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Shawn Lovato

Shawn Lovato is a New York-based bassist and composer whose work spans the many traditions, approaches, and styles of creative contemporary music. Growing up on the outskirts of New York City, Lovato has roots in its local underground music of hip hop, metal, and punk rock. These early fringe sensibilities are evident in his commitment to jazz, contemporary concert and improvised music, bringing him from CBGB to The Stone to Lincoln Center. As a bold voice in New York’s improvisation and jazz communities, Lovato collaborates with some of the most dynamic musicians in the scene, working with material spanning from free-improvisation to the American Songbook.

As a composer, performer, and bandleader, Lovato released Cycles of Animation (Skirl, 2017), featuring Loren Stillman on alto saxophone, Brad Shepik on guitar, Santiago Leibson on piano, and Chris Carroll on drums. Lovato’s quintet blends open improvisations embedded in dark textures and colors with highly composed rhythmic interaction between voices. JazzTrail’s Felipe Freitas describes the album as “absolutely stunning…a showcase for an organic mosaic of colors, rhythms, and textures.”

Microcosms (forthcoming from ears&eyes Records, September 2022) is Lovato’s septet, born out of a commission from New Music outfit Hotel Elefant, of which Lovato is a founding member. Lovato composed a striking and intricately developed suite performed by members of Hotel Elefant: violinist Patti Kilroy, guitarist Hannis Brown, and himself and by improvisers outside of the core ensemble: alto saxophonist Michaël Attias, pianist Santiago Leibson, drummer Vinnie Sperrazza, and percussionist Colin Hinton.

As All About Jazz’s Troy Dostert writes, “Lovato’s compositions are filled with incessant motion. With a good deal of rhythmic dynamism and a fluid loosely-structured sound…it’s not only the infectious grooves that fuel the animation in Lovato’s approach…With a distinctive compositional approach and a knack for finding the right partners to bring it to life, Lovato’s already on his way to making a name for himself, and his future endeavors should be worth following closely.”

An active educator in the NYC area, Lovato serves as Adjunct Instructor at Hofstra University and teaches private students. He is the father of two children and two cats.

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4
Album Review

Shawn Lovato: Microcosms

Read "Microcosms" reviewed by Troy Dostert


Bassist Shawn Lovato's debut album, Cycles of Animation (Skirl, 2017), possessed a conceptual sophistication that went far beyond an imaginative slice of creative jazz. The same is evident on Microcosms, an album that involves giving his terrific ensemble the chance to develop minute gestures into larger, more determinate shapes. The constant ebb and flow that results is compelling, with a sense of order that periodically takes hold amidst the individual members' freedom to find their own pathways to a common ...

4
Album Review

Stephen Gauci / Santiago Leibson / Shawn Lovato / Colin Hinton: Live at Scholes Street Studio

Read "Live at Scholes Street Studio" reviewed by John Sharpe


When tenor saxophonist Stephen Gauci was offered a set at Brooklyn's Scholes Street Studio performance space in December 2019 he leapt at the chance. At short notice he pulled together three former duet partners in the classic jazz quartet formation, though they had never previously performed as a single unit. So this is both the group's first recording and its first appearance. Safe to say, it probably won't be the last. Argentinian pianist Santiago Leibson gives the ...

8
Album Review

Colin Hinton: Simulacra

Read "Simulacra" reviewed by John Sharpe


It would have been a shame if drummer and composer Colin Hinton's Simulacra, released in 2019, fell through the cracks. On this, his second leadership outing in the wake of Glassbath (Snake And Cornelia, 2018), he captains a crew of current and former Brooklyn-based talent in a mysterious but satisfying set. Hinton merges compositional elements with unfurling interplay which sounds guided in its cohesion, but without any evidence of the joins. As a result the six cuts evolve naturally, but ...

9
Album Review

Shawn Lovato: Cycles of Animation

Read "Cycles of Animation" reviewed by Friedrich Kunzmann


For his debut album, Cycles of Animation, New York bassist Shawn Lovato has gathered an impressive, equally forward-thinking cast of musicians, comprised of guitarist Brad Shepik, saxophone virtuoso Loren Stillman, Argentinian pianist Santiago Leibson and drum stick juggler Chris Carroll. The innovative guitarist Shepik has been going at it in various formations, experimenting with a vast array of different music for a couple of decades now, most recently performing and recording with the humble Rumbler Quartet, featuring Ben Monder on ...

5
Album Review

Shawn Lovato: Cycles of Animation

Read "Cycles of Animation" reviewed by Troy Dostert


The title of bassist Shawn Lovato's debut record, Cycles of Animation, is wholly appropriate, as Lovato's compositions are filled with incessant motion. With a good deal of rhythmic dynamism and a fluid, loosely-structured sound, the album is a convincing statement from Lovato and a sign of even better things to come. Lovato has a fine group of colleagues, including guitarist Brad Shepik, altoist Loren Stillman, pianist Santiago Leibson and drummer Chris Carroll, so he has all the resources ...

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“Lovato’s compositions are filled with incessant motion. With a good deal of rhythmic dynamism and a fluid loosely-structured sound…it’s not only the infectious grooves that fuel the animation in Lovato’s approach…With a distinctive compositional approach and a knack for finding the right partners to bring it to life, Lovato’s already on his way to making a name for himself, and his future endeavors should be worth following closely.” – Troy Dostert, All About Jazz

“absolutely stunning…a showcase for an organic mosaic of colors, rhythms, and textures.” – Felipe Freitas, JazzTrail

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Microcosms

ears&eyes Records
2022

buy

Simulacra

Panoramic
2020

buy

Live at Scholes...

Gaucimusic
2020

buy

Cycles of Animation

Skirl Records
2017

buy

Videos

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