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Joe Lovano Us Five - Taking Bird to new heights

We were pleased to welcome Joe Lovano and his group, "Us Five," into our studios on April 29 for a live on-air performance in-front of a group of KPLU Leadership members.

Live sessions in the KPLU Performance Studio are always fun.  However, when saxophonist, Joe Lovano, stopped by with his group, Us Five, it was more than fun.  It was also an honor. 

New York Times jazz critic, Ben Ratliff, put it very succinctly:

“It’s fair to say that (Lovano’s) one of the greatest musicians in jazz history.”

Usually in our studio sessions we begin with a song from the visiting artist, chat for a moment, hear another song, chat again, hear another song and that’s that.  Joe, though, wanted to go about it a bit differently….a few introductory remarks and then an uninterrupted four-song mini-set of Charlie Parker compositions (reflecting the content of his current tour and his latest CD, Bird Songs), so that’s the way we rolled. 

As far as we’re concerned, Joe Lovano can do it any way he wants to. With Us Five, Bird lives…and soars to new heights.

The Band:

  • Joe Lovano: Saxophone
  • James Weideman: Piano
  • Peter Slavov: Bass
  • Otis Brown III: Drums
  • Francisco Mela: Drums

Songs:

  1. Yardbird Suite
  2. Koko
  3. Donna Lee
  4. Barbados
Justin joined KNKX in 2009 as the station's first Multimedia Manager. In this role, Justin helped to produce multimedia content, and implement systems and procedures in efforts to transform KNKX from a traditional broadcast station into a multi-platform media organization.
Abe grew up in Western Washington, a 3rd generation Seattle/Tacoma kid. It was as a student at Pacific Lutheran University that Abe landed his first job at KNKX, editing and producing audio for news stories. It was a Christmas Day shift no one else wanted that gave Abe his first on-air experience which led to overnights, then Saturday afternoons, and started hosting Evening Jazz in 1998.
A native of Los Angeles and graduate of UCLA, Francis began his radio career in 1983 at KLSK-FM, an eclectic-based jazz station in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Since then, he has programmed jazz radio at stations all around the country, including KKSF/San Francisco and WJZZ/Atlanta. During his seven years as Program Director at KYOT/Phoenix, he helped it become the first jazz station in America to achieve number-one status in the ratings. He joined the KNKX team in November 2005.