Jean-Paul Bourelly

Jean -Paul Bourelly ( born November 23, 1960 in Chicago) is an American jazz guitarist who also plays blues, rock and world music.

Early years

Jean -Paul Bourelly grew up in Chicago, where Muddy Waters made ​​a lasting impression on him. In the school band, he played Carlos Santana at the Hard Rock version. The Band of Gypsies as disk recording one of his earlier music impressions. Through its Haitian parents' house he was with merengue, voodoo and roots music ( "world music" ) trusts; he was also influenced by the music of Chicago's Southside, in particular its urban blues. Of his brothers influenced him Carl conceptually and with rap and R & B, and Marc Miles played " On The Corner " on the saxophone. His father was able to play classical music from the sheet on the piano, as well as Haitian party music, for example, a Viennese waltz in Merengueform.

Life in New York

1979 moved Bourelly to New York City, one year later at age 19 with Muhal Richard Abrams Blues Forever and played with Pharoah Sanders and the drummers Roy Haynes and Elvin Jones. Jones impressed him with his view of African polyrhythms at the heart of jazz. He also played at George Adams That Old Feeling and Cassandra Wilson Point of View. The on -rehearsed Blue in Green makes his skills significantly. With Miles Davis he was in the recording studio ( Amandla ). He also influenced movements such as the Black Rock Coalition and the M -Base musicians. In the rock genre, he took on albums with Robin Trower and Rod Stewart, and appeared with Jack Bruce and Terry Bozzio. He played with the rock band European Matalex by Alex Gunia, who plays a kind of " jazz- grunge " and which he also produced. Since then, his futuristic funky sounding guitar in collaboration with musicians such as Pee Wee Ellis & The JB Horns, Steve Coleman, Defunkt, Geri Allen, Graham Haynes, Marc Ribot, Meshell Ndegeocello, Sublime and Dennis Chambers was heard.

International orientation

Bourelly earned the most fame in Europe and the Far East. In Germany its sound as " tight and rough ," called in Japan by Yoriko Kawachi as hard, powerful, fierce and beautiful .. The album Trippin ( 1991) was hailed by the American press and awarded Record of the Year in Japan. The 1996 album Rock of the Cathartic Spirits was in lists classified by critics outside the U.S. high up; it was again recording of the year in Japan, and came in 2nd place in the world while Music Magazine.

In the 1990s Bourelly has presented challenging projects on some of the major European festivals. He worked there with conceptually similar free guitarists such as Vernon Reid, Marc Ribot, David Torn and Elliott Sharp ( duo ) together. In 1996 he established a new group under his direction before: African Boom Bop, with the Senegalese Griotsänger and drummer and percussionist Mino Abdourahman Diop Cinelu and formulated his philosophy for each of its BluWave Bandits formations .. Since the late 1980s as played different musicians such as the keyboardist and rapper Kundalini Mark Batson (of Get Set VOP), Darryl Jones, Melvin Gibbs, Reggie Washington, the drummer Alfredo alias and Will Calhoun in the BluWave Bandits. The style mixes the entire spectrum of jazz with a lot of blues and groove.

Personality and music

The issue of classification as a jazz / funk guitarist or rock / blues experimenter holds Bourelly for of minor importance and was, as he said in an interview, " only important for people who have to classify. " In the same interview, he was impressed by the Music of Morocco after him his wife Gawn was music there and the popular ghetto music from Tangier and Casablanca. It had ( so Bourrelly ) changed his way of listening to tonality and he would no longer understand when someone refer to this music as a tune, because if you have even begun to hear quarter tones, which would add a new dimension to the music.

His music took over since the Rock the Carthartic Spirits new forms and elements. It contains many bi-, tri and quad ( four - ) tonal harmonies and an African setting the rhythm.

Bourelly interested in the political situation of African Americans in the U.S., which in texts plays a role on his early albums, his music but not the plus side ( " I'm not preaching in my music ... if I want to be politically I write a book. ").

Part of his lyrics are banal trivial:

" You Need not blame me on the weather cause what you lie in is your own quicksand sinking slowly you through the mud "

You need you with me not to complain about the weather, It is your own quicksand in which you lie of pulling you into the dirt.

Or motivating

"Time is never wasted when you're willing to " " There 's always hope, time to smell roses. "

Time is never wasted if you try, there is always hope Time for the rose scent.

Or political

" You're only recapitulating what you've been fed like an African in Europe talkin ' notty dread style and the t.v. be blaming the sweet lies the grandmaster wants to hide. "

You repeat only how you were fed, as an African with a European twisted scaremongering speech, and the television is to blame, that the sweet lies can be hidden by the great master.

He thinks that black music such as R & B and rap music understanding of the black population in America restricts because it was considered the need of white producers back defined on them.

The album Trippin ' was his opinion so successful because it was easy for the listener to put themselves in the music and at the same time they heard out the style of Jimi Hendrix.

Bourelly produces his own albums, or happy with DIW and PAO, because he does not want to restrict themselves artistically.