The big gig of the week is a small one – just three musicians up close in the intimate space of the Glee Club Studio – but what a band!
Lionel Loueke might have been a new name to many of those who packed Symphony Hall last November for the Herbie Hancock Sextet, but I’m sure this extraordinary guitarist and singer was a talking point afterwards.
Always quick to bring jazz’s most intrepid explorers to our attention, Birmingham Jazz invited Loueke back, this time in his favoured trio format.
With an acoustic guitar, his voice and some electronic gizmos Loueke produces the simply amazing multi-layered sound of a world orchestra and choir.
His bass and drum partners (most likely long-time collaborators Massimo Biolcati and Ferenc Nemeth) need to be good time counters – one of his pieces is called Seven Teens and is in 17/4 time. Try playing that while looking relaxed!
Loueke was born in Benin (like world music star Angelique Kidjo), studied in Ivory Coast and ended up at the famed Berklee School in Boston.
The journey from tough beginnings to being quickly embraced by jazz’s masters (he has performed with Cassandra Wilson, Wayne Shorter and Marcus Miller as well as Hancock) has been something of a meteoric rise.
His mix of African music with jazz is compelling and seductive, his technique astonishing and it is all made more attractive by his mild manner.
And his version of Skylark is just out of this world.
The Lionel Loueke Trio is at the Glee Club Studio on Wednesday.
Doors open at 7.30pm, tickets are £11 or £9 if you book online at glee.co.uk, and there is more at birminghamjazz.co.uk
* Birmingham Conservatoire doesn’t shout much about its concerts open to the public, but they really are worth seeking out.
Tonight in the Recital Hall at the Paradise Circus institution, jazz composers Mike Gibbs and Issie Barratt share writing, arranging and conducting for the Cambridge University Jazz Orchestra.
Gibbs was last in public here leading the Conservatoire’s own Jazz Orchestra and he is a warm and enthusiastic teacher as well as a great composer/arranger.
Issie Barratt, a bari player along with her other skills, is also director of the National Youth Jazz Collective and they will be giving a foyer performance before the gig.
So arrive well before the 8pm Recital Hall start. Tickets are £8 (£6) from 0121 303 2323 or from birminghamboxoffice.com
* And if you can’t get tickets for Lionel Loueke, make Wednesday evening a Mingus-filled one back at the Conservatoire Recital Hall, where the Jazz Composers’ Band plays the great man’s music. Just £3 and available as above.
