ALMA AFROBEAT ENSEMBLE

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NEW ALBUM !!!
Amphora Records To Release Alma Afrobeat Ensemble's
"TOUBAB SOUL"

1-Taskmaster (5:44) | 2- Live Na Yeye (7:02) | 3- Mali (7:06)
4- New School (8:02) | 5- Kudja (6:37) | 6- Yoruba (4:20) | 7- Own World (4:24)
8- Shameless (4:55) | 9- S.Africa (5:07) | 10- Muziqawi Silt (4:21)

Listen "KUDJA" www.relix.com

from All About Jazz:

Amphora Records will release Toubab Soul, the first full-length studio recording by Barcelona's Alma Afrobeat Ensemble, on Wednesday, December 1, 2010. Providing a healthy dose of original, spirited Afrobeat, Toubab Soul pulsates continuously from the hip-hop inflected opening tune “Taskmaster," which features Ugandan MC Krukid, to the Afro-psychedelia of the closing track, a cover of Wallias Band's “Muziqawi Silt."

Featuring some of the most prolific musicians from Europe, the United States, Latin America and Africa, Toubab Soul is an endlessly danceable CD. The driving rhythms of the Ensemble's music—a polyrhythmic blend of life-affirming funk, protest, dance and social commentary—were captured in Barcelona's La Ramona and BCN Arts studios over the course three months.

Bandleader, composer and guitarist Aaron Feder originally formed the Ensemble as a tribute to the music of Fela Kuti in the US in 2003. The native Chicagoan moved to Barcelona in 2006, forming a second incarnation of the band to include a stellar array of European, South American and African musicians. Since then, the Ensemble has been playing festivals all across the Iberian Peninsula and, most notably, has shared the stage with Konono No. 1 and Chicago Afrobeat Orchestra.

“In parts of Africa, the word 'toubab' means 'white man,' but the musicians on Toubab Soul are actually come from across the globe. All of them are musically like-minded, as well as in other ways, and we've come together under the flag of Afrobeat and the principle of social justice through music," says Feder, who studied music at the University of Illinois.

The Barcelona band currently includes percussionist John “Kwame" Adzraku, bassist Fernando “Dinky" Redondo, trumpeter Audun Waage, saxophonist Gonzalo Levin, guitarist Octavio Hernandez, percussionist Tato Sassone, keyboardist Oscar Bayester and rapper Babacar “Baba" Gaya.
Special guests on Toubab Soul include saxophonist Kike Perdomo, reggae singer Rasta Glover, rapper Krukid and kalimba player Seydu.

Alma Afrobeat Ensemble at "Apolo" (Bcn) 7 november 2010
Alma Afrobeat Ensemble at "La Boca del Lobo" (Mad) 30 september 2010

Fall 2010 has been quite a fruitful time for the Alma;

Their music appears in the first Nigerian/Spanish Nollywood film Super Zebraman.

The song "Kudja" appears in the sampler CD for Relix Magazine’s Sept/Oct. edition (more than 150,000 copies worldwide, Relix is the second-oldest music magazine in the USA).

The song "S. Africa" is being used for the publicity campaign for the “Subtravelling Festival” of short films in the Barcelona Metro system, as well as being the theme song for the entire festival.

Alma Afrobeat Ensemble recording the music for the Antena 3/Neox television series “Museo Coconut” from the well-known comedians of Muchachada Nui.

All of this in addition to releasing their full-length studio CD “Toubab Soul”, and preparing for an impending visit to the Americas.

ALMA AFROBEAT ENSEMBLE provides a jazzy and energetic  hip-hop inflected version of Afrobeat music, a polyrhythmic blend of funk and protest, dance and social commentary.

Alma Afrobeat Ensemble english PDF.