AfroPulse Concert Newsletter for June

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June 5 2001      AfroPulse Concert News        Volume 1 Issue 4
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Contents:
   May WAW report
   Jun WAW -- Rocky Dawuni
   Sunday Jam Session
   Toure Toure
   
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West African Wednesdays (WAW)

  May
  
In May, Eugene de Coque and the Igede Band International
performed.  True to Nigerian style it was a late show
that started at about 9:30.  The house was packed with
musicians such as Jerri Jheto, Ayo Adeyemi, Rocky Dawuni,
Ricardo Lemvo along with soukous guitarist Bopol Mansiamina,
along with Ethiopian siren Sinke Assefa, Cameroonian all
star Josman Mbella, Malian frontman Ali Baba, jazz
guitarist Phil Upchurch and five of the Fidelity Afrobeat
team among others.  We also had DJ Nnamdi (KPFK 90.7 Afrodicia),
Big Red (KXLU 88.9 Groove Time), Ade James (same), and
CC Smith (The Beat Magazine).

The performance was the best I have heard Eugene sound,
partly due to the room and sound mix, but mainly because
of the variety of music he played.  In the first set he
started with some soft Igede sounds but moved into other
highlife and even did a juju number.  During the second
set he turned up the heat with a stunning display of his
guitar mastery by covering Ghanaian highlife, Chief
Stephen Osita Osadebe's great wah-wah sound, and finishing
with a strong cover of Fela's "Lady" sung by none other
than Marcel Adjibi the hardest working conga player in
the industry.  This is becoming Marcel's trademark song as
he also performs it with Geydu-Blay Ambolley.


  June

Rocky Dawuni makes his LA club debut on June 27 with his
performance at West African Wednesdays.  Rocky is a strong
reggae performer from Ghana.  He recently headlined a
seaside performance in Accra that drew more than 20,000
fans.  He is delving into African roots reggae by adding a
kora player to the group, but also looking to the future by
embracing turntablism.  The show will be an interesting mix
of the old and the new anchored by a reggae beat.

Listen to KCRW 89.9FM for Garth Trinidad's "Chocolate City"
weeknights from 10:00pm-midnight for an interview and ticket
giveaway.  You might also get lucky on KPFK 90.7FM if you
listen to Chuck Foster's "Reggae Central".

The performance will be at the Atlas Supper Club, 3760 Wilshire
Blvd (at Western), next door to the Wiltern theatre.  Tickets
are $13 in advance, $17 at the door and can be ordered from the
AfroPulse website.  Rocky's CD
"Crusade" will also be available from the website and at the
show.

You can buy tickets at the following locations:

Aron's Records*, 1150 North Highland, Hollywood (323) 469-4700
Dokins African Market, 14056 Crenshaw Blvd, Gardena, (310) 532-6160
Jah Lambs, 1040 S. Fairfax Ave, Little Ethiopia, (323) 931-4105
Obichi Enterprises, 4750½ Washington Blvd, (323) 933-5205
Rhino Records*, 1720 Westwood Blvd, West LA, (310) 474-8685
Sweet Africa, 1580 Centinela Ave, Los Angeles, (310) 674-6009
Vinyl Fetish*, 1750 Vermont Ave, Los Feliz, (323) 660-4500

*A service charge will apply at these locations.

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Sunday Jam Session

Sunday, June 3 was our first session.  The house band features:
Josman Mbella (Cameroon) on congas, djembe, trap drums, and
vocals who is the jam session host; Marcel Adjibi (Benin) on
congas, djembe, and vocals; Kim Hansen (Denmark) on keyboard,
and Marcel Camargo (Brazil) on lead guitar.  Mike Linden (US)
dropped in with Paul Tchounga (Cameroon) and they played bass
and trap drums respectively.

The band played an African jazz mix, taking jazz standards
and adding an African beat, and a little jazz keyboards.
Although never having played together as an entire group
before, they came across as a polished professional unit
with equal time on solos and an excellently developed
improvisational technique.  In the second set they started
with some scatting and calls.  The result was simply amazing.
The vocals of Mbella rival anything that Richard Bona did
at the February WAW show!  Even more impressive was the abrupt
shift in the next song to a Senegalese style with Mbella's
piercing voice followed by some impromptu French praise-calling
by Adjibi.  By the end of the night, even the wait staff was
enthralled and stopped what they were doing to watch and cheer
enthusiastically for the band.  Several people told me that the
chanting Senegalese number brought them a spiritual feeling.

Sunday Jam will start later on June 10, beginning at 8:00pm.
June 17 there will be no Jam because of a prior engagement,
however the Jump will be back on June 24 and July 1.  Come out,
bring your friends, try the new West African appetizers, and
drink a bottle of Palm Wine or Guinness Extra Stout beer.  The
festivities take place at the Atlas Supper Club, 3760 Wilshire
Blvd (at Western).  The venue can be reached at (213) 380-8400.

If you know any musicians have them stop in to see what is
happening.  The type of music that is being played cannot be
heard anywhere else in town -- and the musicians that are
playing are having a blast!

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Toure Toure

http://www.tinderrecords.com/html/touretoure.html

Prepare yourself for a big concert at the Atlas on Sunday, July
8 when the son and nephew of Toure Kunda bring their unique
style of AfroPop Dance music to town!  Last year they performed
at the Skirball Center to an audience of 1000 dancing fools.
The two cousins have an infectious sense of fun while on stage
and play a very upbeat combination of guitar and percussion.

This show will likely sell out, so you need to order tickets in
advance to be sure to get in.  Tickets are priced at $20 and may
be purchased with a credit card via the AfroPulse website.  Doors
open at 8:00pm and the show starts at 9:00pm.

To purchase tickets from the AfroPulse website, visit
http://www.afropulse.com/music/store/tix/toure.html

You can buy tickets at the following locations in addition to
the AfroPulse website:

Aron's Records*, 1150 North Highland, Hollywood (323) 469-4700
Dokins African Market, 14056 Crenshaw Blvd, Gardena, (310) 532-6160
Obichi Enterprises, 4750½ Washington Blvd, (323) 933-5205
Rhino Records*, 1720 Westwood Blvd, West LA, (310) 474-8685
Sweet Africa, 1580 Centinela Ave, Los Angeles, (310) 674-6009
Vinyl Fetish*, 1750 Vermont Ave, Los Feliz, (323) 660-4500

*A service charge will apply at these locations.

This is another exclusive engagement courtesy of AfroPulse
Productions.

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June has turned out to be the biggest month for African music
with at least three African shows per week!  The summer series
downtown at the Watercourt at California Plaza kicks off on
June 8 with Ricardo Lemvo and soukous guitarist Bopol Mansiamina.

The calendar in June has also heated up because AfroPulse is
expanding at the Atlas.  This month we are featuring Jazz Bassist
Andre Manga June 7 as the first performer on Jazz Thursdays (he
will be followed by Stanley Jordan on June 14, and a Phil Upchurch
CD release party on June 21).  Watch our calendar in July when we
have Gyedu-Blay Ambolley premiere his new style of African Jazz
at the Atlas as part of the Jazz Thursdays series.

Atlas is also featuring a few of the local groups in June.  Wozani
is scheduled for Wednesday, June 13.  On Wednesday, June 20, Fidelity
Afrobeat will perform. See the Atlas website for their
calendar and a description of the venue.

If you ever want to reach me, just come hang out on Sundays for 
the Sunday jam session.  I wouldn't be anywhere else on a Sunday
evening!

jay