After more than a decade of making breezy, Afro-tinged jazz in a variety of settings, guitarist Lionel Loueke gets down to cases on Gaïa, strutting his jazz chops, idiosyncratic phrasing and panoply of tones in a trio setting.
Born in the West African county of Benin, and jazz-educated at the Berklee School of Music, Loueke still embraces a global approach, encasing certain tunes in bubbly Afro-centric grooves.
But on this outing he also unabashedly rocks out.
In fact, he and his long-time trio — with bassist Massimo Biolcata and drummer Ferenc Nemeth — sound their most fulsome on such no-nonsense, riff-heavy tracks as “Wacko Loco” and “Procession,” both of which provide a nice little fusion flashback. On these tunes, the group unleashes its inner Hendrix, John McLaughlin, Blood Ulmer and such. Not that Loueke’s solos sound much like any of those guys. He’s fond of gnarled lines, pregnant pauses followed by nasty blurts, and punctuated with distortion-heavy chords.
On the more Afro-oriented material (“Aziza Dance,” “Veuve Malienee”), his phrasing is more fluid (a la John Scofield), and at other times, he delves into legato organ- and synth-like effects. Has he reinvented jazz guitar playing? No, but he definitely has his own voice.
Speaking of voice: Loueke doesn’t employ any of the airy singing he favors on his more mannerly work. Gaïa is a no-nonsense live set recorded in a studio in front of a small audience (hold the applause, please).
Until now, Loueke built a reputation as a solid, sometimes inventive, sideman and a solo artist capable of interesting, often satisfying, work. With Gaïa, he has cemented his reputation as a player. (Blue Note)
Critics' Rating: 3 and 1/2 out of 5 Stars.
This article appears in Nov 5-11, 2015.