The Journey Lionel Loueke

• 1 Bouriyan 03:13
• 2 Molika 03:54
• 3 Bawo 03:57
• 4 Vi Gnin 05:37
• 5 Mandé 04:24
• 6 Kába 04:36
• 7 Dark Lightning 02:18
• 8 Vivi 03:18
• 9 Hope 05:47
• 10 Gbê 03:48
• 11 Gbêdetemin 04:05
• 12 Guira 00:29
• 13 Okagbé 02:32
• 14 Reflections on Vi Gnin 02:26
• 15 The Healing 02:21
• Total Runtime 52:45

Info for The Journey

A shooting star of the international jazz scene, a genius guitarist demanded by the greatest (Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Sting, Chick Corea), Lionel Loueke is an extraordinary artist. His unique musical personality blends genres and influences, from traditional African rhythms to western jazz. In The Journey, his first solo album for the label Aparté, he sings, vocalises, clicks his tongue, slaps his guitar strings, draws from funk, reaches out for the most unexpected harmonics and unfolds an incredible palette of sounds, like a one-man orchestra. Surrounded by impressive guests from all horizons (Pino Palladino, Patrick Messina, Vincent Ségal, Mark Feldman, Cyro Baptista…) under the direction of maestro Robert Sadin, multiple Grammy Award winner, Loueke delivers here his most personal record. From hopeful ballads (Molika, Kába) to irresistible rhythms (Gbê, Dark Lightning), this journey has an invigorating perfume of freedom.

Pino Palladino, bass
Cyro Baptista, percussion
John Ellis, soprano saxophone
Vincent Ségal, cello
Patrick Messina, clarinet
Mark Feldman, violin
Massimo Biolcati, bass
Ferenc Nemeth, percussion
Étienne Charles, trumpet, percussion
Dramane Dembélé peul, flute
Christi Joza Orisha, percussion
Robert Sadin, soundscape

Lionel Loueke
picked up the guitar late at age 17. After his initial to exposure to jazz in Benin, he left to attend the National Institute of Art in Ivory Coast. In 1994 he left Africa to pursue jazz studies at the American School of Modern Music in Paris then came to the U.S. on a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music where he first encountered his future trio mates Massimo Biolcati and Ferenc Nemeth. After graduating Loueke was accepted to the Thelonious Monk Institute where he was able to study with his most significant mentors: Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Terence Blanchard.

Praised by Hancock as “a musical painter,” Loueke combines harmonic complexity, soaring melody, a deep knowledge of African folk forms, and conventional and extended guitar techniques to create a warm and evocative sound of his own. His Blue Note debut Karibu (2008) featured guest appearances from Hancock and Shorter with his trio and was met with wide acclaim. Mwaliko (2010) offered a series of intimate duets with Angelique Kidjo, Richard Bona, Esperanza Spalding and Marcus Gilmore. Heritage (2012) was co-produced by label mate Robert Glasper and found Loueke exploring a more electric sound with a new trio featuring Derrick Hodge on electric bass and Mark Guiliana on drums.

In addition to albums with his collective trio Gilfema with Biolcati and Nemeth, Loueke has appeared on recordings by Hancock, Blanchard, Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Haden, Kenny Barron, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and Joe Lovano, as well as contemporaries including Spalding, Gretchen Parlato, Kendrick Scott and others. He has also toured the world with Hancock and is a member of Blue Note’s 75th anniversary all-star band with Glasper, Hodge, Scott, Ambrose Akinmusire and Marcus Strickland.

This album contains no booklet.