Gretchen Parlato & Lionel Loueke

With her pillowy voice and liquid phrasing she went on to win the 2004 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition for Vocals and influence an entire generation of singers. He quickly started touring with his Monk Institute professor Terence Blanchard, who turned Loueke’s unique approach to guitar and extended vocal palette a central part of his band’s sound. Over the past two decades they’ve contributed to each other’s albums and stayed in close contact, but with their burgeoning careers they didn’t have a chance to fully collaborate until the world shut down in 2020.

Conceptualized, written, and recorded while in the grips of a global pandemic, their new Edition Records album Lean In tells the story of 20 years of connection, inspiration and friendship between intrepid comrades in sonic exploration. Two singular improvisers who delight in each other’s company, Parlato and Loueke are, in his words, “musical soulmates” devoted to experimentation and ascension.