Please write a brief description of your experience of the jazz performance. Feel free to comment on the music, the solos, the improvisational playing, the Miller Theater, the campus at Columbia U, and — if you like — our new class chant.
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The jazz performance was definitely eye-opening and original. I always pictured jazz with saxophones, trumpets, trombones (brass instruments) with the drums for the cymbal effects. The Trio brought something completely different because each of the instrument brought a new beat to the African infused jazz. Lionel played the guitar in harmony with his singing and I enjoyed how he was able to play so softly on the electric guitar when it came to singing a soft tune. The sound of the cello was also interesting because the sound of the instrument “vibrated” through the song in general and was distinctively heard. On my part, I always pictured the cello in a classical music performance so hearing it in jazz was just as fascinating as the electric guitar. The drums on the other hand had a crazy rhythm and at some points his energy was intense and very focused. That energy was definitely translated through the mastery of the drums because he played so well when he went for a fast rhythm and kept the audience on their seats staring in admiration. I most enjoyed the solo parts where he played like very wild because it parallels the uniqueness of the trio’s sound. Lionel’s singing is very unique because he incorporates different techniques of the tongue as well as playing the different parts of his instruments and even playing his body. He is somehow able to get rhythm in every taps he makes and he is able to be humorous with his special skill but also create a nice flow in the music. Despite this all, I did have a little trouble appreciating the music at some instances when the music sounded like a jamboree of different sounds with no rhythm combining them. I however put blame on myself because I rarely listen to jazz especially with an unique African influence so I believe I will slowly appreciate if I was more exposed to the sound of jazz. Individually, the instruments each had rhythm going on but I thought it could have been more together at some parts. Before I forget, the trumpet blended well into the sound of the group because it played loud at some parts and it brought the jazz feeling as it played in tune with the guitar and cello. Overall, it was a great music performance because the sound was unique or probably a little too unique for me but he is able to interact with the crowd especially at the end. Furthermore when I read the biography, I discovered that they are all very talented because they have studied African music so intensively and Lionel in specific followed the greats of Jazz such as Herbie Hancock who I have heard of before in my freshman year in high school. So maybe I do have a little knowledge…
Although I was not able to attend the concert Saturday because of my game, it sounded like I missed out. From how you explained the performance, it sounded like a very unique take on a classical American style of music; jazz. You begin to appreciate the arts more when you see people from different cultures portray their take on a style. It creates more unique categories. I believe that art is self-expressive, whether it be through music, paintings/drawings, or literature. Lionel Louecke is very well versed in music, specifically jazz, and he is very knowledgable in the structure of creating jazz pieces. He is not just some random guy who decided to make up his own version of jazz. With that said and from what I heard, Lionel Louecke brought self-expressiveness and skill to the table, just like an artist should do.
I definitely agree with what you said. He does takes a unique spin on classical jazz because he incorporates African music while playing an electric guitar. It was an interesting blend between Western and African Culture and this blend contributes to the East Meets West theme that was also in Daniel Hope’s performance.
I like jazz. I’ve listened to jazz music, and I’ve watched jazz performances on TV. But, I’ve never had an opportunity to attend a live jazz concert. Well, my high school had a jazz band, but they stopped being good for quite some years. I was really excited to watch a professional jazz performance for the first time, and I loved it.
The first impression of Lionel Louecke was his unique guitar. It looked more like an electric bass. I think the guitar had that deep sound like a bass, too. The trio started the concert with a mellow, bossa novaic song. Then, they gradually changed the genres of their songs: from happy, funky to African jazz. It was interesting how each song had their own characteristic within itself, yet one could tell that all these songs had a unifying theme. Furthermore, the harmony of American jazz and Beninese language and tune was strikingly beautiful. It had that ethnic taste to it, but it was so unusually avant garde. Every song just got better one after another, and I got the chills!
I must also note on the fantastic bassist and drummer. What I love about jazz is that the emphasis is equally distributed on all players. In classical music, the spotlight is usually on the instrument that can produce the highest pitch e.g. violin, flute, oboe, unless it is a cello or bassoon concerto. However, in jazz, at least what I saw last night, all players had a chance to show off what they had to offer. The bassist’s solo intro was just amazing. I couldn’t stop thinking about how much callous he must have on his fingertips. Also, the drummer’s techniques were just mind-blowing. Classical musicians that play the middle to lower range instruments are often less privileged because composers, especially those in the Classical period, neglect the virtuosity of those instruments in ensemble music. Mozart’s accompaniment parts in his ensemble music are ridiculously monotonous, although, everything put together, it all contributes to the overall harmony. So, when I used to play in a quartet in high school, my friend in the quartet would never let me pick Mozart’s quartet.
