Lolo Irving
Lolo Irving (born Spring 1970) is a Paris born alto-saxophonist, singer/songwriter, composer, producer, educator, and fashion designer. Irving has preformed with numerous artists around the world including Archie Shepp, George Clinton, Pee Wee Ellis, and Roy Ayers.
Lolo Irving | |
|---|---|
 Lolo Irving | |
| Background information | |
| Born | April 30, 1970 Paris, France |
| Origin | Paris, France, France. |
| Genres | Jazz, Classical, R&B, Contemporary Gospel, Orchestral, Soul |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, record artist, fashion designer, music educator, professional music mentor |
| Instruments | Saxophonist and Vocalist |
| Years active | 1987-present |
| Website | https://www.loloirving.com/ |
Early Introduction to Music[edit]
In 1985, Lolo Irving first began listening to Miles Davis' music, especially his album Decoy. This was really what first inspired her to play the saxophone with the goal of eventually playing with Davis, something that unfortunately never came to pass. Irving's first saxophone teacher (Jean Louis Chautemps, Music Conservatory of Bagneux) pushed Lolo to identify with a known artist. She discovered Charlie Parker, someone who eventually become a guide and hero. She later discovered that this was Davis' own inspiration. Lolo decided to take what she could from Parker and her other inspiration, John Coltrane, and find her own 'voice', what Miles Davis had done.
Later in 1986, a good friend of Irving took her to watch Vi Avelino, an artist originally from Cape Verde, preform in her hometown, Paris. She spent almost every weekend watching him preform, until one day, about a year later, he finally told her that she too should choose an instrument to play. It was then that she decided that the saxophone was the instrument for her. Irving later got her mother to take her to 'Rue de Rome' in Paris to choose out her first instrument in the small boutique of Major Pigalle. That was when she really and truly fell in love with the saxophone.
Career[edit]
1990-1996[edit]
Her life today owes thanks to what started shortly after Miles Davis' unfortunate death in 1991, while Lolo was studying at the Conservatory of Bagneux in Paris and at the Music Information Center of Paris (CIM). Lolo's first two wonderful mentors, Jean Louis Chautemps and Eric Barrett first came to her at the Conservatory of Music in Bagneux. She owes much of her later succesto them. During this, she participated in a funk band named Jam & 2003 for two years, where she preformed with Booster, who later did a arranged a piece in her first album. In 1994, Lolo Irving took up studies at the American School of Modern Music, a sister school to the Berkeley School of Music in Boston. There, she met many great American musicians, and it is what eventually led her to meet the saxophonist David Murray, and pianist Robert Irving III.
In 1995, after a year of extensive learning, a good friend, who will remain unnamed, informed Lolo of the opportunity to play under saxophonist David Murray in a three week workshop at the Banlieues Bleues Jazz Festival just outside of Paris. It was there that she met her husband, Robert Irving III, a nine-year collaborator with Miles Davis. Irving III ran the workshop with Murray, and has later recounted how impressed he was with the young Irving.
About a year later, in 1996, after being both impressed and awed by Irving's raw and fresh talent, Irving III and David Murray recruited Lolo to play in a project in Senegal, similar to what they had done at the Banlieue Bleue Jazz Festival. She preformed in numerous configurations, in which she enjoyed accompanying rap stars, soul bands, and most notably, Senegalese percussionist Doudou N'Diaye Rose. After seeing Irving play for the second time, Irving III knew he must do something with her talent, and so he invited her to his hometown, Chicago, to accompany his Jazz-Fusion group, School of Cool, as well as the 12 member African Arts Ensemble. The latter included artists such as Kahil El'Zabar (percussionist), David Murray (saxophonist), and Regina Carter (violinist).
