Joe Lano Trio

Joe Lano is one of the jazz world’s best-kept secrets. As a world class guitarist, arranger and
composer, Joe has been a mainstay of the Las Vegas and West Coast music scene for 50 years.
Say the name Joe Lano in this part of the world and everyone immediately renders the highest
accolades as to his expertise and unique qualities as a player. He has performed with nearly
every major act in show business since moving to Las Vegas in 1964 including Frank Sinatra,
Lena Horne, and Steve Lawrence, and has worked with a multitude of jazz greats, having
performed for years at Alan Grant’s “Jazz at the Four Queens.” He was a student of guitarist and
educator Dennis Sandole, who is noted for having been John Coltrane’s teacher.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Joe discovered his passion for music at a young age. He began
playing the guitar when he was just 10 years old and quickly showed immense talent and
dedication to his craft. He began working with bands in Philadelphia before he turned 13 years
old.
With his group, “The Joe Lano Trio,” Joe showcases his abilities as both a soloist and arranger.
The music is both old school and modern at the same time and features interesting
arrangements of familiar and more obscure standard tunes. The group’s repertoire features not
just great solos but also reharmonizations of these classic standards that are eminently
listenable and swinging. One of the more enjoyable aspects of Joe’s writing that has become a
band trademark are the challenging guitar/bass ensemble passages which are featured in
several of the tunes. Also featured are several beautiful ballad arrangements in which Joe
displays his unique interpretations of these timeless compositions.
Joe is accompanied by two longtime trio members and in-demand players in their own right:
Jess Gopen on drums and Jeff Davis on bass. Together, they interpret Joe’s arrangements in an
intuitive and swinging way. Jess, a graduate of Berklee College of Music, has played with
Freddie Hubbard, Dave Valentine, Michael McDonald and Ronnie Foster, among many others.
Jeff is a longtime Vegas bassist and graduate of the University of Nevada Las Vegas Jazz Studies
program and has performed with Pete Christlieb, Richie Cole, George Garzone, Brandon Fields,
as well as numerous other big-name acts and shows.