Articles

Daily articles carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. Read our popular and future articles.

RADIO December 10, 2018

Lionel Loueke Group Live at BIMHUIS Amsterdam

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 October 7, 2018

Lionel Loueke: The Journey

By Friedrich Kunzmann

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 August 1, 2018

Lionel Loueke: Close Your Eyes

By Karl Ackermann

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 February 26, 2018

Lionel Loueke Trio at A-Trane

By Friedrich Kunzmann

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 ...

YEAR IN REVIEW January 7, 2018

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

By Friedrich Kunzmann

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 November 8, 2015

Lionel Loueke: GAÏA

By Dan Bilawsky

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 October 25, 2015

Lionel Loueke: GAïA

By Mark F. Turner

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 ...