THE NEW YORK TIMES
Sunday, March 23, 2008
A Hybridist Jamming With the World
By NATE CHINEN
LIONEL LOUEKE, a guitarist from the West African country of Benin, was a spellbinding presence at Joe's Pub a couple of months ago as he started into the title track of “Karibu," his exceptional major-label debut. His long fingers flickered across the strings, eliciting not just a syncopated groove but also a shifting undergrowth of chords. He was just as busy vocally, clicking his tongue in percussive counterpoint, singing phrases in a floating cadence. It all felt rooted in African folk traditions but also cosmopolitan, progressive, harmonically fluid.
Mr. Loueke, 34, has quickly earned a reputation in jazz circles as a startlingly original voice, the kind of player who gets others talking. He made a splash five years ago as a sideman with the trumpeter Terence Blanchard, and now he tours and records with the pianist Herbie Hancock. When Blue Note signed him last year, it confirmed what many already knew: He's one of the most striking jazz artists to emerge in some time.
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