On his 20th album for Blue Note, Grammy-winning post bebop sax maestro Joe Lovano is coupled in a series of mostly live performances by the WDR Orchestra, directed and arranged by Michael Abene. Although Lovano paid some of his dues with the Woody Herman Orchestra, it�s the kickoff time in his solo career that he�s recorded with a full symphony. What results is an empathetic run through a selection of mostly original material (except for Duke Ellington's Sound Of Love, penned by long term Lovano favorite Charles Mingus) which amounts to a best-of retrospective. The image of the material underlines Lovano's versatility, but also a sure MOR sensibility that's pleasant, but hardly challenging.
The nearest Lovano gets to the avant-garde is on the quirky, happy-go-lucky, Eric Dolphy-ish Eternal Joy, one of two numbers game on which he switches to soprano sax to good effect. Sleevenotes don't say world Health Organization the splendid trumpeter connexion him hither and on the likes of I'm All For You and the bustling, percussive The Dawn Of Time is, but s/he�s certainly charles Frederick Worth a reference. The latter also features some tasty noodling from guitarist Paul Shigihara. The other noteworthy soloist is pianist Frank Chastenier, whose liquid phrasing lights up the smooth ballad Emperor Jones.
Lovano himself is at his charles Herbert Best on the smoochier book of Numbers like the above, glide from one inspired, liquid improvisation to the next with the assurance of an elderberry bush (or at least fully mature) statesman of jazz who has been a respected solo artist since the eighties. His horn neither dominates the lush arrangements nor is swamped by them, which is a credit to producer Lucas M. Schmid and the resonance achieved with Abene. Call it dinner jazz with a more or less erudite border if you like, simply it sure as shooting won't give you stomach upset.
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