1995 · Album
Tribute to Lee Morgan
Recorded Details not verified — omitted · Blue Note · Produced by Details not verified — omitted
Lovano Keeps the Flame Burning
Lovano digs into Morgan's catalog with genuine affection, not reverence — there's a real difference.
Joe Lovano has always been drawn to the hard bop tradition, and a tribute to Lee Morgan makes a lot of sense for him. Morgan was one of the great trumpet voices of the 1950s and 60s — sharp, bluesy, with a pocket feel that made even complicated lines sound inevitable. This album is Lovano's way of spending time in that world, and he does it without turning the whole thing into a museum piece. The band swings, the tempos feel lived-in, and Lovano's tenor sits naturally alongside the trumpet-forward material Morgan left behind.
What works here is that Lovano isn't trying to copy Morgan or reconstruct his sound note for note. He's playing his own game on Morgan's tunes, which is the only honest way to do a tribute album. The rhythm section keeps things grounded and the arrangements don't overreach. If you know Morgan's recordings, you'll hear the echoes clearly. If you're coming to this fresh, it still holds up as a solid hard bop session — warm, direct, and played with confidence. A few tracks have that easy, rolling groove that Morgan was so good at building, and Lovano leans into those moments without overselling them.
This isn't Joe Lovano's flashiest record, and it probably shouldn't be. Tribute albums work best when the artist stays out of their own way, and Lovano mostly does that here. It's a good entry point if you want to understand why Morgan still matters, or if you just want a well-played hard bop album that doesn't try too hard. Fans of 52nd Street Themes (2000) looking for the bigger ensemble sound will find this more intimate, but that's not a complaint.
Who's playing
Peter Washingtonbass
Cedar Waltonpiano
Joe Lovanotenor saxophone
Grover Washington, Jr.soprano saxophone
Eddie Hendersontrumpet
Billy Higginsdrums
Where next?
More by Joe Lovano
All 45 albums →
The musicians on this record
Next Exit 1992
Grover Washington Jr.
plays soprano saxophone here
plays soprano saxophone here
Composer 1996
Cedar Walton
plays piano here
plays piano here
First Song 1992
Billy Higgins
plays drums (drum set) here
plays drums (drum set) here
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Inspiration 1995
Eddie Henderson
plays trumpet here
plays trumpet here
