Joe Lovano Paramount Quartet LP

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"There's a lot of magic that just kind of unfolds as we play. And the more we play, the more magical it becomes." – Joe Lovano

The "Paramount" in Joe Lovano's new quartet can be interpreted as a statement of intent. "I feel like at this point I'm on the rise," Joe says, seemingly unaware of the decades of experience and several dozens of leader-recordings under his belt. "We've arrived at this unique place with this quartet – It's very special. It's a new thing. Recording this with Manfred [Eicher] in the studio, I was really thrilled with the way the group continuously developed. And those cats, they play with a real global awareness!" The "cats" in question are guitarist Julian Lage, Asante Santi Debriano on bass and drummer Will Calhoun (otherwise known for his part in the American rock group Living Color) – all players who help shape a striking, adventurous new chapter in Joe Lovano's expansive oeuvre on Paramount Quartet.

Paramount Quartet's formation was inspired by the saxophonist's initial meeting with Asante and Will at a 2023 fundraiser for Puerto Rican hurricane relief. The trio immediately hit it off. As Joe puts it: "sometimes you meet, and it's like you've known each other your whole life. That happened with Will, Asante and I." Adding Julian to the mix was the next logical step, as the saxophonist and guitarist had been talking about doing something together since back when the guitarist was part of one of Joe's ensembles at Berklee College Of Music starting in ca. 2006.

The group's flawless understanding is as elegant in understated ballads as it is striking on several full-out romps, making this record a diversified yet balanced programme that covers multiple idiomatic pockets of improvisation. Opening with Charlie Haden's "First Song," the group delivers a refined invocation that introduces the proceedings with a deep, soulful yearning. Joe: "I used to sub for Ernie Watts with Quartet West, Charlie on bass and Lawrence Marable on drums. And playing it with Charlie on those occasions, I fell in love with the tune. And I didn't really dare touch it for a while until we started to play it with Paramount. It has this beautiful meditative quality about it."

Joe's own compositions find the quartet harmonizing at great intensity in rubato unisons ("Amsterdam"), groove-laden post-bop vamps ("Fanfare for Unity"), extended forms held together by intricately notated and then freely improvised passages ("The Great Outdoors") as well as in a comfortable mid-tempo sway, to the fore on the tasteful "Congregation." No matter the context, the saxophonist's cohorts adapt to any given situation, dialing the fireworks down to but a crackle for the chamber music dynamics of "The Call," while igniting songs like "Fanfare…" with flash and electricity. All the while, Joe establishes another dynamic dimension by alternating instruments within the songs, organically switching between tenor sax, tarogatos and soprano saxophone as he thoughtfully feels out the required tones and timbres.

"Will Calhoun has a way of playing that is so expansive and beautiful in so many directions," Joe raves about his fellow travellers. "And the same with Asante. His roots, his Panamanian roots, and being around New York, playing with Archie Shepp and Randy Weston and some other folks through the years… We've known each other since the 80s. And then Julian [Lage] is among the most gifted players in the music…"

This marks the guitarist's first recording for the label, and his interplay with the band reaches remarkable synergies throughout, with Julian honing in on the saxophonist's winding lines with great concentration, responsive and agile. Permeated with harmonic double stops and vertical development across the strings, Julian's solos are marked by elegant phrasing and wide implications, while his discreet comping choices underscore Joe's playing to great effect. It's a testament to how long the two have known each other: Joe was introduced to Julian when the guitarist was still a teen, visiting one of Joe's gigs with McCoy Tyner at Yoshi's in California, in the early noughts.

Wayne Shorter's "Lady Day," the only other non-original of the set, is rendered particularly gracefully by the band, with Joe's sustained lines breathing fresh life into the melody he was first introduced to on Shorter's album Soothsayer. Originally a big band-arrangement by Michael Gibbs for Joe's residency in Orvieto, Italy from a couple of years back, Joe decided to bring it to the quartet "and it really took off into a beautiful, magical way." "'Soothsayer' was the inspiration for me, just being around Wayne and knowing that record through the years and loving that song. Just the theme alone is haunting. There's so much possibility in the harmonies and the harmonic rhythm. And then Will, Santi and Julian are always initiating things from within what's being played in the moment."

Recorded in February 2025 at La Buissonne Studios in Southern France, the album was produced by Manfred Eicher.