Lionel Loueke
(born 1973) is a guitarist born in the west African country of Benin. He moved to Ivory Coast in 1990 to study at the National Institute of Art. He attended the American School of Modern Music in Paris, France from 1994-1998. In 1999, Loueke was awarded a scholarship to Berklee College of Music, where he earned a degree in Jazz Performance in 2000.
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LIONEL LOUEKE TICKETS
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Biography
Lionel Loueke grew up in
poverty in the west African country of Benin. It took him a year to earn the $50 he needed to buy his first guitar. However, he could not afford to replace the
strings, which had to be special ordered from
Nigeria. Instead, he soaked his strings in
vinegar to keep them clean. When the strings broke, he had to replace them with
bicycle brake cables which were very hard on his fingers. Then when the neck of his guitar had to be reset, he was unable to find a
luthier to do the repairs. Instead, he went to a local
carpenter, who did a poor quality repair job and made his guitar even more difficult to play.
Loueke auditioned for the
Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at the University of Southern California in 2001, and was selected in a world wide search by a panel of judges including jazz legends
Herbie Hancock,
Terence Blanchard and
Wayne Shorter. He attended the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz until 2003.
In 2002, while still at the Thelonious Monk Institute, he started playing with trumpet player Terence Blanchard. He recorded two albums with Blanchard on the legendary
Blue Note Label.
Loueke played on Terence Blanchard's last album and DVD
Flow
, Herbie Hancock's album and DVD
Possibilities
, Hancock's album
River: The Joni Letters
, and with his trio
Gilfema, made up of
Massimo Biolcati (bass) and
Ferenc Nemeth (drums) on their album of the same name
Gilfema
(2005, ObliqSound). He has also recorded two albums under his own name:
In A Trance
, on the label Space Time, and on the label ObliqSound (2006 release). His
Blue Note Records debut
Karibu
was released March 25, 2008.
Lionel Loueke has studied with
Mick Goodrick, John Damiam,
George Garzone,
Russell Ferrante,
Joe Diorio,
Terence Blanchard,
Dave Holland,
Kenny Barron,
Steve Turre,
John Scofield, Louis Nash,
Herbie Hancock,
Wayne Shorter and many others.
Lionel Loueke has performed and recorded with Kenwood Dennard,
George Garzone, Bob Hurst , Alphonso Jonhson,
Angelique Kidjo,
Terence Blanchard,
Herbie Hancock,
Dianne Reeves,
Cassandra Wilson,
Wayne Shorter,
Jeff 'Tain' Watts,
Charlie Haden,
Richard Bona,
Nathan East,
Vinnie Colaiuta,
Marcus Miller,
Sting,
Brian Blade,
John Patitucci,
Terri Lyne Carrington,
Kenny Garrett,
Roy Hargrove,
Santana,
Dennis Chambers,
Magos Herrera, and
Gretchen Parlato.
In early 2008, Loueke's "Kponnon Kpété" won in The 7th Annual
Independent Music Awards for Best Traditional World Song.
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Discography
As leader
- In A Trance, Independent release (2005)
- , ObliqSound (2007)
- , Blue Note Records (2008)
As Gilefma
- , ObliqSound (2005) w/ Massimo Biolcati-b, Ferenc Nemeth-d
- , ObliqSound (October 2008), in trio with Massimo Biolcati, Ferenc Nemeth and guest clarinetists Anat Cohen and John Ellis
References
- Independent Music Awards - 7th Annual Winners