EPK

AfuriKo is a Queens, NY-based African infused jazz duo comprised of percussionist Akiko Horii and pianist/keyboardist Jim Funnell. Like a modern-day griot, they celebrate traditional heritage from around the world through the prism of spellbinding rhythms and eccentric harmonies. Their new opus Tao (2019), successfully funded on Kickstarter and released to critical acclaim with reviews on All About Jazz and Festival Peak, is a shamanic jazz journey from ancestral Africa to NYC, steeped in deep grooves with shades of Funk, Pop, Reggae, Bulgarian, and Enka music. The duo was featured on Congahead and has toured extensively in the UK (London Jazz Festival), the United States (ShapeShifter Lab), Japan (Kanazawa Jazz Street), France (Sunset Sunside), Germany (JazzLab), Holland (Theater Vrijburcht), Nepal (Kathmandu Jazz Festival), South Korea (Jazz Alley), and collaborated with artists such as Hiroshi Fukutomi (Japan), Eddie Parker (UK), Bill Sims, Jr. (US), and Bruno Wilhelm (France). [ long bio available here ]

“Just like the CD cover, a colorful yin-yang symbol reminiscent of a butterfly or a boubou dress, Tao blends African, Asian, and Western influences into a joyous melting pot of notes and rhythms.”

– Bob Hatteau, Improjazz

“Like the storytellers it pays homage to, AfuriKo has a lot to share, and whatever you think you hear at first is only scratching the surface.”
“Tao is full of dualities […]: simple and complex, exotic and highly listenable, bare-bones in format while busy and full in execution.”

– Geno Thackara, All About Jazz

“AfuriKo’s new music really flies in the face of jazz, opening up your ears to a world of possibilities.”
“Tao features the African-infused jazz duo doing what they were born to do on nine completely and unapologetically individual and eccentric, yet musically pleasing instrumental tracks, focusing entirely on a higher plane.”

– Carol Banks Weber, Festival Peak

“Music that breathes, pulsates, bifurcates, trifles. That is unclassifiable and played with exquisite delicacy, in the course of sly improvisations. Elaborate yet sincere and spontaneous all the while. AfuriKo is an absolutely atypical duo. […] I urge you to discover them and slowly enter their world.”

– M. M., Afrique Asie