Lionel Loueke: A Guitarist Who's Here to Stay

West African Musician Blazes New Jazz Trails at Clarice Smith Center on Nov. 8

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Andrew Zender, azender@umd.edu
(301) 405-8151

November 8, 2009 – College Park, MD. – Lionel Loueke brings a groovy, worldly sound that enriches the harmonies and melodies of jazz with West African music to the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center’s Ina and Jack Kay Theatre Sunday, November 8, 2009. Guitarist, vocalist, composer and bandleader Loueke is joined by his long-time collaborators, bassist Massimo Biolcati and drummer Ferenc Nemeth, onstage. There will be an informal Meet & Greet with the artists following the performance.

Played in unison with his tongue-click percussion, scat-singing and other vocal improvisations, Loueke's highly syncopated, fresh approach to jazz guitar that JazzTimes has called "smartly formed, deftly executed and ear-friendly" has caught the ears of jazz stalwarts including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Terence Blanchard – all of whom have served as mentors to Loueke as well as collaborators in performance and in the studio. Named "Up & Coming Musician of the Year" in 2008 by the Jazz Journalists Association, Loueke opened for Hancock at Carnegie Hall the same year with his trio; the performance was hailed by the New York Times as full of "serpentine grooves" and of "engrossing intricacy and ambition."

But how did this rising star come to discover his sound? What happens when jazz, a form of music forever-touted as America's indigenous music, melds with that of other cultures – does it diminish the unique American roots – or is it injected with the musical language it needs to communicate with new audiences and new generations of listeners?

Loueke's musical journey began in hardship, evolved through tri-continental travel and tutelage under musical mainstays and ultimately earned him a spot on the roster of the most iconic jazz record label in the world. Hailing from Benin, Loueke became enamored with Afro-Pop and the traditional music of Benin as well as other West African countries – and ultimately jazz. Loueke was a late bloomer who didn't approach the six-string until he was 17 years old when his brother, who played in an Afro-Pop band, let him try his hand on his instrument and discovered he possessed natural ability.

After a failed stint at the National Institute of Art in the Ivory Coast, Loueke got his first professional gig when he commandeered the guitar from a band on break in a local club and started playing. Despite their best efforts to stop him, the band was overruled by the club manager, who insisted that the young guitarist continue – resulting in a two year gig, followed by graduation from the American School of Modern Music in Paris. Loueke's education continued at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he first met Biolcati and Nemeth; the trio developed an immediate rapport, fueled by illuminating jam sessions as well as internationalism: Biolcati is of Italian descent, but grew up in Sweden, while Nemeth was born and raised in Hungary.

Following his education at Berklee, Loueke was accepted to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in Los Angeles, where he began his relationship with Hancock, Shorter and Blanchard. “I flipped,” says Hancock, recalling the moment he first heard Loueke’s audition tape. “I’d never heard any guitar player play anything close to what I was hearing from him."

After successful gigs with Blanchard and Hancock, and recording two albums under his own name for independent labels, Loueke's major label debut, Karibu, was released in 2008 on Blue Note Records, a label with a storied past and vast catalog of 70 years of music that is praised by fans and critics alike. Karibu, meaning "welcome" in Swahili, invites listeners to explore a new realm of possibilities for jazz. Perhaps this is why Downbeat has asserted that Loueke is "a new Afro-jazz star who will clearly be with us for a long time."

Tickets are $37 for the general public and $9 for full-time students with I.D. Tickets are available by visiting www.claricesmithcenter.umd.edu or calling (301) 405-ARTS (2787). The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center is located at the intersection of University Boulevard (Route 193) and Stadium Drive in College Park, on the campus of the University of Maryland. A parking garage is located across the street from the Center.

The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center is supported by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive. An agency of the Department of Business & Economic Development, the MSAC provides financial support and technical assistance to nonprofit organizations, units of government, colleges and universities for arts activities. Funding for the Maryland State Arts Council is also provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Additional support is provided through generous grants from the Leading College and University Presenters Program of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and from The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation.