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IAJE Evening 1 - Lionel Loueke
January 10, 2008. Posted by Joshua Jackson.
Add new comment | Filed under: audience participation, bassist, blue note, constitution hall, Discovery, gala concert, gregoire maret, harmonica player, IAJE 2008, international flavor, Jazz Alive, jumping the shark, karibu, lionel loueke, Live Music, live performance, metro toronto convention, metro toronto convention center, musicality, nemeth, new york voices, seven teens, thirst, toronto convention centerI'm interviewing guitarist Lionel Loueke at noon, so I'm jumping the shark a bit. But Loueke closed the Gala Concert. After New York Voices, about 80 percent of the audience poured out of the Metro Toronto Convention Center's Constitution Hall. Those with a thirst for adventure (or simply no restrictions on bedtime) stayed for Lionel's trio. They are formerly known as Gilfema - Loueke, the Swedish/Italian bassist Massimo Biolcati, and Hungarian drummer Ferenc Nemeth.

They opened with the title song from Lionel's upcoming Blue Note release, Karibu. For the Swahili challenged, that means "Welcome."
Another live performance from the trio. This is called "Seven Teens." Don't bother trying to tap your foot or count the 17 beats per measure. Just enjoy listening to it.
The set ended with a little surprise. Lionel added to the international flavor of the band (not to mention the already-high musicality) with an invitation to harmonica player Gregoire Maret. And for lagniappe, let's throw in a some audience participation.
Josh
© 2008 WBGO
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IAJE Evening 1 - New York Voices and Pac-Man
January 10, 2008. Posted by Joshua Jackson.
Add new comment | Filed under: brazilian dreams, chicago winter, claudio roditi, craftsman, crowd, gala concert, greatest fan, harmony sound, iaje, IAJE 2008, institutions, jazz, john coltrane, Live Music, new york voices, pac man, paquito d rivera, rendition, snow samba, trumpeter, vocal harmonyI'm not the greatest fan of New York Voices, because I can't get beyond that vocal harmony sound. The rest of the planet loves it. I don't. But I absolutely respect what they do. Because they do it so well. You can always find New York Voices performing at one of the country's venerable jazz institutions, Pittsburgh's Manchester Craftsman's Guild. Their latest CD, A Day Like This, is Grammy-nominated. And they are a crowd favorite at IAJE. They're also first-rate educators, and members of IAJE.
Shows you how much I know...
New York Voices played to a packed house for the IAJE Gala concert. Among the highlights was a vocalese rendition of John Coltrane's "A Moment's Notice." They call it "Noticing The Moment." Listen for yourself:
New York Voices - Noticing The Moment (A Moment’s Notice)
In the middle of the set, they invited one of the IAJE Gala honorees, Paquito D'Rivera, for a couple of songs from a previous album, Brazilian Dreams. After Pac-man told a story about how he and trumpeter Claudio Roditi wrote "Snow Samba" during a Chicago winter, they launched into it.
New York Voices and Paquito D’Rivera - Snow Samba
If you want more of that, the New York Voices and Paquito D'Rivera are playing the Blue Note in New York on Monday night. - Josh
© 2008 WBGO
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IAJE Day 1 - Heritage for Tomorrow
January 9, 2008. Posted by Joshua Jackson.
Add new comment | Filed under: aaron goldberg, bob brookmeyer, clifford brown, conservatoire national superieur, conservatoire national superieur de musique, erik satie, french composer, harland, IAJE 2008, ingrid jensen, jerome kern, lionel loueke, new york voices, paquito d rivera, paris conservatory, pianist erik, reuben rogers, special session, stan getz, three songs, young musiciansHeritage for Tomorrow is a quartet from the Paris Conservatory (or, officially, the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris...ahh, the French...). They are led by the bassist Riccardo del Fra.
The quartet performed three songs during the IAJE Special Session earlier today. I had not heard of the three young musicians who joined del Fra onstage, but I was impressed.
Here's the first song they played together.
Heritage for Tomorrow - Song One
They also played a Bob Brookmeyer composition, a nod to the French composer and pianist, Erik Satie.
Heritage for Tomorrow - Erik Satie
Finally, the quartet performed a thoroughly modern reading of "I'm Old Fashioned." I'm not sure Jerome Kern would recognize it. I barely could.
Heritage for Tomorrow - I’m Old Fashioned
That's it for today's early events. Tonight, I'm checking out shows from the Aaron Goldberg Trio with Reuben Rogers and Eric Harland, the Clifford Brown/Stan Getz All-Stars, New York Voices with Paquito D'Rivera, Lionel Loueke, and Ingrid Jensen's band, Nordic Connect. Come back soon for that. - Josh
© 2008 WBGO





