Heritage

"All in all, a triumph. But it's not really just a jazz album, is it? "Freedom Dance" sounds like straight-up African dance music; "Farafina" is a weird combination of fusion and post-rock; "Goree" is futuristic funk with Hodge and Giuliana sounding like George Clinton disciples. I'm not sure what kind of music this is anymore. Maybe that's why I'm rating it as one of the most exciting things I've heard this decade".

"Some of the best moments on Lionel Loueke's third album for Blue Note come courtesy of unexpected juxtapositions: An anxious breath-and-percussion rhythm is soothed by insistent waves of melody on Tribal Dance, Loueke's serrated string attacks push up against his glassy vocals on Ife, while his jaunty, cerebral plucking on African Ship meets moments of deep bass funk. Even without those moments, this album would be one of the more interesting releases of 2012. Trading his usual nylon strings for steel and inviting Robert Glasper to co-produce the album, the artist sails into new sonic territory here, with a new ensemble - and without sacrificing any of the rhythmic extemporizing that characterises his sound".