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Jazz Articles about Lionel Loueke
Lionel Loueke: Virgin Forest
by Terrell Kent Holmes
Guitarist/singer Lionel Loueke's Virgin Forest blends West African rhythms with standard jazz idioms, boiling down the music to its soul-catching essentials. Loueke sings and scats in Fon and Mina, languages from Benin and Mali, and his vocals and guitar playing are so seductive that one doesn't need to understand either to be drawn in. Even songs whose titles suggest minimal circumstances--"Kponnon Kpété (A Plastic Bag and 25 Cents) and “Madjigua (Wishing For Money)--burst with joy and energy, ...
Continue ReadingLionel Loueke: In a Trance
by John Kelman
When Benin-born guitarist/vocalist Lionel Loueke appeared at this summer's Ottawa International Jazz Festival, he was a real highlight amongst the entire group of stellar young players in trumpeter Terence Blanchard's band. His solo spot, where he used looping and harmonizing devices to create a veritable mini-orchestra with just one voice and guitar, illustrated how technology can be used to create something natural. Jazz Luddites regularly rail against the use of electronics to tarnish the “pure nature of jazz, but Loueke ...
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