lionel loueke

Jazz virtuoso Lionel Loueke joins us in contemplating who we’d put at the helm while making the album of a lifetime. Plus, musical obsessions!

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Aziza is (left to right), Eric Harland, Dave Holland, Chris Potter, and Lionel Loueke. Though each musician has racked up a staggering amount of recording and performing credits, this marks the first time they’ve played together as a quartet.

The legendary bassist and fingerstyle master reveal the origins and vision behind their star-packed jazz quartet.

The origins of Aziza, a collective jazz supergroup of sorts, started back in 2014 when legendary bassist Dave Holland and saxophonist Chris Potter were brainstorming for a project to tour with in 2015. “I just love playing with Chris,” says Holland, who brought Potter into his funky and soulful quintet in the early 2000s. After bouncing some ideas around, the duo decided to bring in guitarist Lionel Loueke and drummer Eric Harland. “Lionel approaches the instrument in a unique way and blends his African heritage and guitar styles with all the language and harmony of jazz music.”

None of the members were strangers: Loueke and Harland had spent time in trumpeter Terrance Blanchard’s group, and Holland, Loueke, and Potter all worked with pianist Herbie Hancock on the tour for his Joni Mitchell tribute project, The River. The tour was an immediate success with each member bringing in specific compositions for the band. “From day one, it was just all about the music,” says Loueke. “You’re playing with musicians that just listen so closely to whatever you’re doing and are very open-minded. We’re ready to take some risks and see where the music takes us.”

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