“AfuriKo’s new music really flies in the face of jazz, opening up your ears to a world of possibilities.”

– Carol Banks Weber, Festival Peak (Feb. 2019)

AfuriKo – a Japanese portmanteau word combining “Afurika” (アフリカ) and the suffix “Ko” (子) which means “child” – is an African infused jazz duo comprised of percussionist Akiko Horii and pianist/keyboardist Jim Funnell. Like a modern-day griot, they celebrate traditional heritage from around the world through the prism of spellbinding grooves and eccentric harmonies.

Their first two albums – On the Far Side (2014) and Style (2016) – were produced with the support of SACEM (the French Society of Authors, Composers, and Music Publishers). Their new opus Tao (2019), successfully funded on Kickstarter, is a jazz journey from ancestral Africa to NYC, steeped in deep grooves with shades of Funk, Pop, Reggae, Bulgarian, and Enka music.

Propelled into existence when Jim & Akiko’s paths crossed in Paris as a result of following a shared, irrepressible call to Africa, its culture, and its Diaspora, AfuriKo began experimenting in 2010. A playful blending of tones and rhythms came to life, and a unique dialogue between the ancestral stories of the djembe and the modern voice of digital pianos and synthesizers was quickly initiated.

The duo has toured extensively in the UK (London Jazz Festival, Cardiff University Concert Hall, Vortex Jazz Club), Japan (Kanazawa Jazz Street, Asahi Shimbun’s Asacom Hall), France (Sunset Sunside, Le Baiser Salé, Improphile), Germany (JazzLab), Holland (Theater Vrijburcht), Nepal (Kathmandu Jazz Festival, Jazz Upstairs), the United States (Rockwood Music Hall, Beats in Bliss Plaza), South Korea (Jazz Alley), and collaborated with artists such as Hiroshi Fukutomi (Japan), Ory Minie (French Polynesia), Eddie Parker, Chris Batchelor, Rob Luft (United Kingdom), Bill Sims, Jr. (United States), Jade Choi (South Korea), Bruno Wilhelm, Philippe Lopes de Sa, and Chris Hayward (France).

Since 2017, Akiko and Jim have been living in Queens, New York, letting the energy that emanates from the most ethnically diverse part of the world nourish their creative process on a daily basis.

Dominika Moravčiková interviewed me for 3/4
https://34.sk/en/listening-to-other-realities-elia-moretti-on-sound-art-the-carpathians-and-dissidence (2024)

Based in London, Elif Yalvaç (née Hazal Elif Yalvaç) is a producer, composer and guitarist from North Western Turkey. Her journey in sound started as a young girl getting enthusiastic about electric guitar and retro game audio. She has had an over a decade long presence in music with international appearances, especially in the UK, Iceland, and Norway, through solo and collaborative works and performances, music critic reviews, and radio features.

Having worked with others (including the Brooklyn-based label NNA Tapes in 2020) and independently, Elif pushes the boundaries and believes in the value of organic connections in the music scene, defying the obstacles posed by algorithms or capital-oriented PR agencies and their stakeholders. Her latest solo album “Vection” was released in April 2024 by Amsterdam-based label Moving Furniture Records under "Eliane Tapes" series dedicated to pioneering electronic music composer Eliane Radigue. 

Elif’s upcoming solo work features elements of speedcore, noise, IDM, drone, and ambient music, drawing on her versatile approaches and background in music, from using a Game Boy or from guitar playing and singing in rock and metal contexts to sound design with her own software tools for ambient music. Both in studio and live settings, Elif uses a number of instruments including a handmade synth that she calls “Freakbox”, her standard and baritone guitars and pedals, as well as software such as VCV Rack and Ableton Live. She values minimal setup in performance and making the most of limitations, while always attempting to explore and learn tools and instruments to experiment with.

Elif collaborates with others extensively, including Norwegian ambient music artist Kristoffer Lislegaard, her avantgarde metal project Diaries of Destruction; her collaborations with her partner Jordan Muscatello (electric & double bass), her contemporary ambient project with pianist Philamelian, and Green Drift with Expert Sleepers, and primarily with Michael Bearpark. She has performed with a wide range of artists internationally including Eraldo Bernocchi, Colin Edwin, Jon Durant, and Jono Podmore.

Alongside her performance and production efforts, Elif curates and hosts “Talk to the Chip”, a podcast on pioneering electronic music on Resonance FM with Jono Podmore. She is the curator of the bi-monthly live electronics event series “Heart of Noise Cambridge” at Cambridge Junction, and "Electronics At Eight" series in Milton Court Concert Hall in London for Guildhall School. Elif holds an MA degree in Music (Sonic Arts) from Istanbul Technical University, with a thesis on the creative and aesthetic value of limitations in the context of Chip Music. She teaches electronic music composition and production in Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she is the pathway leader for Electronic Music in EPM.

La Escucha Atenta is a publishing label based in Gijón (Spain) founded by Juanjo Palacios in 2011. Its editions focus on field recording-based works.

Créations sonores, radio art et recyclage.
@ingetrapt_strab

Manel Pericó Mercè &quot;Soundscapes&quot; is following

Manel Pericó Mercè "Soundscapes" is following