1997-2009[edit]
From 1997 to 1998, Lolo studied orchestration at Erik Satie's Schola Cantorum in Paris. While continuing studies at other various prestigious schools in France, Lolo Irving began to write and release her own music as a recording artist. Her debut single, Vecu (1999), is a Soul album, influenced by Decoy. After finally releasing this, she travelled to her mother's native land of Cuba to expand her musicality at the Havana National School under artists such as Herbie Hancock and Chucho Valdez. In 1999, Irving participated in a composition competition of CACEM for Vecu and won first place.
After promising all her professors in Cuba that she would produce her own full-length album, she returned to Paris to do just so. In 2001, inspired by everything she learned in Cuba, Irving announced the release of "Divine". This CD features Robert Irving III and Frank Orall. 2001 turned out to be a busy year for Lolo, because she also earned her associate degree in music and musicology. During the next few years, Lolo travelled to many, diverse countries. She studied the various musical styles of each culture, to eventually use in her own work one day. Some of these places include North and South Americas, many parts of Asia such as China and Japan, though she dreams to visit Vietnam and Thailand one day, and of course, all over Europe. In all these places she preformed with many artists, and encountered even more, such as BB King and Diane Reeves, as well as Sonny Rollins, Spike Lee, Dee Dee Bridgewater, ect.
Once back in Paris, Lolo recorded her first album, Divine, which she finished in 2006. In 2007, she produced a documentary with Archie Shepp, whom she studied with from 1993 to 2007, and organized a concert with him. After this, she began working on No Limit, her second album, which took her 8 years to complete. In 2009, Irving earned her Bachelor Degree of Music/Musicology at the University of Paris VIII. She planned to work on more albums and then attend Sorbonne University to later get her Masters Degree in Music and Musicology.
2009-2013[edit]
Mid 2009, Lolo Irving pursued her travels to Shang Hai, China, to play in Wallace Roney's band, the Wallace Roney Quintet. She returned home in 2010, brimming with meaningful experiences and encounters such as another meeting with her soon to be husband Robert Irving III. She then took up a job as pedagogical manager of music at the International Institute of Rambouillet, France, as well as teaching at the middle school Le Racinay in Rambouillet, France. This lasted until 2013, when she moved to Chicago to live with her husband. In 2011, after her Shang Hai voyage, she visited Hong Kong and Macau with the artistic team of the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris. There she preformed with electronic music stars such as DJ Buster. In 2012, Lolo went on tour with George Clinton's band[1] in France and finished at the African Festival of Music in Chicago. She married her husband Robert Irving III in September of that year. In 2013, Irving quitted her home of Paris to live and work with her new husband.
In 2009, Lolo attended the University of Paris VIII for her Bachelor Degree in Music and Musicology, which took her two years. She continued to produce No Limit, which she released in 2016, due to the fact that she worked with three different producers to finish this. In 2011, Lolo attended the University of Paris Sorbonne to earn her Masters Degree in Music and Musicology. There she met one of her most inspiring professors, Jerome Cler, who taught her to be open to cultural differences, as well as to keep the spirits of traditional music of other countries alive.
2013-present[edit]
In late 2013, Lolo Irving and her husband Robert Irving III did small duet concerts, saxophone and piano, all over Chicago. Irving and her husband agreed in 2014 that they should create a band with young and talented musicians from the South Side of Chicago, and play Irving III's music, as opposed to Miles Davis' which Robert Irving III produced and played the piano in. Irving's husband and her then created Robert Irving III's Generations, a band made up of young which played all of Irving III's music This band had great success over the next few years, but sadly they disbanded in 2017, when several of the band members moved to various places in the US. Robert Irving III's Generations played around Chicago and produced the album Our Space In Time, which has been critically acclaimed by several magazines, notably DownBeat Magazine. This article by Howard Mandel praises Irving's saxophone wails, while also complimenting her husband and band member's styles such as Scott Hesse's guitar skills.
