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.)

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…

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:

• CD Baby
• Amazon
• Other Music

Or, to purchase digital downloads, you can visit:

• iTunes
• eMusic
• Rhapsody
• Amazon

…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.

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

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.