Nguyên Lê

"Nobody plays guitar like him" FAZ Born of Vietnamese parents in Paris in 1959, Nguyên Lê is one of the most versatile and independent guitarists in the world – going far beyond the bounds of jazz music and shaped by the most varied of influences. “I am the personified fusion of cultures,” once he said, and his music certainly combine forms, styles and elements in a previously unknown, unheard way. Lê is strongly connected to the musical traditions of his heritage, he combines Asian, African and imaginary folk music with the spirit of jazz, experiments with ambient music and trip-hop and there is a great love of rock. The term “world music”, widely misused to describe non-Western and fusion music of any kind, finds it’s true and complete meaning with Nguyên Lê. Lê’s first steps in the music business came in 1983 with the Afro-Caribbean Ethno-Group Ultramarine, and in 1987 he was awarded a place in the renowned Orchestre National du Jazz – the starting point for an outstanding career. His first album as a leader, Miracles, was released in 1990, and from then onwards he played with almost every outstanding European jazz musician. Being a natural workaholic Lê founded several bands and ensembles, of which the powerful trio E_L_B (Erskine, Lê and Benita) and his “Jimi Hendrix Project” are probably his most famous. An adventurous, genre-bending guitarist, Nguyên Lê's music is in constant change. For him cross-cultural dialogues open new horizons for improvised music.