No Limit (Irving's second album under her name) was released in 2016, and was highly enjoyed by all who listened. Irving's husband explains in the world premiere of this album the history that Irving remembers when creating her album, the history of dance and music.In mid 2016, Lolo Irving hosted a 'World Premiere Event'[2] at the Promontory in Chicago. There she projected a music video clip of "Purple Etude"[3] in her new album No Limit. A troupe of dancers interpreted her music through dance, something that Lolo had always dreamed of having over her music. When she took up the stage to thank everyone who showed up and to thank the dancers, she claimed that for her, dance and music are "the perfect couple".
In 2017, Irving created her own band named the Lolo Irving Experience featuring Barret Harmon (trumpet and rapper), Micah Collier (Bass), Jeremiah Collier (drums), and Andrei Senegal (DJ). They preformed in numerous concerts, notably at the Bronzeville Chicago Jazz Festival[4], their first concert as a band. In November 2017, Irving played in a concert with the Rolling Stones' bassist Darryl Jones, who invited her to do so personally. This concert will be part of a documentary, to be released probably in 2019. In 2018, Irving began working on a new album, which she has yet to finish. In August 2018, Irving played with the band Lolo Irving Experience in Washington Park near the DuSable Museum of African American History at a performance she named "The Woman with the Horn", sponsored and created by the Cultural Service at the Consulate General of France in Chicago. There, viewers also watched the film Elevator to the Gallows (1958), directed by Louis Malle and music by Miles Davis. This music had long since been a favorite of Irving's, and probably will be so forever.
Musical Education[edit]
Certificates[edit]
1987-1995: Music Conservatory Of Bagneux, France
1993-1994: Music Information Center Of Paris, France (CIM)
1994-1995: American School Of Modern Music Of Paris, France
1995-1996: Music Conservatory Of Athis Mons, France
1997-1998: Schola Cantorum Of Paris, France
2000-2001: Superior National Center for Art and Education Of Havana, Cuba
2003-2004: Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales Of Paris, France
2004-2005: Paris VII University Of Paris, France
Diplomas and Degrees[edit]
2001: Associate Degree of Music/Musicology: Sorbonne University Of Paris, France
2009: Bachelor Degree of Arts in Music/Musicology: Paris VIII University Of Saint Denis, France
2011: Master Degree of Arts in Music/Musicology: Sorbonne University Paris, France
Discography[edit]
1998: Les Zuluberlus , Les Zuluberlus - Associations Les Zuluberlus
2002: Alain Scheinder, Plus loin que le bout de ton nez - Universal Music
2007: Laurence d’Estival, Divine - Sergent Major
2008: Archie Shepp, Master Class – LaurendProductions
2009: Eric Sedji Aka 7j, The rain – Bala
2013: Lyrical Kay, Audio Therapie - Kaliste Muzak
2014: Clarkwise, Holy Ghost Power - Omnific Music
2015: Robert Irving III Generations, Our Space In Time - Sonic Portraits Jazz
2016: Lolo Irving, Divine Remasted - Sonic Portraits Jazz
2016: Lolo Irving, No Limit - Sonic Portraits Jazz
2018: Epihffony, X-Is-Ten-Tial - Neo Gospel
References[edit]
Irving, Lolo. "Biography of Lolo Irving." 19 March, 2017, Web.[5]
Irving III, Robert. "Featured Artists." January, 2015, Web.[6]
Irving, Robert. Harmonic Possibilities. Robert Irving III, 2010.
Mandel, Howard, Downbeat Magazine (February 2015)
Reich, Howard, Chicago Tribune (December 1, 2015)
External Links[edit]
This article "Lolo Irving" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Lolo Irving. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ-uduRYDbM
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiGPTJW8Mnc
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfjbcE_3G9Q
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXfF1rPs_YA
- ↑ Irving, Lolo. "Biography of Lolo Irving", Chicago. Retrieved on 20 August, 2018.
- ↑ Irving III, Robert. "Featured Artists", Chicago. Retrieved on 20 August, 2018.
