Last Thursday night, the 14-piece Akoya Afrobeat Ensemble played a 2+ hour set to a full club. Akoya Afrobeat has an amazing amount of energy and quickly had the crowd dancing. Musically, the band has a great sound that is powered by multiple horns and polyrhythmic drumming.

I don't know how all 14 members of the band fit on the small Southpaw stage.


The band was joined by reggae legend Cedric "Im" Brooks. If you haven't heard Brooks play, check out his solo CD "Cedric Brooks and the Light of Saba" which is a brilliant slice of afrobeat/reggae.


Akoya Afrobeat is led by Kaleta who was a member of Fela Kuti's Egypt 80, collaborated with artists ranging from King Sunny Ade to Lauryn Hill.


The band is finishing their second CD, "PDP [President Dey Pass]", but a release date has not yet been announced. The first single from this CD, "BFBF (Panama)", sounds great so this should be a CD to watch for.


On a somewhat related note, I just started using Imeem so I posted additional pictures from the show to my Imeem page(BrooklynRocksBlog).

Links:
Akoya Afrobeat Ensemble's Website
Akoya Afrobeat Ensemble's MySpace page