The Lionel Loueke Trio performs contemporary jazz fused with African roots
Saba Naseem
Issue date: 2/13/09 Section: Lifestyles
The Lionel Loueke Trio will bring to the community a fusion of African beats with modern day jazz 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Walton Arts Center.
Loueke, a native of Benin, a small country in West Africa, began playing the guitar at age 17. Music was everywhere in Africa and he always wanted to be a musician, but it was not a career his parents had in mind for him.
His brother, however, was part of a band, and he remembers going to his brother's performances and "listening from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. in the morning, just looking at him playing, listening to the music," he said.
Loueke left Benin to attend the National Institute of Art in the Ivory Coast where he played gigs to pay his rent and then later moved to Paris to attend the American School of Modern Music. Loueke received a scholarship to study at the Berklee College of Music where he first met Massimo Biolcati and Ferenc Nemeth, musicians who became part of his trio.
After graduating from Berklee, Loueke was accepted to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance, according to his Web site, Lionelloueke.com. Loueke's talent was "further nurtured during his time spent playing with prominent musicians and personal mentors Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Terence Blanchard," according to a press release.
Loueke usually uses everything he learns and mixes it together, such as blending contemporary jazz influences with his African past, he said.
"I study classical music and jazz music, and I bring all that together with my native African music," he said. "I don't really put that much thought into it while playing. I just feel it."
Loueke said he believes his style to be very distinctive.
"My music is very easy and is very complicated," he said. "I'm not going for the intellectual craziness. Music is not about that. It's about the emotion it has."
"[Loueke is] a full-fledged jazz guitarist, and he uses both electronics - guitar synthesizer, looping devices - and African roots," according to a review in The New York Times. "In one piece, unassisted by any technology beyond microphone and amplifier, he sang, made percussive tongue clicks and played syncopated guitar chords and leads. He multiplied himself, one way or another, in nearly every song,"
Loueke's latest album, Karibu, named from a Swahili word meaning "welcome," best illustrates his reflections of his past and present. His other recordings are In A Trance, Virgin Forest and the collective Gilfema.
Loueke will be performing with bassist Biolcati and drummer Nemeth. Tickets range from $15 to $30 and are available for purchase at Waltonartscenter.org or by calling the Walton Arts Center Box Office.
"I will be performing songs from Karibu, some old music and some music from my new composition," Loueke said. "I want people to be able to connect to the music - not just hear it, but to feel it."
Loueke, a native of Benin, a small country in West Africa, began playing the guitar at age 17. Music was everywhere in Africa and he always wanted to be a musician, but it was not a career his parents had in mind for him.
His brother, however, was part of a band, and he remembers going to his brother's performances and "listening from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. in the morning, just looking at him playing, listening to the music," he said.
Loueke left Benin to attend the National Institute of Art in the Ivory Coast where he played gigs to pay his rent and then later moved to Paris to attend the American School of Modern Music. Loueke received a scholarship to study at the Berklee College of Music where he first met Massimo Biolcati and Ferenc Nemeth, musicians who became part of his trio.
After graduating from Berklee, Loueke was accepted to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance, according to his Web site, Lionelloueke.com. Loueke's talent was "further nurtured during his time spent playing with prominent musicians and personal mentors Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Terence Blanchard," according to a press release.
Loueke usually uses everything he learns and mixes it together, such as blending contemporary jazz influences with his African past, he said.
"I study classical music and jazz music, and I bring all that together with my native African music," he said. "I don't really put that much thought into it while playing. I just feel it."
Loueke said he believes his style to be very distinctive.
"My music is very easy and is very complicated," he said. "I'm not going for the intellectual craziness. Music is not about that. It's about the emotion it has."
"[Loueke is] a full-fledged jazz guitarist, and he uses both electronics - guitar synthesizer, looping devices - and African roots," according to a review in The New York Times. "In one piece, unassisted by any technology beyond microphone and amplifier, he sang, made percussive tongue clicks and played syncopated guitar chords and leads. He multiplied himself, one way or another, in nearly every song,"
Loueke's latest album, Karibu, named from a Swahili word meaning "welcome," best illustrates his reflections of his past and present. His other recordings are In A Trance, Virgin Forest and the collective Gilfema.
Loueke will be performing with bassist Biolcati and drummer Nemeth. Tickets range from $15 to $30 and are available for purchase at Waltonartscenter.org or by calling the Walton Arts Center Box Office.
"I will be performing songs from Karibu, some old music and some music from my new composition," Loueke said. "I want people to be able to connect to the music - not just hear it, but to feel it."
Be the first to comment on this story