Three (Sounderscore)
Gilfema
Released April 4, 2020
AllMusic Favorite Jazz Albums 2020
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nXzG6BBcI3JHrm57eZeXn1WkEFuDK509I
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/1EEnGRlSpIdQEZttVobuuc?si=f0l5SmuAREeW0eutCtNHjw
About:
Prior to Three, guitarist Lionel Loueke, bassist Massimo Biolcati and drummer Ferenc Nemeth hadn’t released an album as the cooperative trio Gilfema since 2008, despite the continued collaboration as Blue Note recording artists under the moniker of the Lionel Loueke Trio.
Three is both a testament to the band’s progress and an expression of the core principles that made Gilfema so buzzed-about when they premiered over a decade ago.
It’s the trio’s most vibrant, groove-heavy meld of jazz and world influences yet.
Track Lisiting:
1. Têkê (Lionel Loueke) 05:18
2. Little Wing (Jimi Hendrix) 03:24
3. Lé (Lionel Loueke) 03:06
4. Happiness (Ferenc Nemeth) 03:30
5. 13th Floor to Heaven (Massimo Biolcati / Lionel Loueke) 05:21
6. Brio (Massimo Biolcati / Lionel Loueke) 03:28
7. Fleuve Congo (Lionel Loueke) 02:32
8. Algorythm and Blues (Massimo Biolcati / Lionel Loueke) 04:58
9. Dear J.L. (Lionel Loueke) 04:51
10. Aflao (Lionel Loueke) 04:45
11. Left Undone (Massimo Biolcati / Lionel Loueke) 05:15
12. Requiem for a Soul (Ferenc Nemeth) 04:08
13. Until (Massimo Biolcati) 03:23
Personnel:
Lionel Loueke: guitar & vocals
Massimo Biolcati: double bass & electric bass
Ferenc Nemeth: drums & vocals
Recorded January, 2018, at Sear Sound, New York, NY
Produced by Massimo Biolcati
Engineer: Christopher Allen
Mixed by David Darlington at Bass Hit Recording, New York, NY
Mastered by Alex DeTurk at Bunker Studio, Brooklyn, NY.
Photos by Seiichi Niitsuma
Artwork by Onlychild Design
Review:
The third studio album by Gilfema, the aptly titled Three finds the expansive international trio led by West African guitarist and vocalist Lionel Loueke investigating a richly textured and harmonically engaging sound. Recorded in one epic 12-hour session, these are groove-oriented tracks rife with funky rhythms, nuanced solos, and global influences. Joining Loueke again are his longtime bandmates, Swiss-born bassist Massimo Biolcati (who also produced) and Hungarian drummer Ferenc Nemeth. Friends since they first met at Boston’s Berklee College of Music in the late ’90s, the trio also work together regularly in Loueke’s numerous solo projects. However, Gilfema stands uniquely as a democratic project in which each member brings his own songs to the table. Three is their first album in 12 years, and the wait definitely reflects the level of quality that they reserve for songs released under the Gilfema banner. You can hear how the tracks connect to Loueke’s solo work, but the album still stands distinctively on its own. The opening “Teke” is a spiraling fusion number that evokes a mix of ’60s John Coltrane and ’70s Mahavishnu Orchestra. There’s also a futuristic edge to the track, as Loueke inserts a call-and-response solo section that sounds like his guitar is having an intergalactic conversation with a groovy robot. Also bringing to mind a classic fusion aesthetic is Nemeth’s Afro-funk-leaning “Happiness,” which finds Loueke’s wah-wah riffs and repeated vocals dancing off Biolcati’s kinetic bass line, all before a breathy vocal-and-synth melody descends from the cosmos. There are also several vibrant co-written pieces here, as on Loueke and Biolcati’s sprightly “Brio” and their slow, gut-bucket blues song “Algorithm Blues.” No less engaging are the more languid and intimate moments like the ones you hear on Loueke’s beachy, West African-meets-Cuban song “Fleuve Congo” and the warm “Le.” Particularly compelling is the trio’s sparkling rendition of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing,” inventively rearranged by Biolcati in a wonderfully odd time signature that adds to the song’s lilting, poignant beauty.
Matt Collar (AllMusic)
