Akoya Afrobeat Ensemble

Hotter Than July At Southpaw, Friday July 11th

nikhil — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 02:12:03 +0000

Akoya returns to Southpaw, Brooklyn’s Premiere Music Venue this Friday, July 11th. We will be rocking with DJ Concerned and will be performing some scorching new material.

Doors 8:30
Showtime 9:30
$10 Admission

Southpaw is located at 125 5th Avenue (map), close to the M/R at Union Street, the 2/3 to Bergen Street and the B/Q at 7th Avenue. Hope to see you there!

Akoya At The Brooklyn Museum This Saturday!

nikhil — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 01:16:28 +0000

Akoya is honored to be a part of the Brooklyn Museum’s First Saturday party this week (June 7th). For those who don’t know, First Saturday’s are a NYC institution, bringing people together from all walks of city life to enjoy free music, art, lectures, booze (well, the booze isn’t free), etc. Akoya will be kicking the event off at 5pm with a heavy, heavy performance in the museum’s Sculpture Garden. We hope to see you there!

(The Brooklyn Museum is located at 200 Eastern Parkway, right by the 2/3 train to Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum. Click here for detailed directions.)

More Radio Love For Akoya

nikhil — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 22:01:14 +0000

Looks like world-renowned African music expert and journalist Banning Eyre has put his stamp of approval on our new album, P.D.P. (President Dey Pass). You can see Akoya featured on NPR’s website in a piece called “Africa In America,” and this Saturday April 5th, New Yorkers can hear us on Radio New York, 91.5 FM at 11pm in Afropop Worldwide’s radio program, “Africa In America.” For those outside of the NY area, you can visit the Afropop site to see how to check out their feature on new African music on your local radio station, or as a podcast. Many thanks to the Afropop family for digging our music– onwards and upwards, y’all…

Our New Album: P.D.P. (President Dey Pass) On Sale Now!

nikhil — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 21:01:04 +0000

It is with great pride that we present to you our latest release: our sophomore album, P.D.P. (President Dey Pass), released on Afrobomb records.

You can pick up CD copies at:

Or, to purchase digital downloads, you can visit:

…as well as many other fine online and face-to-face retailers. To read what people are saying about the record, you can check All Music Guide and Blogcritics. We hope you enjoy this album; we are all very proud of what we have accomplished and are excited to share it with you all.

Live, Direct, etc.

nikhil — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 01:29:09 +0000

(photo courtesy of Matt aka Mr. Spreetaper. For more of his pics from our recent show at Southpaw, click here)

Next Up: Friday, March 14th at Southpaw

nikhil — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:12:19 +0000

Akoya’s next jam is at one of our favorite venues in New York City, Southpaw, and we’re sharing the night with an incredible band, Meta & The Cornerstones. Like Akoya, M&TC is a band featuring members from all over the world (Senegal, Ivory Coast, Trinidad, Israel and the United States), and they’ve got an upbeat, soulful roots reggae flavor that we love. We also have our compadre DJ Concerned on the wheels of steel to keep the dancefloor hot. Come one, come all!

Southpaw is located at 125 5th Avenue between Sterling & St. John’s Place (map) in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The closest trains are the M/R at Union St., the 2/3 at Bergen St or the B/Q at 7th Avenue. Doors at 8pm, showtime is 9pm. Tickets are $10, and can be purchased in advance at the Southpaw website.

Good Times At The Album Release Jumpoff

nikhil — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 21:28:35 +0000

Lord, what a great show last night! For their wonderful contributions to our celebration, we must thank all the good people at S.O.B.’s, Rich Medina on the zigga-zigga, Jared Tankel (Budos Band/baritone sax), Cedric “Im” Brooks (Skatalites/tenor sax), Amayo (Antibalas/vocals), Marcos Garcia (Antibalas/vocals), Eric Biondo (Antibalas/trumpet), Dave Smith (Who Put The Bad Mouth On Me?/trombone), Paula Henderson (Moisturizer/baritone sax), our magnificent stage manager Tomoko Inoue, our merch czar Ryoma Hashimoto and, of course, everybody in the crowd that kept it hot with us. Photos coming soon.

Hope to see you at our next show which is going to be Friday, March 14th at Southpaw in Brooklyn. And remember: Tomorrow is the album drop. We will have links for you to purchase P.D.P. from any and all our favorite online retailers. Thanks for the love!

Akoya CD Release Party @ S.O.B.s! Thursday, February 28

felix — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 18:46:54 +0000

Thursday, February 28
Akoya Afrobeat CD Release Party
w/DJ Rich Medina
“P.D.P.” (President Dey Pass)
Special Guests include:
Cedric “Im” Brooks of the Skatalites
Amayo and other members of Antibalas and The Budos Band
SOB’s
204 Varick Street (map)
New York, NY
Doors 7pm
Shows @ 9pm and 11pm
$10 advance, $12 day of show

For Those Who Slept…

nikhil — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 21:32:22 +0000

Check out a recording of our WFMU performance and interview from last night right over here. Transpacific Sound Paradise is an EXTREMELY hip show, and you should check out the whole thing. Akoya comes up at about the 1 hour, 20 minute mark. Much thanks to Rob, Chris and all the WFMU family.

Radioland, Here We Come

nikhil — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 20:17:33 +0000

This Saturday (February 9th), Akoya will be coming at you live and direct on WFMU, which is, in our opinion, one of the finest radio stations on the East Coast. We will be appearing on Transpacific Sound Paradise, hosted by Rob Weisburg. The show starts at 6pm and we will begin our live performance at 7pm. There’s three ways for you to hear us:

91.1 FM (NYC area)
90.1 FM (Hudson Valley area)
wfmu.org (live stream)

Check us out y’all!