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Symphonica

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Joe Lovano Format: Audio CD

9 ratings

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MP3 Music, January 1, 2008

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Audio CD, Import, October 8, 2008

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Editorial Reviews

Tenor titan Lovano's 20th Blue Note recording is a bold and beautiful orchestral project recorded largely in concert with the WDR Radio Big Band and Orchestra from Cologne, Germany, with the music arranged and conducted by Michael Abene, the musical director of the big band. Largely Lovano originals the album features one cover, Charles Mingus' "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love".

Product details

Language ‏ : ‎ English
Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.75 x 5 x 0.39 inches; 3.32 Ounces
Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Blue Note Records
Item model number ‏ : ‎ 3 3 00226225
SPARS Code ‏ : ‎ DDD
Date First Available ‏ : ‎ July 8, 2008
Label ‏ : ‎ Blue Note Records
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B001CATAAS
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1

Best Sellers Rank: #554,281 in CDs & Vinyl (See Top 100 in CDs & Vinyl)
- #6,688 in Modern Postbebop (CDs & Vinyl)
- #11,846 in Bebop (CDs & Vinyl)
- #364,157 in Pop (CDs & Vinyl)

Customer Reviews:
9 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		64%
4 star		7%
3 star		22%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star		7%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Nobody

taste.

Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2008

Verified Purchase

joe lovano's music is the embodiement of taste, all of his albums are top notch, symphonica is no different. the thing i notice here more than anywhere else, is the gil evans influence shining through[duke ellingtons sound of love].this is a classy album, his ballad playing is 1st class and surely influenced by ben webster. joe does have a fairly original tone. when hes muscular ,he sounds a lot like joe henderson ,and on ballads the webster and dexter gordon tone comes through. this is split pretty evenly between ballads mid tempo and fast tempo numbers. but that duke ellingtons sound of love is in the upper teir . if you like gil evans or maria schnieder, this is in that leauge, well done.

9 people found this helpful

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George De Stefano

Lovano's Great, Symphonica Not

Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2008

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I've always been lukewarm about "jazz and strings" projects but I thought that maybe the great Lovano could change my mind. He hasn't. There's some wonderful playing here -- by Joe Lovano and his ensemble. But the strings are often overdone and obtrusive.

2 people found this helpful

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Matthew Miller

On and off

Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2008

Although Charlie Parker beat everyone to it with his "with strings" album, it seems that the orchestral sound has come into fashion recently. Michael Brecker's "Wide Angles" set the bar (very high I might add), though more recently Chris Potter tried a similar set up on "Song for Anyone" and Chick Corea and Gary Burton augmented part of their most recent effort together with an orchestra. Now, Joe Lovano can too say that he has played with the extended orchestration of a symphonic big band. I would say he does so with mixed success.

Right off the bat, I found the album somewhat unsettling. The opening number, a ballad entitled "Emperor Jones", is just teeming with schmaltz. The strings behind Lovano are about as sappy and cliche as is possible, and the song suffers because of it. It highlights a problem with the way some musicians have tried to use orchestras on their albums. Brecker didn't have a piano player on "Wide Angles" instead he had a tightly orchestrated extended band, that sometimes just gave him chords to play over and sometime where integral parts of the melody. Brecker used the strings right, they were never superfluous, at any moment they added to the mix, either as part of the rhythm section or like a lead horn section would. On "Symphonica" however, the strings are an afterthought. Lovano is playing with the piano, bass and drums (playing pretty well actually) but the strings are playing by themselves. There is no serious interplay, and mostly they just sound tacky. Luckily there a large sections where the orchestra does not play a large part.

This album, however, is not all bad. Lovano is a monster of a player, and there are moments where he really shines. He has a great, deep tone that he uses really well. His solo on "Alexander the Great", is really something to hear, as is his dueling horns with an alto player from the band on that track. (I should point out that "Alexander the Great" sticks out as being a great song here at least in part because the orchestra didn't play much during it). He also offers some very solid soprano playing on two tracks. In short, he does not disappoint himself. The handful of musicians with solos also do a great job.

