Alma Afrobeat Ensemble
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Alma Afrobeat Ensemble

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain | INDIE

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain | INDIE
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"Review from Afropop Worldwide"

This album references so many different parts of the world it is hard to see what is “Toubab” (an African term for ‘white man’) about it. The opening is an upbeat groove reminiscent of an American soul revue; yet the album becomes as dark and intensely danceable as any African musical experience can be. With vocal shouting and busy tenor sax solos reminiscent of the afrobeat Godfather himself, Fela Kuti, the mood rises and falls as a varied combination of elements mingle together. A gentle marimba contrasts with an angular horn phrase on the song “Mali.” A gripping funk follows, with hopeful brass between crunching guitars. Stark messages dig deep, but the album lifts to jubilance with South African references and an Ethiopian jazz classic as the finale.



The song “Own World” is a standout, incorporating neo-soul, acid jazz, Afrobeat and funk. Its guitar backing is almost in the smooth jazz vein, and the bass is liquid, while the horns carry the melody. Interspersed between choruses, singer Babacar “Baba” Gaye roars in contrabass range. When a line like “The music bomb/let it hit you” punctuates a cool jazz trumpet solo, distant styles are bridged. “New School” is another favorite. Gaye croons stand-alone lines like “Don’t fall in love/Stand in love” in the percussive, contrapuntal manner that is distinctive to Afrobeat. MCs Krukid and Rasta Glover thicken the stew with multi-lingual rapping.



This band has gone through a number of incarnations. The project started in New Orleans, but has moved to Champagne-Urbana, then Chicago, Illinois, and now Barcelona, Spain. Though originally conceived as a Fela cover band, the act has taken on a life of its own as Aaron Feder, a Chicago-native, has become not only a bandleader but also a composer. Currently, members of the band hail from Europe, the United States, Latin America, and Africa. Feder continues to study with Afrobeat legends, like guitar master John Kwame Adzraku of Ghana, in Spain. Perhaps he refers to “Toubab” in a loving sense, as if to say “It’s a big family, we can all bring soul to the party.” - afropop.org


"PICK OF THE MONTH: ALMA AFROBEAT ENSEMBLE, Toubab Soul"

This nine-piece Barcelona based band is led by guitarist Aaron Feder, a native of Chicago, Illinois, who originally established his ensemble as a tribute to the music of Feka Kuti in the United States in 2003. Feder relocated to Barcelona in 2006, forming a second incarnation of the band featuring now an international cast of stellar players. This debut full-length CD Toubab Soul (which in many parts of Africa means "white man soul") is an Afrobeat delight full of endless driving rhythms manifesting a polyrhythmic stew of life-affirming funk, protest, dance and social commentary in song to some of the best African beats. The Alma Afrobeat Ensemble includes John "Kwame" Adzraku (percussion), Fernando "Dinky" Redondo (bass), Audun Waage (trumpet), Gonzalo Levin (sax), Octavio Hernandez (guitar), Tato Sassone (percussion), Oscar Bayester (keyboards), and Babacar "Baba" Gaya (rapper). Guest musicians in this recording include Kike Perdomo (sax), Rasta Glover (vocals), Seydu (kalimba), and Krukid (rapper). Favorite tracks include Taskmaster, New School, and Yoruba - Latin Beat Magazine


"CD Review: Alma Afrobeat Ensemble - 'Toubab Soul'"

The Barcelona-based Alma Afrobeat Ensemble is an eclectic mix of band members and musical styles. Some members are from Norway, Senegal, USA, Ghana, Uruguay, and Argentina. Toubab Soul is a
truly afro-beat recording with multilingual vocals, groovy-jazz dance, and highly percussive beats. Of course, there is an element of 1970's West African grooves. The rap opener, "Taskmaster", gets things started with an inherent African hip-hop beat without foraying too far into urbanism. "Mali" is an ode to the country of the same name. The guitar, sax, kalimba, and djembe drum provide a Latin influence to the instrumental track. The funky "New School", smooth-groove "Kudja", world-jazzy "Own World" and "Muziqawi Silt", and the reggae- tinged "S. Africa" provide a solid cross-section of tunes that are well-structured and musically-engaging. The Alma Afrobeat Ensemble makes the music of Africa shine all in one place. - Inside World Music


"Album Review: Toubab Soul"

