RESPECT

AFTER TOURING AND recording with jazz legend Herbie Hancock for the past 16 years, guitarist Lionel Loueke pays a singular tribute to his mentor on HH, his second album for the British label Edition Records and 14th as a leader overall. An intimate and revealing solo showcase, performed primarily on his seven-string Heeres Geneva Nylon Jazz acoustic, HH finds the gifted guitarist delivering heartfelt interpretations of Hancock classics like “Speak Like a Child” (the title track of Hancock’s 1968 Blue Note album), “Butterfly” (from 1974’s Thrust) and “Dolphin Dance” (1966’s Maiden Voyage) while radically re-imagining “Watermelon Man” (1962’s Takin’ Off and 1973’s Head Hunters), “Cantaloupe Island” (1964’s Empyrean Island), “Actual Proof” (Thrust) and “Rockit” (1983’s Future Shock) with his signature fingerstyle approach to the instrument and inherent polyrhythmic sensibility.

“IT’S BY TRYING THAT YOU DISCOVER, SO I WASN’T AFRAID TO JUST GO FOR IT AND SEE WHAT I GET”

On “Actual Proof,” Loueke weaves an object between the strings for a decidedly percussive effect. And on an experimental version of “One Finger Snap,” he pushes the sonic envelope with myriad of built-in effects from his Kemper Profiler. Aside from his remarkable fingerstyle approach on display throughout HH, Loueke incorporates wordless vocals and Xhosa click-singing (from South Africa) into his arsenal for a more personal touch. As he explained, “The challenge was to put my own imprint on these masterpieces, to rethink them with my touch on it.”

Born in the West African country of Benin, Loueke