Ultimately, this is not a bad album per se, just not quite as solid as I would have hoped. Lovano is great, and some of his recent albums are really excellent (the duet with Hank Jones is spectacular as is work with McCoy Tyner on "Quartet"), but I dont think this one lives up quite as much. I have given it four stars because Lovano plays over the orchestra, and he is, of course, spectacular.

10 people found this helpful

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monte

Tonal beauty and variety.

Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2008

Sooner or later, most jazz musicians end up playing with strings.
Here, the saxophonist Joe Lovano can be heard with a symphony orchestra and also a big band.
Although saxophonist Joe Lovano has recorded with strings before ("Classic Ellington" with Simon Rattle and the Birmingham Symphony, Gunther Schuller on Rush Hour, Celebrating Sinatra with Manny Albam), this is his first album documenting his own compositions played with orchestral backing.
The allbum features the WDR Big Band and Rundfunk Orchestra, arrangements by Michael Abene, and in addition to Lovano, alto player Karolina Strassmayer (who indulges in a spirited saxophone joust with him on his `Alexander the Great'), guitarist Paul Shigihara and pianist Frank Chastenier.
One of the qualities that have made Joe Lovano such a major figure in the contemporary jazz landscape has been his ability to absorb a huge swathe of jazz's stylistic spectrum, from straight swing to free jazz, and recast the results with his own distinctive signature. That process is at work again here in arguably the most ambitious project he has undertaken.
This may be a little polite for some jazz listeners, lacking the grit and adventurousness characterising Lovano's outings with the Paul Motian Trio or even some of his earlier Blue Note recordings, but it should please those who like their jazz tasteful, elegant and restrained.
Lovano performs his own compositions, ranging from adventurously conservative to conservatively avant-garde.
The effect is rich, romantic and a little self-indulgent.

Classic Ellington
Rush Hour
Celebrating Sinatra

5 people found this helpful

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quickdraw

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2017

This Album is Fantastic , great strings, big band .. enjoy

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Transfigured Knight

Avoid This Album At All Costs!

Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2009

Joe Lovano seems to be the embodiment of bad taste these days. His work suffers from lack of melodic invention, lyricism, and a lack of tone. "Symphonica" could have been a great release had it been somebody else playing Lovano's music than him. Lovano's music and playing only reinsures the fact that jazz player's today don't understand the importance of melody, harmony, rhythm, structure, note choice, and tone. A horn player's tone is everything and it seems that these player's don't understand anything about that. A truly distasteful album with no kind of lyrical beauty to be found. Avoid this recording like the plague! Horrible drivel.

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

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J. McDonald

Joe Lovano: Symphonica.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 26, 2021

Verified Purchase

Live and lush – a fine album recorded in 2005 featuring Joe Lovano on tenor and soprano saxes with the WDR Big Band and the Rundfunk Orchestra; all but one the pieces are original compositions by Lovano, arranged by Michael Abene with quite complex orchestration, strings and contributions by individual players from the big band; needless to say the ensemble work is first-rate and Lovano stretches out lyrically on some tracks and goes full tilt on others – those familiar with the saxophonist's output will know what to expect and will enjoy the soloist in this showcase setting.
The audience is certainly appreciative, as well they might be – it`s a great album.
The CD has a playing time of 64.42 minutes; go to the mp3 download track to hear the solitary sound sample – shame there are no others.

Suebee

This particular recording was completely the work of Joe Lovato.

Reviewed in Canada on August 1, 2019

Verified Purchase

This is a jazz collection that has overtones of early jazz players of the 30’s to the early 60’s. It is a fine addition to the avid jazz buff. Great for easy listening and danceable. I am very impressed with Joe Lovato’s skillful renditions.

Cliente Amazon

Splendido disco

Reviewed in Italy on April 14, 2016

Verified Purchase

Bellissimo disco di Joe Lovano con accompagnamento dell'orchestra. Splendidi arrangiamenti e ottimi strumentisti. Uno dei dischi in cui Lovano è più ispirato.

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