Abusey Junction
We are officially back from a short holiday hiatus and are slowly but surely ready for a new year rich in musical discoveries from around the globe. To start things off in a more mellow 'back to work' kind of way we decided to point you to the young, London-based Kokoroko Afrobeat Collective, an 8-piece combo of young jazz musicians led by trumpeter Sheila Maurice-Grey. In their compositions, the band (composed of Maurice-Grey, Cassie Kinoshi (saxophone), Richie SeivWright (trombone), Mutale Chashi (bass), Oscar Jerome (guitar), Yohan Kebede (keys), Onome Ighamre (percussion) and Eddie Hicks (drums)) pays tribute to the music they love, combining West Africa-inspired afrobeat and highlife sounds with that London soul.
“As soon as Kokoroko hit the stage, the 900-strong audience was flawed by the band’s musical prowess and stage presence. The band’s beautiful soulful and spiritual compositions both healed the soul and got bodies moving! Without doubt they are ones to watch in 2018,” Ronnie Scott's Nick Lewis recently remarked. It does not come as a surprise then, that Kokoroko (meaning 'be strong' in Urhobo) are included on the forthcoming Brownswood Recordings compilation "We Out Here" (to be released February 9, 2018) with their beautiful track "Abusey Junction", which you can listen to in the SoundCloud player above.
"The song is a ballad, written by guitarist Oscar Jerome, on the roof of a compound in Gambia, where the band spent time last year immersing themselves in the soundscapes of the region." And, as it slowly unfolds its magical grasp, we cannot help but nod our heads in approval. Below, you will find a video of their Sofar performance from 2016. Hoping that 2018 will be good to us all. Take it easy and have a happy new year!
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