This performance got me really excited beforehand and even more afterwards. At one point, I just wanted to get up and dance, but I suppressed my uncivilized urge. I’m just really frustrated that my vocabulary is not extensive enough to express how awestruck I was last night.
Tim Migliore
The Lionel Louecke Jazz Trio was a pretty interesting performance. I really liked the shape of the guitar, it was so cool looking which special shape holes in the guitar! I liked the wooden color of the guitar and I loved to watch the guys fingers run around those strings. All the instruments looked beautiful.
About the sound I was at first like meh, especially the first twenty minutes: it was just to slow to impress anyone. Once things got heated then things got more exciting especially those hard hit drum solos which I loved, I noticed that he used double pedals, it would have been more impressive with one but no matter. I enjoyed the idea of adding a bass to the mix and not an electric guitar bass.
I thought incorporating African elements was really cool and it certainly opened my musical range to a whole entire new culture. Sure I have heard of African music elements on TV and on computer games, but I don’t think I have ever heard a person do it in person. I really liked how the guitar player started to use his guitar as a percussion instrument at times abandoning the strings and just tapping (playing different pitches) on the guitar. I really thought he thought that one through. I also enjoyed the vocal percussion that he had provided: his chk, chk, chk, was fun and rhythmically trance like.
I thought there were some interesting moments with the trumpet however I think his talent was lost because he played for like 5% of the show? I really thought there was much more potential for the trumpet player to show off his skills just like the others had done.
All in all I thought this was an interesting performance and there is no dispute that these were professionals at play.
The jazz performance was, as Harry mentioned, quite original. I too always expect jazz to signify brass instruments and it was cool that this was so different. I was very impressed by all three musicians.
Louecke was an incredible guitarist and singer, and I was so impressed by his originality and crazy rhythms. I loved how he mixed jazz and African music. His solo towards the end when he put the paper in his guitar was very cool- he seemed so comfortable performing and I like how he involved the audience. The part where he changed the pitch of the guitar while he was playing was awesome- I can barely tune a guitar normally! And the way he used the guitar as a percussion instrument was so unique. I do wish that I could have understood the music he was singing, or at least known what the songs were about.
I also thought the drum and base players were very talented. Their ability to keep their own rhythm while the others were doing something completely different was very impressive. It seemed that so much of the performance was improvisation, especially the solos by the three musicians. The drum player really went crazy in his solo- I have never seem someone play the drums with so much energy and enthusiasm before.
I did however, find that I could not fully appreciate the performance because it was so rhythmically ambiguous. The three musicians had such unique rhythm and at times they seemed to clash with one another. It was hard to catch on to the music because it did not follow a pattern. But overall, I still thought the performance was very fun.
The guitar Lionel Loueke used produced a truly beautiful, unique and pure sound that distinguished from most of the other guitars I’ve heard. It was probably my favorite part of the performance – listening to the soft strumming. Loueke has a unique voice that mixed so intricately with the sound of the guitar, but I felt that he overpowered the other two performers a little too much and a little too often. I would have liked to hear more of Massimo Biolcati and Ferenc Nemeth (their names are a mouthful!)
I agree with Harry in that it wasn’t the jazz I expected. I expected trombones, saxophones (at least one!) and several more trumpet players, but it was solely the performance of a cello, a guitar, a set of drums alongside a single voice. The lack of other brass instruments almost weakened the trumpet solo performance, which I thought didn’t blend as nicely with the rest of the group. It stuck out a little too much, and overall didn’t sound as if it belonged. He definitely didn’t get to shine, which I feel is pivotal to a guest soloist.
Lionel Loueke’s voice stole the spotlight for most of the performance. The program described his technique as “scat-singing,” which I thought was really interesting. The idea of the voice being an instrument was emphasized in his music; his personality seeped through his music.
I’m not sure whether I liked it, though it was definitely eye opening and different from other forms of jazz I listened to. I like listening to experimental music, but I’m a bit hesitant about this performance. It didn’t strike me the way the other musical performances did.
I had been late to the first event and made extra sure to arrive on time. Personally, I love jazz, as I am a drummer, and was really looking forward to this concert. Initially, I was struck by the musicianship, and found it hard to take my eyes off of the stage. The guitarist and drummer, I was especially impressed with. Slowly, however, as most technical jazz concerts go, I began to be overwhelmed by the onslaught of notes. I appreciated it, but I would have preferred either total disregard of song structure, like free jazz, or a total loyalty to it. Not this pretentious, in-between sort of style. With jazz, I enjoy the extremes. After about the first fifteen minutes I began to fall asleep. All in all, it was a wonderful experience, though. I got to see the Columbia campus and enjoy some live music.
