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A return to an earlier post, with newer audio...



Jean Paul Bourelly is an American guitarist who's music spans Blues, Jazz, Rock, and World Music. He has played and collaborated with everyone from Elvin Jones, Buddy Miles , Miles Davis, Robin Trower, and Jack Bruce, to Vernon Reid, David Torn, Terry Bozzio, Cassandra Wilson,and Pharoah Sanders

From Allaboutjazz:


Jean-Paul Bourelly was born in Chicago, Illinois on November 23, 1960, to parents who were first-generation Haitians. He took an early interest in music, starting piano lessons from the age of 4. At age 9, when his cousin played him tracks from the Hendrix album Band of Gypsy’s, he realized that the electric guitar could lead a to vast new world of expression.
He was thirteen when he finally started to take lessons and playing with friends, learning basic blues and rock songs. By the age of 16, he was performing in the local south side clubs, there meeting other musicians like Lonnie Plaxico, Steve Coleman and Darryl Jones and playing in local jam session, most notably session run by Chicago legend Von Freeman.
Two years later in 1979, Bourelly followed the music to New York, with his goal set on one day performing with the drummer Elvin Jones. He performed with Chico Hamilton, Roy Haynes, Olu Dara and composer pianist Muhal Richard Abrams upon his arrival, experiencing diverse sides of New York’s vibrant jazz scene. Finally in 1983 he got the call to join Elvin Jones’s Jazz Machine, touring with him for two years and having performed in several different lineups that included Richard Davis, McCoy Tyner and Pharaoh Sanders.

Having completed his apprenticeship, Bourelly experienced more and more pressure to "tone down" his sound and so he gradually gravitated toward the punk funk or No Wave music scene that was going on in New York in the 80’s. He was starting to play in places like CBGB’S, the Lone Star cafe and the Pyramid Lounge while checking out more established groups like Sun Ra, James Blood Ulmer, Defunkt and James White and the Blacks. Some of the first signs of his own original blended sound, BluWave were noticed by the press a few years later while appearing with his first NYC band, the BluWave Bandits (a regular fixture at the original Knitting Factory), with musicians like Keyboardist Mark Battson, bassist Reggie Washington, and drummer Alfredo Alias.

That was followed up by a debut album Jungle Cowboy (JMT 1987), then Enemy records release Trippin'(1990) which provided Bourelly the possibility of touring in Europe and Japan. This concentration of activity, served to focus his search to playing a different type of funky music. After 5 solo recordings with the DIW label Bourelly, had the feeling that he desperately needed another musical atmosphere and context.


By 1994, he moved to Europe. He started in his new location of Berlin by forming Boom Bop, an African /American crossover that arose in 1996 when Bourelly met the singer, drummer and griot Abdourahmane Diop in the section of the city known as Kreuzberg. He was deeply impressed by his art of recitation.The free treatment of tempo, blended our two different experiences (Afro American and Woloff) into some unique music,

The next years Bourelly returned to the tried and tested guitar, bass and drum power trio format but this time equipped with a deeper cultural and sonic palette. From 2004 until 2006 he led several versions of the group Vibe Music that included John Blackwell(Prince), TM Stevens, and another with bassist Melvin Gibbs drummer Felix Sabal Lecco; A solo acoustic project News From a Darked Out Room; The seven piece group Cut Motion that is apart of the inter-local movement in Zurich; and in 2007, formed the Hendrix tribute band Gypsys Reloaded with Cindy Blackman and Melvin Gibbs.
Bourelly's latest group is the trio 3 Kings, consisting of Bourelly, drummer Marlon Browden and Ghanaian bassist Jonas 'Bibi' Hammond. The sound is a blend of familiar and desperate elements melted into a sound that is at once trashy, mystical and modern.
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Toxic You Love

Jean Paul Bourelly - Guitar, Vocals
Alfredo Alias - Drums
Melvin Gibbs - Bass
Mark Battson - Keyboards




Rumbled Up The Jungle




Electric Ladyland

Jean Paul Bourelly - Guitar, vocals
TM Stevens - Bass
Alfredo Alias - Drums
Irene Dratcher - vocals











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[Edited 1/11/10 9:53am]

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Stranger



Welfare Flower-Child






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Thanks for bringing this guy up again.
Glad these clips are available. Should be more well known.




Music for adventurous listeners


tA

Tribal Records

theAudience said:

I hope it's OK, I ended up posting them on youtube. I know there's been some live stuff and interviews, but no original tracks before...



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[Edited 1/12/10 10:15am]

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Bourelly with his latest trio, 3 Kings: Bourelly, Jonas Hammond and Marlon Browden....







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Another underrated great. Saw him too w/ some friends some years ago. He had some tribal african percussionists jamming with him. Sounded like Jimi with Fela Kuti. Unreal!!

SPYZFAN1 said:

Sounds like the Boom-Bop project he did a few years ago...Kool!




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