A number of years ago, Lionel Loueke was on the verge of becoming one of the most important guitarists to emerge on the scene. His mix of West African sounds and American jazz seemed to point modern music into a fascinating direction. On this latest release with his team of Massimo Biolcati/b and Ferenc Nemeth/dr, the question has to arise “who’s now influencing whom” as this recent album appears to bear out that the American jazz guitar style is having a larger impact on Loueke than vice versa.
For the most part, gone are the lithe and elastic lines of his earlier albums, except for a gorgeous read of “How Deep Is Your Love” and the title track, the album tends towards anonymity The opening “Broken” could easily be a song from the King Crimson catalogue, “Source of Love” is a standard Fender blueser, and “Wacko Loco” 70s heavy metal. The rhythm team gets a nice groove out of “Sleepless Night” and “Aziza Dance,” but Don Was’ sound eliminates all of the subtlety with an in your face delivery of the drums, baking this seem like a night out in Memphis’ Beale Street. The songs are mostly concise affairs, making the album feel like a sampler of sorts.
Blue Note Records