Gilfema: Three
Sounderscore Records

If Gilfema's personnel—guitarist Lionel Loueke, bassist Massimo Biolcati, and drummer Ferenc Nemeth—is the same as the Lionel Loueke Trio, why are there two outfits? Hailing respectively from Benin, Italy, and Hungary, the three founded Gilfema after meeting and playing together in the early 2000s at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz (now the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz) and subsequently issued two albums on Obliqsound, a self-titled set in 2005 and Gilfema + 2 three years later. But when Blue Note came calling, their 2009 debut Karibu appeared under the Lionel Loueke Trio name, the change presumably made to capitalize on the guitarist's ascendant profile.

Gilfema now returns on Biolcati's Sounderscore Records, with Three also produced by the bassist. However much Loueke's name might be easier to market, Gilfema is arguably the better choice, given how equally responsible the musicians are for its sound and material. Composing credits are shared by all three, even if the lion's share are Loueke's, and while the lead melodic role also naturally falls to him, each instrument is crucial to the result, particularly when a great deal of the material is groove-based. How fitting it is, then, that the group name derives from the first two letters of each member's first name: GI (Gilles, Loueke's legal name), FE (Ferenc), and MA (Massimo).

All that being said, there's no question a key part of Gilfema's identity derives from Loueke's guitar style. His arresting fusion of jazz and African highlife produces a sound unlike any other's (abetted by his choice of nylon-string guitar), and the vocalizations that sometimes accompany his lightning-fast runs personalize his playing all the more. Having played together for so many years, the three bring a telepathic quality to their interactions, the trio functioning as close to a single, multi-limbed organism as could be imagined. To that end, all three have backgrounds that contribute to the group's pancultural sound: Loueke grew up in the West African nation of Benin before relocating to Paris and the U.S.; the Sweden-born Biolcati was raised there and in Italy; and Nemeth is Hungarian.

If Three feels fresh and spontaneous, some of that has to do with the fact that its thirteen tracks were recorded in a single, twelve-hour session, the results of which were then edited and polished in post-production. The sunny opener “Têkê” serves immediate notice of the trio's penchant for infectious swing, the guitarist dishing out intricate figures with aplomb as his partners fashion a vivacious pulse. Loueke's command of texture is in full force as he strafes the bubbly groove with all manner of inflections, his seemingly effortless imagination and invention remarkable. Virtuosic punctuations by Nemeth also affirm that Gilfema is a trio of equals, not a guitarist and rhythm support. Three follows “Têkê” with the group's first cover, a treatment of Hendrix's “Little Wing” that shows how completely reimagined a familiar tune can be when a group with a strong identity tackles it. Traces of the original remain in the song's melodic progressions, but the loping, Afro-bluesy reimagining ultimately seems closer in spirit to a Gilfema original than a standard cover.

With chanting vocals by the guitarist and drummer included, the sultry “Lé” aligns Three closely to African folk music, though it's not the only time that happens (see “Flueve Congo” and “Aflao”). By comparison, the presence of wah-wah guitar on “Happiness” makes the joyful funk workout even funkier. Whereas “Brio” rolls out on an exuberant wave that plays like a cross between country hoedown and African highlife, the dreamy ballad “Dear J.L.” provides a lovely respite from the uptempo fare. Afro-bop? Highlife jazz? It's Gilfema through and through, however you choose to label it. There's certainly never been a better moment for joyous tunes like “Brio” and “Lé” to appear than during these coronavirus times.

April 2020