Joseph Salvatore Lovano (born 29 December 1952 in Cleveland, Ohio) is a post bop jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer. Since the late 1980s, Lovano has been one of the world's premiere tenor saxophone players, earning a Grammy award and several nods on Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' polls. Joe Lovano exclusively plays Borgani saxophones. His wife is jazz singer Judi Silvano. Early years Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Lovano was exposed throughout his early life to jazz by his father, Tony "Big T" Lovano. John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, and Sonny Stitt were among his earlier influences. He developed further at Berklee College of Musicwhere he studied under Herb Pomeroy and Gary Burton. Following this, he served a big band apprenticeship with Woody Herman's Thundering Herd and the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. "Big T" Lovano, a fine Cleveland tenorman, was his first inspiration. He taught Joe all the standards