Lionel Loueke Trio 'GAÏA'
Last Show: Tuesday 12 th July 2016
PizzaExpress Jazz Club (Soho)
Lionel Loueke picked up the guitar late at age 17. After his initial exposure to jazz in Benin, he left to attend the National Institute of Art in Ivory Coast. In 1994 he left Africa to pursue jazz studies at the American School of Modern Music in Paris then came to the U.S. on a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music where he first encountered his future trio mates Massimo Biolcati and Ferenc Nemeth. After graduating Loueke was accepted to the Thelonious Monk Institute where he was able to study with his most significant mentors: Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Terence Blanchard.