Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » The Vampires: The Vampires Meet Lionel Loueke

The Vampires: The Vampires Meet Lionel Loueke

By Mark Corroto
June 16, 2017
View read count

The Vampires: The Vampires Meet Lionel Loueke

As we mature as music listeners, the need to select a piece of music as your summer theme song, go-to party album, or road trip recording fades. Just like the childhood requirement to designate who is your best friend, we don't wear the grooves of records out these days. Let's, for old times sake, choose a recording to be our favorite companion to mark a season.

The Vampires meet Lionel Loueke is just such a recording. Just as

Herbie Hancock

piano
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Herbie Hancock's "Rockit,"

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane's "My Favorite Things," and

Ramsey Lewis

piano
1935 - 2022

" data-original-title="" title="">Ramsey Lewis' "The In Crowd" championed a spirit, this disc makes the complex sound quite simple.

The Vampires, an Australian combo working for the past 10 years, invited West African guitarist

Lionel Loueke

guitar
b.1973

" data-original-title="" title="">Lionel Loueke, to record on their fifth album. The music written by saxophonist Jeremy Rose and trumpeter Nick Garrett, pulls together musical threads from dub/reggae, Afro-Cuban, Ethiopian, and Gamelan musics. Let's call it fusion, a fusion sans rock. Loueke's contribution of guitar and vocals, as on his recordings with

Joe Lovano

drums
b.1952

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Lovano,

Esperanza Spalding

bass
b.1984

" data-original-title="" title="">Esperanza Spalding,

Kenny Barron

piano
b.1943

" data-original-title="" title="">Kenny Barron, and

Nate Smith

drums
b.1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Nate Smith, adds a touch of his signature Benin, West African genuineness. A world music sound last heard in the ensembles of the late

Joe Zawinul

keyboards
1932 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Zawinul. The disc opens and closes with "Endings & Beginnings Pt. I & II," both tender nostalgic pieces fixed by Loueke's acoustic guitar and voice. Between these pillars, The Vampires deliver some beautiful melodies. "Had Love" is bathed in gentle bass clarinet and appeasing trumpet. The reggae lines of "Freedom Song" are dance-ably infectious, as is the Ethio-jazz of "Bendalong" and "Brand New." The music is chock full of irrepressible joy, a commodity in short supply these days.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Jeremy Rose: alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet; Nick Garbett: trumpet; Lionel Loueke: acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals; Jonathan Zwartz: bass; Danny Fischer: drums; Alex Masso: drums, cajon, bongos, pandeiro, wood block, cowbells, shakers.

Personnel

The Vampires

band / ensemble / orchestra

Endings & Beginnings Pt. I; Hard Love; Freedom Song; Green Green Green; Bendalong; Torta Salata; Suck a Seed; Ubud Bubble; Brand New; Endings & Beginnings Pt. II.

Album information

Title: The Vampires Meet Lionel Loueke | Year Released: 2017 | Record Label: Earshift Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Duality: Particles & Waves
< Previous

Live Recitation
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.