The musical performance by the Lionel Louecke Jazz Trio introduced me into the jazz genre. Lionel Loueke produced such an original sound, which echoed through the entire theater. When he first started, his electric bass had created a sound that I never quite heard before. His bass was able to hit notes I didn’t even know were available on bass. As I watched, I went into a slight trance. The cello player pulled at the strings one by one making a low monotonous jumble. The drummer, my favorite, was so into the music that he kept smiling at the music ensemble they were creating. He reminded me of Vishal Nagar on the table. Both had a similar smile to their lips as they beat their hands against the drums. The work together was a jumble of many notes ranging from high to low and it was hard to keep track. Both overall, the experience was new and wonderful. It was nice to experience a type of music I have never heard live.
The Lionel Louecke Jazz Trio was a very new experience for me. I have never really listened to much jazz in depth let alone been to a jazz concert. I walked into the concert expecting loud and lively music, with saxophones and trumpets but it was not like that, which was slightly disappointing. I really enjoyed all of the musicians and how they all got their own solo, which enabled them to really show off their talents. Again the theme of “east meets west” was present in this concert. The singer and guitarist explained how the drummer was from Hungary and visited India, the bass player was Italian, and he himself was from Africa. All their different pasts and cultures were reflective in their playing bringing a unique group together. Overall I appreciated and enjoyed this concert even though it was not the type of music I would listen to on my own.
Lionel Louecke did a great job on Saturday night. Before hand, I didn’t know whether I would like this style of music, but the quality of the performance convinced me otherwise. The bass player, who was Italian and Swiss, stood out. Usually bass is used for background tempo and beats, but he almost turned it into a solo instrument. He was that good! The drummer, who was Hungarian, played the drums better than anyone I have seen perform. The most impressive aspect of the performance was how well the musicians interacted with one another. I remember in the first part of the concert, Lionel told the audience that the three of them (not the trumpet player) had been playing together for twelve years. I found that to be amazing. I have only known some of my closest friends for seven years! That cohesiveness was obvious and it made the performance seem so flawless.
The pieces were arranged very well. The transitions between songs and styles always kept me interested. After the first hour was done, I didn’t realize how much time had actually passed. However, the intermission lasted much too long.
The performance was almost entirely instrumental. I would have liked to hear Lionel sing more. He had a great voice and was singing in a style of music I was unfamiliar with. Towards the end, he started to sing and make peculiar sounds that made everyone laugh. In that resect, the performance was as much about the quality of music as it was about making sure the audience enjoyed themselves. That is one of the primary reasons why our Macaulay group felt so happy and elated, as if we couldn’t wipe the smiles of our faces. As a side note, I saw a man in the front row who was dancing as if he were at a party. It was fun to hear the music and to see that everyone was enjoying themselves. The standing ovation at the end gave these men the praise they had earned.
I also like the fact that I only had to walk four blocks to get to Miller Theater. Until Saturday night, I had never been to that particular theater in my neighborhood. Also, I’ve lived around Columbia and the campus is pretty amazing.
My favorite music genre is jazz. I just like to listen to it in spite of not having much knowledge about it. I think Jazz does not usually have a certain form or pattern, its harmony sounds a little bit dissonant but form its own harmony, and the rhythm is more complex than any other types of music. This African jazz performance of Lionel Loueke Trio was a good example of jazz music that I like.
The musicians were all good players with incredibly flashy technique. I wondered whether they had memorized this long piece or they just improvised. The songs were very long and the melodies were very complex. It was interesting that they worked in perfect harmony even with each player’s improvisation. It looked as if they all knew how the play was to go and when it finished.
The drummer Ferenc Nemeth was the best among all the drummers I have ever seen. His rhythm was very, very complex and his play was very fast, but his very fast and complex improvisations all fit into the song’s original rhythm. When he was accompanying other instruments’ improvisation, he played a perfect background. I think he once made a mistake when he lost one of his drumsticks during his play (he picked it up right away and continued to play, though), but still, he was really amazing.
I liked the guitar player, too. I loved the slow, peaceful song that he played without any other instruments. The bass usually did not sound striking like the drums and guitar but did a good job making the whole song balanced. His improvisation was also good.
It was my first time to hear African jazz and I enjoyed it very much.
Out of the three performances we went to during the last two weeks, I like this one the most. I loved how the Jazz was foriegn. I loved how the musicians were relax and modest. And I especially loved how the whole time, they were unpredictable in what they played but still having a form. It reminded me of martial arts, how different styles have different tempo, rhythm, and patterns. In a match, a good martial artist wouldn’t stick to the same pattern. In order to prevent predictability, the martial artist would be elusive and quick to change like water as Bruce Lee would say. But while doing this, the artist would not lose his forms of his style, or else his techniques would be ineffective. Lionel Louecke Jazz Trio were like this nature- elusive, changing, and alive while keeping the same form like water.
