Lévinoque

Biography

An unconventional sound on the way to defining a new genre

Strongly inspired by jazz bassist Avishai Cohen, Léon Tanfutu and Vik Kähli founded the band Lévinoque in 2019. Over the following years, they learned from his music, benefited from it, drew inspiration, and developed their own style.

As a purely instrumental band that abstains from verbal language in their music, conveying a clear and direct message, and thus a political stance, is notably more challenging. Reverting to the fundamental language of music, Lévinoque clearly advocates for equality, solidarity, and respect.

Originally categorized within the Jazz/Contemporary Jazz genre, the band Lévinoque released their debut album Bolingo in 2021. The three subsequent EP Ares draws strong inspiration from the music of Israeli jazz bassist Avishai Cohen. Their character is defined by the fusion of pop-influenced harmonies with complex rhythmic structures. They feature moving melodies that are set into unconventional rhythms, both free and calculated, creating a cohesive musical masterpiece.

The band has since liberated itself from a strict genre definition and draws inspiration from the realms of jazz, classical, pop, minimal, and electronic music. What best describes Lévinoque's music is an unconventional sound on the way to defining a new genre.

The two musicians of Lévinoque clearly aspire to be part of a societal change. This transformation aims to transition from a patriarchal system to a queer, feminist society without gender binaries, towards a world free from discrimination, exploitation, and oppression based on gender, class, and race. The desire for solidarity, community, and equality, in short, global freedom, is strongly evident. In the midst of this atmosphere of change, the band Lévinoque has emerged. With their music, Lévinoque reflects the times and the souls that yearn to simply be, free from schemas, free from definitions.