Lionel Loueke

Guitarist Lionel Loueke was 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. 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 [http://www.obliqsound.com/releases/virgin_forest.html "Virgin Forest",] 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, and Gretchen Parlato.

Early life

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.

It hurt my hands, but I kept at it for years when I first started playing. I was also interested in doing transcriptions, but I didn't have the tools, so I used dying batteries to slow down the playback of the cassettes in order to transcribe by ear. When you live in a country with many challenges, you have to improvise and come up with creative solutions. [ Lionel Loueke, Guitar Player, July 2008 ]

Current Equipment

Loueke currently plays a Godin Multiac Grand Concert SA, a PRS Hollowbody II, and a Yamaha AEX 1500.

Discography

AS A LEADER
*In A Trance, Independent release (2005)
* [http://www.obliqsound.com/releases/virgin_forest.html Virgin Forest] , ObliqSound (2007)
* [http://www.bluenote.com/ArtistMain.aspx?ArtistId=923534 Karibu] , Blue Note Records (2008)

AS GILFEMA
* [http://www.obliqsound.com/releases/gilfema.html Gilfema] , ObliqSound (2005) w/ Massimo Biolcati-b, Ferenc Nemeth-d
*Gilfema + 2, ObliqSound (upcoming 2008), in trio with Massimo Biolcati, Ferenc Nemeth and guest clarinetists Anat Cohen and John Ellis

References

* [http://www.lionelloueke.com/ Official site]
* [http://www.obliqsound.com/lionelloueke/ Lionel Loueke's artist page on ObliqSound]

Links