Paramount Quartet

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. 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. Reviewing the group’s show in London from days before the recording session, the Financial Times raved how “Lovano’s latest project adds hints of Americana to a modernist core and explores the terrain with freedom, focus and fire.” In turns heavy and extroverted then intimate and tender, the four generations-spanning instrumentalists present a wide-flung programme consisting of the saxophonist’s originals as well as an evocative pass at Wayne Shorter’s Billie Holiday homage “Lady Day” and Charlie Haden’s “First Song”. Recorded in the south of France in February 2025, the album was produced by Manfred Eicher.