Jazz Articles about Lionel Loueke

About Lionel Loueke

Album Review

Few trios are as immediately recognizable as Gilfema. It's almost impossible to mistake the interplay between Ferenc Nemeth, Massimo Biolcati and Lionel Loueke. The three Berklee College of Music and Thelonious Monk institute graduates have been going at it together for more than 15 years now, their eponymous debut album having been released in 2005 for New York-based label Obliqsound. Between uneven meters, jazzy harmonies and afro-pop-infused rhythms and melodies, the three collaborators continue to express their individual musical visions ...

Album Review

Kevin Hays & Lionel Loueke: Hope

by Geno Thackara
August 23, 2019

It would have been easy to leave well enough alone. Kevin Hays and Lionel Loueke made a delightful recording the first time around—a most happy clash of hemispheres blending urban jazz and world-folk balladry, crossing upbeat piano with lively scat-singing, frisky African rhythm play and much more. Nonetheless, a slot with Edition Records offered them a chance to revisit the work and give it a wider release than its initial 2017 vinyl pressing on the Newvelle Records subscription label. Let's ...

Radio & Podcasts

Lionel Loueke Group Live at BIMHUIS Amsterdam

by BIMHUIS
December 10, 2018

Lionel Loueke has gone a long way, from playing to cassette tapes in his native Cotonou, Benin, to performing for president Obama at the White House. He is part of the bands of Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea and collaborates with the greatest talents of his generation, including Esperanza Spalding and Robert Glasper. Personnel: Lionel Loueke guitar, Massimo Biolcati bass, Ferenc Nemeth drums. Playlist Introduction Bimhuis Radio (00:00) Live Concert @ Bimhuis: Lionel ...

Album Review

Lionel Loueke: The Journey

Read "The Journey" reviewed by Pat Youngspiel

by Pat Youngspiel
October 7, 2018

The Journey finds Benin's guitar prodigy Lionel Loueke in a stripped-back setting, often painting gentle sound-sketches using only his voice and a guitar. In place of his long-standing trio, comprised of drummer Ferenc Nemeth and double bassist Massimo Biolcati, Loueke has assembled a divers array of guest musicians for subtle accompaniment when needed. The fifteen songs compiled on this album exhibit some of the most versatile music the guitarist has created to date, and represent a sort of summary of ...

Album Review

Lionel Loueke: Close Your Eyes

Read "Close Your Eyes" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
August 1, 2018

Three short seasons and fifteen releases into Newvelle Records' vinyl subscription service, guitarist Lionel Loueke is the first artist to be featured a second time as a leader/co-leader. The Benin-born Loueke holds a Jazz Performance degree from Berklee and has played with many top artists including his mentor Herbie Hancock, George Garzone, Wayne Shorter, Charlie Haden and John Patitucci. In 2017 he shared credits with pianist Kevin Hays on the label's sophisticated Hope and he returns to lead a trio ...

Live Review

Lionel Loueke Trio al Parco della Musica di Roma

by Mario Calvitti
April 25, 2018

Lionel Loueke Trio Parco della Musica Roma 28.02.2018 Avevamo già avuto modo di apprezzare il chitarrista del Benin Lionel Loueke sui palcoscenici dell'Auditorium romano lo scorso novembre, in occasione del concerto del sestetto di Chick Corea e Steve Gadd, ma in quella circostanza non era stato molto lo spazio lasciatogli a disposizione dai due leader, per cui ci era rimasta la curiosità di rivederlo alle prese con un progetto più personale. Il suo recente ...

Live Review

Lionel Loueke Trio at A-Trane

by Friedrich Kunzmann
February 26, 2018

Lionel Loueke Trio A-Trane Berlin, Germany February 22, 2018 How Beninese guitar-virtuoso Lionel Loueke manages to find the time for the multitude of projects he is involved in year after year remains puzzling. Already featured on Chick Corea and Steve Gadd's 2018 release Chinese Butterfly and Czech saxophonist Lubos Soukup's Zembe, Lionel Loueke has two of his own projects in the works for a 2018 release all the while still finding the time to catch ...