Customer Reviews

Karibu

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The album's title is the Swahili word for 'welcome'.
Born in Benin, West Africa, he moved to Ivory Coast where he studied at the prestigious National Institute of Art. He lived for a while in Paris and then moved to US where he studied at the Berkllee School of Music in Boston, where he majored in performing jazz performance.
The Africam musician has released some solo work, as well asworking on many other artist projects including one of his hero's, Herbie Hancock. Loueke was featured on Hancock's Grammy-winning "The Joni Letters". Hancock also plays on two tracks on Karibu.
The style of Loueke's music is something that is not heard often. The African influence is very obvious. There are no lyrics on the album except for the occasional spoken word but it is not in English. The mouth however is used for percussion, which is something different.
Comparisons can be made between Loueke and Richard Bona, this Cameroonian also coupling voice and high-bass guitar, playing in the mellow Afro-jazzy manner.
As said above, KARIBU means WELCOME in Swahili.
It is this warm sentiment which underscores the African guitarist's debut album for Blue Note.
Sprinkling African sounds over a smooth jazz palette, Loueke presents himself as a master of subtlety and joie de vivre.
He possesses a gently cascading quality that's akin to the silken lightness proffered by Pat Metheny.
There are two covers on the set - John Coltrane's "Naima" and the Hoagy Carmichael tune "Skylark". The seven originals blend Loueke's influences into a fresh sound. With faint vocals in his native Swahili, Loueke offers rich, free-form explorations.
The version of John Coltrane's "Naima" opens with electronic quietness, tongue-clicks mixing with string-strikes, opening up into kora-chords, as Loueke mimics the West African harp-lute sound.
Lionel sounds like he's playing an acoustic guitar on most of these tracks, but invariably feeding it through a bank of subtle effects.
Hancock and Shorter appear on two tracks apiece, and their presence tends to add a much-needed tension, to the point where they can't help dominating the three tunes in question (they're both on board for the stand-out "Light Dark"). Herbie lends a percussive force to his piano outpourings, and Wayne's quicksilver soprano saxophone phrases spout forth without pause: the battle between the instruments in this song really lends itself well and is actually soothing.
These tracks have a greater dynamism compared with the too-relaxed trio outings.
One of the best tracks is "Benny's Tune". The style really flows well and the music from this point onward on the CD really picks up.

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Tiki
The Mande Variations

Oh, man. This is really good. As "the bomba" says, a lot of African influence here. Seems to let air and sunshine into the textures of every tune. Makes me smile to hear it.

Sometimes the groove is explicit, as in the beautifully sculpted "Naima." More often the groove is implicit -- now that's an interesting trick. Loueke and his sidemen play above, below, around, beside the beat in such a way that you actually hear (sense) the rhythmic foundation mainly through its absence. That make sense? Wait till you've heard it.

Incidentally, for all the good things that were said about this recording, I don't think bassist Massimo Biolcati and drummer Ferenc Nemeth got nearly enough credit. This is a band, folks! It takes the three of these guys to create these fluid, incredibly inventive takes on standards and originals. They get airborne *together*. Seriously, it is obvious that this trio has done enough gigging to know each other's moves, and how to fit together. One of Loueke's strengths is that he is a phenomenally generous ensemble musician.

Yes, of course he has conventional jazz chops. Yes, Hancock and Shorter "dominate" the cuts they appear on to some extent. But they also share in the joyous give and take established by the leader.

There is a sense of peace and stillness at the heart of much of this music, and yet it's also just jumping with vitality. Both the stillness and the life owe a lot, somehow, to Loueke's African roots.

I am just so glad I have this.

An excellent, unique piece of work. Every time I listen to this album I hear something new.

World ethnic jazz with warm vocals, beat and melodic guitar playing from LIONEL LOUEKE .A lot of african influences are presented with a vey balanced way in KARIBU .Kudos to all the members of the band .

Enjoyed this CD, not as much as Virgin Forest, but it's enjoyable and you can certainly appreciate Mr. Loueke's talent.

Mr. Louke is an extraordinary guitarist!
I first heard his playing, live on the radio (Soundcheck, WNYC), solo.
It was a thrill. Then add the extraordinary players, including Mr. Shorter and Mr. Hancock, and we have a really fine record. Bravo and good luck to you Mr. Loueke!

Incredible playing by Loueke and his guest musicians on his newest CD Karibu, on Blue Note Records. His playing is different from other guitarists I have heard perform recently. His style is unique and refreshing. His melodic approach is very much borrowed from traditional West African Benin music and is well blended to contemporary jazz. Magical. Loueke is exceptionally creative and is at ease with his instrument in the entourage of Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter.

This CD is fantastic. *****

Lionel Loueke shows why he is in such high demand these days. Jazz meets Africa in an organic way. Can't wait for more!

There is no doubt that Loueke is a serious talent. Some very alert, alive playing here. The brief presence of veteran Wayne Shorter on sax raises the musicianship to quite a high level. But Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter can't counter what seems like a time warp back to the 1970's, with an improvisatory sound palette of what we used to call "modal noodling." ECM groups like Oregon come to mind.

Loueke is a very able vocalist, adding some interesting vocal clicks and pops and lovely African melodies to his guitar instrumentals. At first however his vocalizing in unison with the melody sounds like ancient George Benson revisited. Granted, he does it very well, but be prepared to hear some motifs that sound distinctly dated.

DESPITE these criticisms, I have really enjoyed this CD and intend to listen to it more. Not all the cuts are affected by the retro feel. The final impression is of a warm and original talent of considerable conviction whose musicianship is beyond question. This was my first sampling of his work, and I intend to look for more. 4 stars, recommended.

Lionel Loueke had the good fortune to play guitar on the Album-of-the-year-winning "River" CD by Herbie Hancock. He had the misfortunate to get mixed low, so it's hard to hear most of his contributions. On his solo album, you get much more of Lionel. On the opening title track, he's playing African-style guitar and singing wordless vocals. Lionel brings in Herbie Hancock for "Seven Teens", and it has a much jazzier sound. Lionel's guitar style is not conventionally jazzy. It's more percussive, sometimes horn-like, and he doesn't run off a string of eighth or sixteenth notes. "Skylark" is back to the core trio. The bassist, "Massimo Biolcati" and the drummer, "Ferenc Nemeth", are a very good rhythm section. They sound good and creative in the jazzy or African-style songs. "Zala" is another trio song with unison guitar and singing, with some Dave Matthew-style (and I'm sure he cribbed it from an African artist) yelps signify the end of a verse. "Naima" has Wayne Shorter, and it references the melody, but is relatively abstract. "Benny's Tune" is the jazziest of the trio songs. "Light Dark" has Shorter and Hancock together. This is a similar lineup to the "River" CD. The big difference is that the guitar is mixed louder, so there are three prominent voices. It's a good song, and sounds unsurprisingly similar to Wayne Shorter's 21st-century output. "Agbannon Blues" is a good, bluesy song, and "Nonvignon" closes the CD with another African-style trio song. This is a pretty good CD. Some of the trio songs are a little light, and the guests dominate the songs they're on.