Lean In (Edition)
Gretchen Parlato & Lionel Loueke
Released May 18, 2023
JAZZ.FM91 Best Jazz Albums of 2023
Grammy Nominee Best Jazz Vocal Album 2024
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About:
A long-awaited collaboration between GRAMMY-nominated vocalist Gretchen Parlato and acclaimed guitarist Lionel Loueke, ‘Lean In’ tells the story of 20 years of connection, inspiration and friendship between two musical soulmates.
Reflecting on the great musical duos of our time and what it is that makes them essential, it would seem plausible that there would be at least a short list of common foundational factors necessary for success. For eminent artists, vocalist-arranger Gretchen Parlato and guitarist-vocalist Lionel Loueke, their formula is anchored in what could initially seem to be contrasting components —intrinsic rootedness paired with freedom, spontaneity, and impulse. The development of an earthy connection lays the groundwork for the confidence and trust required for experimentation and ascension. Of their affecting, palpable synergy, Loueke has endearingly coined the term “Musical Soul Mate.”
“It’s somebody who finishes your musical sentences, so to speak,” says Parlato. “We are challenging each other at the same time,” adds Loueke. “I just go wherever she is and vice versa. So, there’s no comfort zone. We get into the Unknown Zone.”
However, it is the uncharted territory that Parlato and Loueke would have to traverse off the bandstand that has produced their first formal duo recording project. Conceptualized, written, and recorded while in the grips of a global pandemic, Lean In bears the various loads of the last three years: a worldwide public health crisis, the traumatic losses of black life, police brutality, devastating wildfires across the world, an economic recession, a tense election punctuated by insurrection of the nation’s capital, and a myriad of civil and human rights hanging in the balance.
Lean In is an offering conceived through the lens of two friends and collaborators who were decidedly vulnerable about an unforeseeable journey that would challenge all of us, both individually and collectively, in unprecedented ways. The result is a palpably soul-stirring set that fully captures the charisma and ingenuity of deeply feeling artists and the perspectives that developed during the most trying of times. Now labelmates, and exactly 20 years after each of their moves to New York City, Parlato and Loueke created the album fans of their live sets have been anticipating for some time.
As with all of life, the meaning in our work, our thoughts and ideas can and do shift with time and perspective. With Lean In, Loueke and Parlato celebrate, contemplate, mourn, and rejoice the events of their 20 year journey as friends and collaborators who remain in awe of one another, through the tenets of their message, their playfulness, their enchanting sound, and rhythmic complexity laced with wit and dexterity — imbuing the songs with a timeless relevance for all who listen for years to come.
Track Listing:
1. Akwê 04:58
2. I Miss You 05:02
3. If I Knew (featuring Burniss Travis & Mark Guiliana) 04:26
4. Okagbé Interlude 01:19
5. Astronauta 04:54
6. Mi Wa Sé Interlude (featuring Marley Guiliana, Burniss Travis, Mark Guiliana) 00:57
7. Muse 04:47
8. Nonvignon 03:53
9. Lean In (featuring Mark Guiliana) 04:49
10. Painful Joy 04:16
11. Dou Wé Interlude (featuring Burniss Travis & Mark Guiliana) 01:12
12. Walking After You 04:30
13. The Sun Will Rise Again 03:22
Personnel:
Gretchen Parlato: voice, percussion
Lionel Loueke: guitar, voice, percussion
Guest Personnel
Mark Guiliana: drums, percussion (2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 11,12)
Burniss Travis: electric bass (3, 6, 11)
Marley Guiliana: voice (3, 6, 12)
Lisa Loueke: voice (3)
Recorded March 2nd – 4th 2022, at Lucy’s Meat Market, Los Angeles
Produced by Gretchen Parlato & Lionel Loueke
Recorded and Mixed by Pete Min
Mastered by Dave Darlington
Review:
Self-proclaimed “musical soulmates,” Gretchen Parlato and Lionel Loueke celebrate 20 years of friendship and collaboration on their duo album Lean In. Pulling from both of their strengths, this record offers a feast for the ears: playful, complex rhythms; influences from various genres, including Afrobeat and Brazilian music; and fabulous vocals from both Parlato and Loueke. Lean In is an album you’ll have on repeat.
Raina Hersh (JAZZ.FM91)
