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announcements livestreams

Jazz au pigeonnier #3: AfuriKo presents traditional Bulgarian tunes

AfuriKo’s third livestream from Saintines (Hauts-de-France). After our recent trip to Bulgaria, we decided to revisit “Sedi Donka” (from our album Style) and “Trace of Peach” (from Tao), and perform them for you algonside a newer arrangement: “Pismo ti e doshlo” (unreleased so far). We hope you enjoy this selection of African infused Bulgarian tunes!

Streamed on October 22, 2022 at 2PM CEST

Program:
🎵 Trace of Peach (Slivenska rūchenitsa) (traditional, arr. by AfuriKo)
🎵 Sedi Donka (traditional, arr. by AfuriKo)
🎵 Pismo ti e doshlo (traditional, arr. by AfuriKo)

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announcements livestreams

Farewell, New York!

The city has been good to Akiko and I. We’ve certainly lived through a lot over these past four years. And now it’s time to move on. AfuriKo is packing up and getting ready for a new adventure: we’re flying off to Reykjavik, Iceland on Monday!

To say goodbye, kick off the year, and celebrate the beginning of this new chapter, we’re playing two sets from our home in Sunnyside, Queens, today at 3PM and 8PM EST. You can watch them live and/or replay them later on YouTube. Just click on the videos below!

Streamed on January 2, 2021 at 3PM EST

Streamed on January 2, 2021 at 8PM EST

Program (both sets):
🎵 In B Town (AfuriKo) – inspired by Bamaya, a traditional Dagomba rhythm from northern Ghana
🎵 Up in the Air (AfuriKo) – inspired by Agahu, a traditional Ewe rhythm from Ketonu in Benin
🎵 Pismo ti e doshlo (traditional, arr. by AfuriKo) – folk tune from Bulgaria
🎵 Kotedjuga (AfuriKo) – inspired by Kotedjuga, a traditional Malinke rhythm from the border area between Guinea and Mali
🎵 Kassai (Ou Yoshida, Taiji Nakamura, arr. by AfuriKo) – solo section set to Kassa Soro, a traditional Malinke rhythm from Eastern Guinea

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announcements

new single: Igneous Alloy by AfuriKo feat. Corey Wallace & Alex B. Smith

Back in 2019 (May through November) and then again more recently in July and August of 2020, AfuriKo had the pleasure to invite both Corey A. Wallace (on trombone) and Alex Busby Smith (electric bass) as guest artists as part of our monthly residency at Tomi Jazz (a Japanese bar & grill in Midtown Manhattan that features nightly live jazz). The shows in both trio formats were a blast, and Igneous Alloy, a composition of mine first recorded on Spirit of the Snail (2015), was one of the tunes we played almost every time. So we decided to record a quartet version of it (this time with both Alex and Corey featured on the same track!) to document these good times and make a little something available to those of you who weren’t able to make it out to Tomi’s. The arrangement was refined to suit this particular instrumentation, including trombone melodies, synth counterlines, and a new bass line/riff to support Akiko’s percussion solo. Our friend Laure Lang from the Hauts-de-France region added her grain of salt with a magical mix and crafty video editing. Enjoy!

💽 Support us by getting your digital track on Bandcamp 🙂

Corey A. Wallace – trombone
Alex Busby Smith – electric bass
Akiko Horii – percussion
Jim Funnell – keyboards
Laure Lang – mixing, mastering, and video editing

Recorded in New York, NY in August and September 2020.
Mixed and mastered in Betz, FR in September 2020.

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podcasts & radio

AfuriKo on “SoundCellar 2013”

The track “Oleleko” from AfuriKo’s album Tao was featured on SoundCellar 2013, a Spotify playlist put together by the South West England venue for their 10-year anniversary. SoundCellar is “a haven for fans of non mainstream music in the atmospheric setting of the Blue Boar cellar bar in Poole, Dorset.” The playlist highlights bands and artists that have visited the venue during the year 2013.

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podcasts & radio

tracks from “Tao” on “Jazz non scientifiquement prouvé” (Radio Robert)

Tracks from AfuriKo’s latest album Tao (2019) were aired on Radio Robert on April 27 and May 22, 2020. The Parisian station, created during the COVID-19 pandemic and operated by the team at 59 Rivoli (a venue known for its exhibitions, performances, and artists-in-residence programs) offers playlists and podcasts. Their daily jazz show “Jazz non scientifiquement prouvé, la playlist du Pr Raoult” airs at 7PM GMT+2.

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podcasts & radio

AfuriKo on the Jazz Hole Live

Tracks from two AfuriKo concerts (both recorded in early 2020) were featured on The Jazz Hole Live with Linus, a show offering live sets by different artists each month and aired on BTRtoday.

Jazz a la Calle is an international cultural movement that culminates in a festival held each year in Mercedes, Uruguay, and boasts artists from all over South America and beyond.

Jazz At The Lescar is a weekly jazz night in Sheffield, England, ran by Jez Matthews and his team (Jazz Promoter of the Year in the 2018 Parliamentary Jazz Awards).

BTRtoday‘s mission is to inform and impact their audience in a positive way by identifying artists and cultural trends on the rise and contextualizing them alongside those that may be more established.

The Jazz Hole, hosted by sought-after New York City clarinetist and saxophonist Linus Wyrsch, presents the music of new talents from inside and outside of the New York circuit, and every once in a while, Linus is able to sneak in a major jazz artist, sometimes accompanied with a short interview (John Clayton, Lew Tabackin, Fred Hersch, Sue Mingus, Steve Gadd, Jojo Mayer, Gerald Clayton, Javon Jackson, the President of Resonance Records George Klabin, Sofia Rei, Sharel Cassity, Mark Sherman, Harvie S, Jean-Michel Pilc, Dafnis Prieto, Randy Johnston, Helen Sung, Gregorio Uribe and many others).

(For access to all BTRtoday shows that feature AfuriKo, click here to view AfuriKo’s artist page on their website.)

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podcasts & radio

AfuriKo on-air in Uruguay during Jazz a la Calle 2020

One of the four public radio stations (and the youngest one) belonging to Radiodifusión Nacional del Uruguay, Babel broadcasts instrumental music 24/7 in the whole country (97.1 FM in Montevideo and 100.9 FM in Maldonado) and worldwide through its website. Focusing on jazz, fusion, and world music, its motto is “Quality music to drop prejudice.”

During the festival held in Mercedes in January 2020, their program “Jazz a la Calle especiales” covered the live shows with music and artist interviews. AfuriKo was featured on 14 January 2020, alongside two Argentinian bands: Ingrid and the Córdoba Jazz Orchestra.

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gallery

Jazz a la Calle photos (January 2020)

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announcements

“Tao” release tour (Uruguay/Europe/UK, January 12-26, 2020)

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podcasts & radio

Sunnyside aired on Avopolis Radio in Athens

The track Sunnyside from AfuriKo’s album Tao was playlisted by DJ Evdokia Preka and aired on Greek radio station Avopolis Radio on Oct. 30, 2019.

The Athens-based radio station focuses on the international music scene and the promotion of Greek artists who can stand in the international arena. It is part of the Avopolis Music Network, Greece’s largest online music brand.