92. Joe Lovano: Grammy-Winning Jazz Saxophonist, Blue Note Icon, Berklee Legend & His Career Journey

Episode 92: Joe Lovano. Joe Lovano is one of the greatest musicians of all time. A Grammy-winning saxophonist who's been on the cover of DownBeat magazine multiple times (as well as many others), a Blue Note Records legend with 25 releases, a Berklee alum, and he holds the Gary Burton Chair in Jazz Performance at Berklee College of Music, which he’s had since 2001. He also happens to be my cousin and one of the biggest inspirations and mentors in my life. This was our first time ever doing something like this together. A 3-hour deep dive interview that covers (nearly) his entire career. We go into our family history, growing up in Cleveland, our Sicilian roots, his father Tony “Big T” Lovano, and how that shaped his sound and spirit. We talk about his time with Elvin Jones, Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield, Charlie Haden, Esperanza Spalding, Michael Brecker, McCoy Tyner, Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, Hank Jones, Dave Holland, Joshua Redman, Al Foster, and many more. Joe shares lessons from decades of leading bands, developing tone, mentoring young players, and living a full creative life with his wife of 50 years, Judi Silvano. Joe is one of the greatest musicians alive, a music historian, and an incredible educator and mentor. Here is my interview with one of my favorite people, Joe Lovano.The Music Settlement Scholarship Donation: https://www.themusicsettlement.org/donate?utm_source=Master+List&utm_campaign=a5cff9ca09-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_JoeLovano2025&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1bd2f9c4a7-a5cff9ca09-434756824 ‘Go with Elmo Lovano’ is a weekly podcast where Elmo interviews creatives and entrepreneurs in music on HOW they push forward every day, got where they are in their careers, manage their personal lives, and share lessons learned and their most important insights. Please SUBSCRIBE / FOLLOW this podcast to catch new episodes as soon as they drop! Your likes, comments and shares are much appreciated! https://www.patreon.com/gowithelmo Become a Patreon Member to stay in the loop as we post Patreon-only exclusive content, Zoom hangs, invite only events, and discussions about music and music careers. Listen to the audio form of this podcast wherever you get your podcasts: https://elmolovano.komi.io/ Follow Joe: https://www.instagram.com/joelovanojazz/ Follow Go With Elmo: https://www.instagram.com/gowithelmo/ https://www.tiktok.com/@gowithelmo https://x.com/gowithelmopod Follow Elmo Lovano: https://Instagram.com/elmolovano https://x.com/elmolovano Follow Jammcard: https://www.youtube.com/@jammcard jammcard.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices