Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Kevin Hays & Lionel Loueke: Hope
Kevin Hays & Lionel Loueke: Hope
ByThere's enough sound here that it hardly seems like just two instruments and two voices. Hays alone is busy enough to fill things out when traipsing around the piano keys, jiggering offbeat lines with catchily staggered grooves worthy of Elvin Jones. Loueke does much the same with flowing lines of clean-toned Afro-guitar, but that's only one part of it. He's almost always adding more colors somewhere, be it frisky hand and vocal percussion or an occasional lead vocal right from the soul. Both express a contagious warmth through their instruments, regardless of what musical mode they're in. With the title track they slow down to spin a thoughtful and optimistic daydream; next thing they're coasting in bop-jazz territory with a dash of sly funk underneath.
The lovely story ballad "Feuilles-O" is one highlight, with Hays' soulful Creole delivery squarely featuring the hopeful side of the theme; the devilishly danceable romps of "Violeta" and "Ghana Boy" do the same at the other end of the liveliness scale. The newly-added tracks include Hope's (perhaps) most joyful moment with the closing "Sweet Caroline"not the Neil Diamond tune, wicked as that doubtlessly would have been, but a rumbling piece of soul-blues which exuberantly bounces toward a smoky close. Even without picking favorites, though, there isn't a weak track or subpar performance to be heard. Hays and Loueke deliver a wonderfully multifaceted corker from start to finish.
Track Listing
Violeta; Hope; Aziza; Feuilles-O; Milton; Twins; Veuve Malienne; All I Have; Ghana Boy; Loving You; Sweet Caroline.
Personnel
Kevin Hays
pianoLionel Loueke
guitar, acousticKevin Hays: voice; Lionel Loueke: voice.
Album information
Title: Hope | Year Released: 2019 | Record Label: Edition Records
< Previous
Live At Antibes Jazz Festival Juan-Le...
Comments
Tags
Kevin Hays/Lionel Loueke
Album Reviews
Geno Thackara
Hope
Edition Records
Kevin Hays
Lionel Loueke
Newvelle Records
Elvin Jones