Jazz Articles about Lionel Loueke

About Lionel Loueke

Year in Review

Friedrich Kunzmann's Best Releases Of 2017: Ethno-Jazz on the rise

by Friedrich Kunzmann
January 7, 2018

2017 brought us much innovation and accomplishment in jazz. While many releases are certainly noteworthy and deserving of high critical acclaim, for me, only a handful truly stood out and prevailed in last year's maze of sharps, flats, and scales. Considering myself an enthusiast of pretty much all things jazz (no specific sub-genre receiving special treatment), I was surprised to find such a narrow selection of albums composing my last year's Top 5. Narrow, because three out of the five ...

Album Review

Lionel Loueke: GAÏA

by Dan Bilawsky
November 8, 2015

Those who figure that this reunion between guitarist Lionel Loueke and his longtime trio mates will be a simple trip down memory lane have another thing coming to them. While Loueke, drummer Ferenc Nemeth, and bassist Massimo Biolcati could've certainly delivered another globally-infused set replete with fluid gestures and finely-calibrated interplay, à la their work on earlier Loueke outings like Virgin Forest (OBJECT/ObliqSound, 2006) and the pair of albums they made as the cooperative trio known as Gilfema, they didn't. ...

Album Review

Lionel Loueke: GAïA

by Mark F. Turner
October 25, 2015

Guitarist Lionel Loueke brings a presence to jazz unlike any other due in part to his West African upbringing heard in the uniqueness of his playing, vocals and phrasing which have enriched recordings from trumpeter Terence Blanchard to singers Angélique Kidjo and Luciana Souza. Recorded live in front of a small audience Gaïa finds Loueke with longtime trio-mates bassist Massimo Biolcati and drummer Ferenc Nemeth in an intimate session that captures his musicality and spontaneity. While the ...

Live Review

Melissa Aldana and Lionel Loueke at Charlie Parker Jazz Festival

by Ernest Barteldes
August 27, 2014

Melissa Aldana and Lionel Loueke Summerstage at Charlie Parker Jazz Festival Marcus Garvey Park New York, NY August 23, 2014 Playing before a packed audience at Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park, Chilean saxophonist Melissa Aldana made her Charlie Parker Jazz Festival debut backed by a piano-less trio rounded out by Pablo Menares (bass) and Francisco Mela (drums), kicking off with a down-tempo take on George Gershwin's “I Loves You Porgy" in ...

Interview

Lionel Loueke: Creating His Own Lines

by R.J. DeLuke
March 25, 2013

Lionel Loueke, the guitarist from Benin in West Africa who brings to jazz music rich melodic and rhythmic sensibilities influenced from his homeland, always had an eye for inventing his own lines; injecting his own persona into the music even when it was against the rules. Even when he didn't yet realize the magical sounds he heard on recordings by the likes of George Benson, Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass contained, in fact, improvisations.Now well established in the ...

Album Review

Lionel Loueke: Heritage

Read "Heritage" reviewed by Ernest Barteldes

by Ernest Barteldes
August 31, 2012

On Heritage, Benin-born Lionel Loueke takes a more electric approach than on previous releases, which mostly featured his acoustic, nylon-string guitar. This change is immediately felt on the opening “Ifê," beginning with the muted notes of an acoustic steel-stringed guitar whose sound resembles a kalimba (thumb piano). Loueke is backed solely by his trio (rounded out by bassist Derrick Hodge and drummer Mark Guiliana) here, and plays a dexterous solo with the help of a pitch bender pedal.Co-producer ...

Album Review

Lionel Loueke: Heritage

Read "Heritage" reviewed by Franz A. Matzner

by Franz A. Matzner
August 30, 2012

Lionel Loueke's Heritage deftly intertwines modern jazz constructs with traditional African themes in a highly personal exploration of these two cultural streams which define Loueke's upbringing and musical identity. The result is a gracious, elevating and welcoming sound that still challenges preconceived notions.Thoughtfully composed, the album's ten pieces together present an intimate--sometimes philosophical--complex musical meditation on the concept of heritage. Tunes like “Ouidah," inspired by the village where Loueke's mother was born and a center of the slave ...