High-energy Afrobeat from this Barcelona-based group. Musicians hail from Europe, the US, Latin America, and Africa. Hot horns & guitars, vocals, keyboards, great playing throughout. Stylish, high energy, wicked fun. Every track is cool. Oh yeah....
1. Upbeat hip-hop infused jam. 2. Brassy intro, shaka-vocals, driving, cool, so hip. 3. Mid/upbeat percussion, big guitars w/some serious jamming. 4. Driving Afro funk w/hot, hot horns. Yow! 5. Relaxed electronic vocal effects, hip hop. Midtempo groove. 6. Upbeat w/a big butt-wiggling sound. 7. Midtempo soul w/cool use of percussion & sexy sax work. 8. Fast, fast, fast. Driving horns, perc, keyboards & vox. Wow! 9. Sweet S. African sway w/Masakela-like horns 10. Midtempo w/a jazzy arrangement & tight work from all. - KZSU Stanford Radio


"Toubab Soul"

To understand Toubab Soul you must bridge at least three cultures. Chicago composer Aaron Feder formed the groupin New Orleans in 2003 to pay homage to afrobeat godfather Fela Kuti. Three years later, Feder had moved to Barcelona to study under John Kwame Adzraku, a Ghanaian drummer who performed with
Fela in Nigeria. In recording Toubab Soul, the group enlisted a slew of guest collaborators, including Ugandan MC Krukid and rapper Babacar Gaya, to make the first afrobeat album recorded in Spain. It’s beyond cliche´ to describe afrobeat as a kaleidoscopic throw-down of players from various backgrounds, but that’s exactly what this is. The fact that the mini-orchestra coalesces without colliding in a train wreck should be celebrated. Also, white shoegazer-core is boring. - LEO Weekly


"Alma Afrobeat Ensemble’s New Toubab Soul Gets the Party Started"

The album title is sardonic – “toubab” is slang for “caucasian” in several African dialects. But Alma Afrobeat Ensemble are yet another illustration of how good musicians can rise the challenge of playing a style of music they didn’t grow up with just as joyously and danceably as those who’ve been immersed in it since day one. This new cd, Toubab Soul, is an expansive, hypnotic blend of funk, Afrobeat and Ethiopian grooves with the occasional hip-hop or reggaeton interlude. There are all kinds of shifts in dynamics and tempos from song to song: some of the tracks here spin energetically; others have a gentler sway. And it isn’t just secondhand Fela, either: as much as the group obviously admire him, they’re taking Afrobeat to some exciting new places. This is the second edition of the band, founded after frontman/guitarist Aaron Feder picked up and left his native Chicago for Barcelona, now featuring John Adzraku and Tato Sassone on percussion, Fernando Redondo on bass, Audun Waage on trumpet, Gonzalo Levin on saxes, Octavio Hernandez on guitars and Oscar Bayester on keys.
The opening track, Taskmaster, is a command to get out on the dancefloor, a fluid Ethiopian/funk fusion with blippy horns, propulsive bass and swirling, somewhat sinister organ. They follow that with the bubbly Live Na Yeye with its muted wah guitar, crescendoing tenor sax and then a reggaeton interlude. The next track, Mali, is Pink Floyd’s Money in a very clever red, gold and green disguise, right down to its David Gilmour-inflected bluesfunk guitar followed by a delightfully balmy tenor solo that casually blows the original to smithereens.
New School starts out biting and funky and then goes hypnotic with Rhodes electric piano, growling sax and a brief rap segment, in French. Swaying with catchy call-and-response horns, Kudja switches up midway through, taking the vibe low and mellow. They pick up the pace again with the most overtly Fela-influenced number here, Yoruba, fast and insistently shuffling, then follow it with Own World which starts out with eerily echoey Rhodes piano over a Peter Tosh flavored groove but grows warmer with long, upbeat sax and trumpet solos. Shameless spins a potently dark minor-key horn riff over a scurrying bounce; this is the track you’ll be humming to yourself all the way home if you see them live. They close with the gorgeous South Africa, evoking the Skatalites with its rocksteady pulse and vividly soulful trumpet/sax interplay, followed by a surprisingly laid-back, thoughtful cover of Wallias Band’s iconic, brooding Ethiopian dance classic Muziqawi Silt. Plainly and simply, this is one of the best world music albums – and one of the best dance albums – released this year. - Lucid Culture


"Alma Afrobeat Ensemble"

