This Friday 11th June, fans of real black music are going to feel nice. The OKRA project has teamed up with Adesose Wallace’s Ibile and Dalston’s Passing Clouds venue to bring the people a night of tone, taste and texture spanning Africa, the Caribbean and South America.

Representing Africa, 11-strong outfit Ibile hit the stage with a serious blend of Afrobeat, Highlife and raw West African drums. For better or worse, there has been an exponential rise in the number of Afrobeat/Afro-Funk/Highlife bands in the capital over the last few years but be warned, Ibile is the real deal. If you read the excerpt from our interview with him, you’ll know that Adesose Wallace is as authentic as they come. He’s played with Geraldo Pino, the James Brown of Afro-funk, and the inspiration for Fela Kuti to transform his Hi-Life Jazz sound into Afrobeat. Ade has also worked with Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba and a host of other African music legends and to this day, teaches West African rhythm and song to students countrywide – basically, he’s real.

Representing the Caribbean, OKRA presents Ras Happa and the Harambe Drummers throwing down a live set of pounding Jamaican roots drums and dance. Long before reggae music warmed its first amplifier and rumbled it’s first speaker cone, the island of Jamaica danced to the beat of Nyabinghi, Kumina and Revival drums. Rhythms and dances which are so powerful, they still emerge in the beats and sequenced movements of the freshest bashment dancehalls. Unfortunately, the dancehall didn’t assimilate the spirit of the culture with quite the same vigour…..that’s where we come in. To compliment proceedings Duke Etienne and Suga Kan’n keep it raw, roots and occasionally, savage with a DJ selection linking the past with the buzz of the afro-future.

Representing South America, Otto Nascarella takes a pause from the rootical, tropical funk of his Saravah Soul project to throw down a scorching selection infused with his Brazillian roots.

The flyer is here. We hope you can join us…

As you may have noticed, my musical tastes have taken a definite turn toward the traditional of late. Heads High was (and still is) all about representing the sonics of the African diaspora in all it’s different forms but as you will know, our remit tends to focus on Jazz, Reggae and the myriad of styles and genres that have sprouted from these forms.

What is becoming apparent to me is that traditional drum music from the diaspora has a massively different intention and feel any other music I listen to. Traditional music is eternal, it’s timeless. It isn’t originally composed to be sold, and in this sense can be regarded as a comparatively pure cultural expression. As I come to understand the music more and more (and it is imperative to take the time to understand the culture the music emanates from), I’m realising it speaks in ways that at one time I could not hear.

Introspective blurb aside, drum music is HEAVY on the dancefloor and paradoxically (given what I have said above) when I listen to the repetetive grooves of the Techno, House or Hip Hop I hold so dear I can hear subconscious attempts at emulating the experience of traditional drum music via the MPC, TR808 or classic Western Band structures.

Now that’s out in the open, it will come as less of a surprise that i’ve started a new session focussing on traditional drum music from Africa, South America and the Caribbean and its modern incarnations. The session is called OKRA and our first official party Upstairs at Brixton’s Ritzy went so well we’ve decided to make it a regular.

Our next party on Sat 22nd May features the Gnawa musical tradtion as demonstrated by Simo Lagnawi, one of the UK’s handful of Gnawa masters. You can read more about the Gnawa tradition here, but to get a better feel for the music/movement, it might be worth checking the clips at the end of this post. Don’t make the mistake of painting OKRA as some kind of ethnomusicologists convention though. Our guests will vary from the strictly traditional to the freshly cut, and as you’ll know if you’ve made it to any of our private affairs, our crowd are much more likely to dance and look hot than stand and talk cold. Myself and Suga Kan’n provide the rest of the evenings soundtrack digging everything from the traditional to the warm buzz of the afro future. Connie Bell blesses the mic as only she can.

So. Join the facebook group here, check the flyer below and if you’re convinced, spread the word: OKRA is here…

Oh, and for the completely random element, word has it that Janet Jackson might be in the building on the 22nd as she’s promoting her new film with Tyler Perry….an intriguing combination no?

So I spun on an Afro-Carribbean tip at a Haiti Fundraiser a couple of weeks back at Brixton’s Ritzy courtesy of my man KMT, the excellent Asheber & The Afrikan Revolution and the charity United Haitians in the UK. Management liked what they heard…

Fast-forward to the present and this is the result, a new session dealing with beats, bumps and basslines from across the African Diaspora presented by myself and Suga Kan’n. If you’ve managed to make it down to our ‘family’ sessions then you know the vibes….and you’ll have to agree that they’re pretty good!

Word is that this’ll be a regular fixture, so come show some love so we can convince them to let us loose on booking some bands up there.

Talking about our more Afro-inspired sessions, we’ve got some interesting stuff lined up for this spring/summer so stay tuned….

Meanwhile, here’s a little taster of the kind of vibes we’re on…