With a furious storm of thundering congas and the deep boom of the KALETA drum, the Akoya Afrobeat Ensemble takes to the stage an explosion of dance rhythms. Fusing a mixture of African, Afro-Cuban, Jazz, and Funk music, Akoya is New York’s finest example of a musical melting pot. Featuring members from Panama, Ghana, Benin, South Africa, Japan and the US, this 13-piece ensemble embraces unity and positive vibrations. Armed with original music and an arsenal of songs by Afrobeat founder, Fela Kuti, Akoya consistently brings a new level of dance floor frenzy with every performance. The group features lead vocalist Kaleta, who for 10 years performed and recorded with the immortal Fela Kuti and Egypt 80. He has also toured with Femi Kuti as well as the legendary King Sunny Ade. His vocals, sung in Yoruba, Pidgin English and various Benin dialects, fused with driving horn lines and a precision-tight rhythm section, bring a sound so infectious one can't help but dance. Their debut CD "Introducing The Akoya Afrobeat Ensemble" has been very well received, as it has been getting regular airplay on radio stations in South Africa, Nigeria, Benin, France, London and Panama, as well as New York's WKCR, WBLS, WBAI, and WFMU.

"Excellent debut effort!" –The Village Voice

"Akoya is a breath of fresh air for lovers of the funky Afro-Jazz music pioneered and made famous by the late great Fela Kuti…In Akoya’s debut CD, Afrobeat’s cross-cultural rhythm materials are as intense as rhythmic energies fused with modern jazz tonality and musicality. This is a great album that everyone will truly enjoy."
– Lawrence Nii Nartey, The African Show, WKCR 89.9FM NYC

Akoya has played some of New York’s most popular music venues including The Knitting Factory, Tribeca Rock Club, Tobacco Road, The Supper Club, Tonic, The Lion’s Den, CBGB, Makor and many others. Come and take a West African trip with Akoya and bring your dancing shoes!

 

 

©AKOYA Afrobeat Ensemble

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The Akoya Family :
Yoshi Takemasa - Congas
Gabriel Hays - Keyboards
Kaleta - Vocal/Percussion
Felix Chen - Bass
Duke Mseleku - Tenor Sax
Yoshio Tony Kobayashi - Drums
Will Jones - Baritone Sax
Kelly Pratt - Trumpet
Seth Paris - Baritone Sax
Kemba Russell - Vocals, Stick
Mayteana Morales - Vocals, Shekere
Ryan Blotnick - Guitar
Nikhil Yerawadekar - Guitar
Jay Gogan - guitar

Extended Family:
Steve Lustig - Rhythm Guitar
Joe Miller - Percussion
Jared Tankel - Baritone Sax
Carlos Icaza - Drums
Mike Kammers - Tenor Sax
Ben Abrams - Tenor Guitar
Jeremy Wilms - Guitar
Jeff Pierce - Trumpet
Marquel Dionne - vocals, shekere
Darlene O'Keefe - vocals, stick
Mai Lingani - vocals
Jared Tankel - Baritone Sax

 

 

Yoshi Takemasa (congas / percussions) was born in Kobe, Japan. He began playing the electric guitar at the age of 14. He played with a local R&B/Blues band. After he moved to N.Y.C. to study music in 1996, he began playing hand drums besides the guitar. Since then he has studied Afro-Caribbean and West African drumming in New York, Jamaica and Cuba. He has worked with various musicians and groups including Lauryn Hill, DJ Logic, Cedric Im Brooks, Franck Biyong's Massak, Kofo 'The Wonderman', Emperor Adichie, Azouhouni Adu, National Dance Theater Company of Jamaica, Chari Chari and Antibalas afrobeat orchestra. He is currently a member of Akoya afrobeat, Chin Chin, Kaleta Worldbeat and Organic Grooves.

