Joe Lovano
Solid Steps
Jazz Club Records (Belgium) 1986
JC 6011 (LP)
sleeve : EX-(collapse on two corners)
media : EX/EX(some slightly noise)
Released in 1986 on a Belgian label, this album is by American saxophonist Joe Lovano, who appeared on Lonnie Smith’s mid-1970s classics Afrodesia and Keep on Lovin’, and has also collaborated extensively with ECM-associated musicians such as Paul Motian and John Abercrombie, as well as European artists including Henri Texier. Lovano leads a quintet featuring pianist Michel Herr, known for the superb 1978 album Ouverture Éclair, alongside Belgian and Dutch jazz musicians Bert Joris on flugelhorn and trumpet, Hein van de Geyn on bass, and Dré Pallemaerts on drums. Although rooted in an orthodox bop style, the album offers sophisticated contemporary jazz throughout. Highlights include A3, distinguished by its superb composition and arrangement, reminiscent of Woody Shaw’s historic classic “Love Dance,” and B3, featuring a beautiful ensemble passage between Herr’s deeply expressive piano and Lovano’s soprano saxophone. A hidden gem.
A3: H and C’s Dance
B3: A Picture of Her