symphony orchestras and choruses.

Viklický's work has gained him a number of prestigious awards. These include second prize in the 1985 Monaco jazz composition competition (for "Cacharel"), the 1991 Film and Television Association prize for music for animated film, second prize at the 1994 Marimolin contemporary music competition in Boston (for "Tristana"), a 1996 Prague award for electroacoustic music (for "Paradise Park"), a 1996 Czech Music Fund prize for use of folk music in art music, and first prize in a 2000 international composition competition in Prague (for the opera ''Phaedra'')

Viklický often accompanied Czech jazz singer Eva Olmerová, during the last years of her career.

Selected Discography:

''Live in Vienna'' (Cube-Métier 2010) ''Sinfonietta~The Janáček of Jazz'' (Venus 2009) ''The Funky Way of Emil Viklicky'' (Vampi Soul 2009) ''Emil Viklicky 60'' (Multisonic 2009) ''Vítáme Vás'' (DMcP 2009) ''Ballads and More'' (Arta 2008) ''Jazz at Prague Castle'' (Multisonic 2007) ''Moravian Gems'' (Cube-Métier 2007) ''Jazz Night at the Museum'' (DMcP 2007) ''Cookin' in Bonn'' (Dekkor 2006) ''Summertime'' (Cube-Métier 2004) ''What's New'' (Cube-Métier 2003) ''Trio '01'' (Arta 2002) ''Live in Rudolfinum'' (PJ Music 2001) ''Morava'' (Fantasy/Milestone 2001) ''Docela všední obyčejný den'' (Lotos 1998) ''Neuro'' (Gallup Music 1998) ''Duets'' (Lotos 1998) ''Bohemia After Dark'' (PJ Music 1997) ''UV Drive'' (Arta 1997) ''Homage To Josip Plecnik'' (Lotos 1996; reissued 2004) ''Food of Love'' (Melantrich 1995; reissued Lotos 1998) ''Last Connection from Niirasaki'' (Monitor/EMI 1995) '''Round Midnight'' (Arta 1991) ''Beyond the Mountains'' (Supraphon 1990) ''Homage to Joan Miró'' (Supraphon 1988; reissued 1989) ''Together'' (Supraphon 1981; reissued 1996) ''Confluence'' (Jasemusiikki Finland 1983; reissued 1995) ''The Window and The Door'' (Supraphon 1980; reissued Bonton 1997)

Gallery

Web sources

External links

Category:1948 births Category:Living people Category:Czech jazz pianists Category:Czech pianists Category:Czech musicians Category:Czech composers Category:People from Olomouc Category:Czech jazz musicians Category:Film score composers