Hello, Babar

Lionel Loueke: An Unassuming Guitar Hero Plays New York

Posted 05/14/2008 at 10:36 AM  |  Comment?

Lionel Loueke at Blue Note Jazz Club, New York (05.13.08)

Halfway through his 8 o'clock set last night, guitarist Lionel Loueke paused to directly address New York City's Blue Note Jazz Club. Leaning into the mic, he smiled, "I don't know. I just want to keep playing," the residual rhythm of the just concluded "Karibu," title track to his new album, still hanging in the air. Trio introductions followed, showcasing the Benin native's dry, accented sense of humor and a deep rapport with Hungarian drummer, Ferenc Nemeth and Swedish-Italian bassist Massimo Biolcati, creative kin since their tenure at Berklee College of Music. They then inhabited "Seven Teens", an oddly signatured song from Karibu. Sans the album's piano feature from Loueke advocate, Herbie Hancock, it was looser. Nemeth slipped into his drum solo late in the arc, but hurled it back up in jocular dialogue with Loueke's expressive electric guitar.

(read the rest of this entry)  |  (add a comment)

Funk & Feathers: Joi Returns to NYC

Posted 05/11/2008 at 7:59 PM  |  Comment?

Last night, Joi, a performer who knows no bounds, rocked the Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center in New York City. The Queen's Daughters, a fundraiser for NextAid in the form of a loose tribute to LaBelle, assembled the searing Black female lineup of Shelley Nicole's blaKbüshe, Tamar-kali and Joi (Res was originally on the bill but dropped out for unspecified reasons). Shelley Nicole, in a long razored weave and barely there ensemble, warmed the sprinkle of an audience up, Tamar-Kali impressed and hyped further with her booming voice, cane twirling, drop-it-like-its hot dexterity and then came a force that reliably rearranges my molecular structure. Joi creeped in to the best intro ever, "Meow, meow, meow. Joi." It's rousing and anthemic and is so good that it almost makes her set list irrelevant. It pierced my teen consciousness when I first heard her in late nineties Atlanta and it still does.

(read the rest of this entry)  |  (add a comment)

Red Clay: Janelle Monae & (Extra)terrestriality

Posted 05/08/2008 at 9:40 AM  |  Comment?

For those of us long smitten with Atlanta transplant Janelle Monae's quirky magistery, the singer's Diddy-vaulted profile, mediated by the underrated Outkast Big Boi, is as exciting as it is unnerving. Hollywood newest star, is well known to go for self to the great financial detriment of his artists and to shelve many a talent stale but he also creates an awareness and a fan base for which owning one's publishing just doesn't account. So I'm crossing my fingers for her conquest on the one hand and trawling pubs for informed and well-conceived coverage on the other.

(read the rest of this entry)  |  (add a comment)