Gabriel Hays, composer/keyboard, is originally from Santa Fe, New Mexico. He began studying piano and composition at the age of 13. In June of 2000 he graduated from The Lamont School of music in Denver from which he holds a B.M. in Jazz. While in the Denver/Boulder region, he played with the hip-hop/funk band Mantra as well as the reggae band Djate which was fronted by the lead guitar player of Culture. In January 2001, he relocated to New York City and performs with such acts as The Batterie, rock band Myim Rose and Presence and various jazz ensembles.

Kaleta is a singer, guitarist, percussionist and producer. He has performed, toured and recorded with the two most prolific Nigerian music legends, Fela Kuti and King Sunny Ade as well as with Majek Fashek, Shina Peters and Femi Kuti. The frontman of Akoya combines thought-provoking lyrics with complex Benino-Nigerian Rhythms to create a sound that makes the dance floor move. Kaleta sings in Yoruba, Goun, Ewe, English, French and, of course, Pidgin English (the official language of afrobeat). Please visit KALETAMUSIC.COM and ZOZOAFROBEAT.COM for more info about Kaleta.

Felix Chen is a multi-instrumentalist who started his musical education at the age of three studying violin and piano. Since then, he has performed internationally playing electric bass, trombone, violin and more recently, sitar. During a four year stay in Taiwan, he performed in hundreds of shows including performances on national television and radio. He then followed his passion for traveling and embarked on a 12-month backpacking trip exploring remote areas in Vietnam, India, Pakistan, China, Thailand and Laos. His travels brought him back to New York where he continues to play music with Akoya and various othergroups.

Duke Mseleku, tenor sax, was born in South Africa and comes from a family of musicians who inspired him to become one. He spent some time studying music at Darius Brubeck’s Jazz School of the Natal University in South Africa. After touring internationally with the fourteen piece reggae band Bopha, he moved to the United States in 1995. Since that time, he has played with numerous musicians and bands in New York City.

Yoshio Tony Kobayashi, a.k.a. Tony Afro, shekere/percussion, was born in Nagano, Japan and began playing music as a trap-set drummer at the age of fifteen. In 1997 he moved to New York City and began to play drums at all jam sessions in Harlem. Since then he has done drum work for movies and dancers and plays in the jazz band Anne Corea and The Company. He is currently serving up nice music, which is comfortable and simple, with the tropical dance band Tribe Si Si.

Will Jones, Bari Sax, heralding from the Great White North of Maine; found at an early age playing clarinet in the woods, swapped out the scenery with the Brooklyn jungle in 2002. Baritone sax in hand, Afro-Jones has been found in various African music conflaguations, and continues to simultauously confound audiences with funky saxophone prowess and dance moves that create a rippling get-down frenzy; Af-Rique show to be sure!

Since moving to New York City in late 2001 trumpeter/composer Kelly Pratt has been active in several different styles of music. In addition to Akoya he is a member of several ensembles including Travis Sullivan's Bjorkestra, orchestral-pop favorites The Silent League, and his modern jazz quartet Microtonacity. He also enjoys performing solo trumpet with electronics when he finds the time. Kelly has played and/or recorded with Anthony Braxton, Butch Morris, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Louie Bellson and many others.

Ryan Blotnick, guitar, grew up in the woods of Maine, raised on back-to-the-earth ideology, Paul Simon records, and brown rice. He discovered music by fingerpicking along to Stairway to Heaven and playing in Jimi Hendrix cover bands. After many years of playing and writing music, living in Copenhagen, and getting jazz-educated, he has finally made it to New York where he performs with his own jazz/improv projects, as well as A koya, Pete Robbins and Centric, and Mads Mouritz and the Bleeding Hearts.

Nikhil P. Yerawadekar, guitar, was born and raised in Queens, New York. He began studying music at the tender age of four and gone on to be a professional guitarist, bassist, and keyboardist. These days he is involved in a wide variety of musical endeavors (reggae, hip-hop, noise rock, etc.) including his own schizophrenic jazz band, the Nikhil P. Yerawadekar Quintet. Nikhil wishes he could play Afrobeat every day, but the man won't let him. The hustle continues!