A question came up while I was watching them perform. I noticed that at times, they would attempt to jump in but go back to listening. And after few attempts, they would finally join in, playing something complementary to the others. I wondered if some segments of the performance were improvisation. If that was the case, then they must be really familiar with one another in regards of the way they play their instruments and a really good ear to help analyze the flow of the Jazz. It can also mean that they work really well as a team. 12 years playing together definitely is a long time, and I think they’re doing a great job!
The jazz music was very energetic and made me move my feet constantly during its fast paced music. Although I could not decipher a pattern in the music because of my lack of experience with jazz, I was very much engaged in the pieces. Louecke sure is very innovative with complex rhythms and improvisation on instruments (paper on guitar strings) that really change the way I viewed jazz. Louecke’s guitar was awesome as it played the roles of many traditional jazz instruments.
While Louecke’s voice was very interesting, but I got the feeling that it was auto-tuned because it was keeping a harmony, which is extremely difficult and is practiced only in remote parts of Mongolia. I think his original voice in the video we watched in class was very melodious, but I was put off because a great musician had to resort to technology in order to manipulate his voice.
This was also the first time that I came to know of the classical base. I have previously seen base guitar but I remember my surprise at seeing what I thought was a large cello, being played by hands. After Taylor told me about the base, I slowly realized that it was responsible for the deep background I was hearing with Loueke’s guitar. In a similar way, this was the first time I heard the trumpet played so fast with rapid switching of notes. It added to the energetic-ness of the music as it clashed and combined with other instruments.
Drumming was done very well with the swift playing that went well with the rest of the music. I noticed that the drums were what kept the slow music interesting because they made it less mellow (I do not like mellow music because it makes me feel sad). During the fast parts, the drums provided a great beat in the jumble of musical notes flying around from the instruments.
One interesting part was that the drum and the base were used as an introduction to the a piece by the trio. It reminded me of Hope’s “East Meets West,” where the Tabla was used to lead in certain parts, and so were the violin and the piano. The solos and the introduction was very interesting in many parts, because it allowed me to identify how the instruments sounded. This was extremely important in terms of the base, because of its low notes.
Overall, the music was good, and so was the theater, because it allowed all of us to hear the music properly.
This concert also changed my idea of jazz. Before I typically thought of the blues whenever i thought of jazz, but this type of Afro-jazz was completely different. Most of their songs started slow and serenely with maybe one or two of the instruments playing but then they increased the tempo and used all of the instruments. Also, i found it interesting how every Loueke and the drummer manipulated their instruments. At first Loueke’s guitar sounded like a spanish one but the changed to a regular guitar sound, followed by a more tribal sound(when he slipped in the piece of paper behind the strings). The drummer ended up placing cotton balls and styrafoam on his drumsticks.He also used a whisk-like instrument to get a rain-like sound. This made it seem like they were taking every sound possible and making it a part of their music. So it was certainly unconventional like many people have said already.
Jazz is not a particularly new thing for me. I haven’t listened a lot because I really don’t care for it in general. Being at a jazz performance was nothing new; being at a jazz concert was something different for me. It was pretty enjoyable to sit there listening to it. It is kind of trance like to listen to. Largely the concert was most interesting during those moments where someone makes a solo (that is probably improvised). It is clear that everyone was having fun, which I like a lot.
When the music was more random rather than structured into some kind of rhythm I found that it was harder to pay attention to. Though some parts of Loueke’s performance was random I liked it when he engaged the crowd to sing with him because it was like we were part of the performance instead of silent observers.
I’m not really a fan of jazz. However, for some reason my inner musician “awakens” whenever the percussion part of any performance begins. My favorite part definitely was when Nemeth (drum player) and Louecke sort of faced each other off. One of them would play a note and the other would play the same note in his instrument, then one-up-it. It was a beautiful combination that complemented well with the bass in the background.
I found it astonishing how Loueke could produce so many sounds from his guitar. At times, they were very fluid and reverberated and twanged. During the one set during which he inserted the piece of paper near the bridge of his guitar, the sounds were crisper. Loueke’s playing definitely made you wonder what would come next; at one point, while jotting something down, I looked away from the stage and when I looked up again Loueke was clicking his nails on his guitar, beating his hands upon his chest.
The songs played had a nice variety and while some felt sad and melancholy, others like the closing, were very upbeat and rhythmic.
I enjoyed the solos, especially those by Nemeth, the drummer, and the trumpeter, and thought it pleasant that every musician had a chance to “stand in the spotlight” and be recognized individually. When Loueke took some time to talk somewhat about his companions as musicians, and what they’d currently done, I was surprised at how diverse they too were— even when compared to Loueke’s unique musical origins.