"What we have in our hands is an advance of three songs from what we hope will be their first full length album. Three songs of a primarily instrumental Afrobeat with irresistible funk rhythms, with a jazzy component that brings a touch of modernity to the project, while still being faithful to the classic patterns of the style. On various occasions we have mentioned the advances and importance of Afrobeat in our country; Alma Afrobeat Ensemble is a clear exponent of this this. We need to be attentive to the evolution of this great combo".
Translated from the Spanish at
www.b-ritmos.com/discos/novedad/alma-afrobeat-ensemble
- B!Ritmos (Spanish webzine for world music)


"Alma Afrobeat Ensemble"

“The music of Alma Afrobeat Ensemble, an international group composed of nine musicians, pays tribute to the work of the Nigerian Musician FELA KUTI. The multiculturality of its members are reflected in original compositions filled with strength and feeling, the contagious, funky melodies of the bass and guitars are enriched by the sophisticated arrangements of the horns and are fused with the unstoppable African rhythm of the percussion section: this is auithentic AFROBEAT! Music for dancing, but also for listening and thinking of the task of social critique, for which Afrobeat was created over forty years ago in Africa”.
http://www.squidoo.com/barcelonaevents - BCN Week, Barcelona


"Summer Camp 2006: Bringing Da Heat"

"The weekend began with the pulsating rhythms and screaming horns of the Alma Afrobeat Ensemble from Champaign, IL. Many bands claim the Afrobeat title without really coming through with an authentic sound, but this beefy band of five horns, keys, two guitars and three drummers/percussionists tears through real Fela Kuti tunes like a thresher".
http://www.jambase.com/Articles/8616/SUMMER-CAMP-2006-BRINGIN%27-DA-HEAT! - Jambase.com


Discography

Alma Afrobeat Ensemble (EP, 2009)
The Stolen Sessions (2010)
Toubab Soul (September-Europe, December-USA, 2010)
Songs from the self-titled release and the Stolen Sessions appear on the Nollywood film (Lagos, Nigeria), Super Zebraman (2010).
Toubab Resouled (2011). An album of remixes from world renowned DJ's including DJ Floro, DJ Steve Snow, and Beto B.
"La Música es el Arma del Futuro"- A compilation of Spanish bands playing songs from Fela Kuti. Alma Afrobeat Ensemble contributed their take on "Water No Get Enemy".

Significant airplay for tracks from all of the above in Spain, on national radio (Radio 3), Barcelona radio (CATradiofm), in addition to rotation in discotheques in the Canary Islands and across the peninsula. The AAbE has also recorded music for the Antena 3/Neox television series "Museo Coconut", as well as having their tune S. Africa be the theme song for the 2010 Subtravelling short film contest through the Metropolitan Transport System of Barcelona. Additionally, the song Kudja is included in the Sept/Oct 2010 edition of Relix Magazine (over 100,000 copies).
The Alma also has a song included on the World Music of Catalonia compilation for 2011, as well as a song on Tunecore's Best World Music of 2010 compilation on Amazon.com.

Photos

Bio

Alma Afrobeat Ensemble was started in Chicago in 2003 and then moved to Barcelona in search of a more authentic, worldly sound. That is exactly what was found, and in 2010 the Alma released the album “Toubab Soul”, and in 2011 the album of remixes, “Toubab Resouled”.

The current lineup includes 10 musicians from four continents (North and South America, Europe and Africa) and is a group that truly does represent the “New School” in modern Afrobeat. All the original elements of funk, high-life and jazz are there, but the Alma brings in touches of Latin music, psychedelia, and most interestingly, hip-hop, thanks to singer/rapper/dancer Babacar Gaye (Senegal). While being true to the roots of Afrobeat, the AAbE brings its own style and flavor, and you can enjoy the evolution of Afrobeat in their burning live shows.

2011 and 2012 have been successful years for the band. In 2011 they shared the stage with Ebo Taylor, Ghanaian afro-funk legend (and long time friend of the band) in the Imagina Funk festival in Jaén. In 2012 they have been on tour constantly throughout Spain, including shows in the Canary Islands for the WOMAD festival, multiple visits to Madrid, and a concert special for national television on the Conciertos Radio 3. The Alma was one of only seven bands in Spain to be chosen to participate in the Diversons world music program sponsored by La Caixa, as well as receiving travel grants from the “Artistas en Ruta” program of the AIE (Artistas, Intérpretes y Ejecutantes).

In addition to the Mercat de Música Viva de Vic, one of Europe’s premiere music showcases. Additionally the group is getting ready for the presentation of the CD “La Música es el Arma del Futuro” from DJ Floro, which includes a creative reinterpretation of the classic Fela Kuti track, “Water No Get Enemy”.