Afrobeat Series: Yankari Afrobeat Collective

Improvised Music Company, ChoiceCuts & Dublin City Council present

Yankari Afrobeat Collective
with support from Selu & the Living Things

Presented as part of Dublin City Council’s Live Local Performance Scheme supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport & Media.

Venue: The Sugar Club, Leeson Street, Dublin 1
Date: Sunday January 23rd, Doors 5:00pm
Tickets: https://www.sugarclubtickets.com

Dynamic rhythms enliven the dark winter days at the Sugar Club with a three-part live series of Afro-beat Evenings from Improvised Music Company, Choice Cuts, and Dublin City Council.

On January 23rd, Dublin favourites Yankari take the stage with rhythms, melodies and parables from their Yoruba and Igbo roots with vocal hooks delivered in pidgin-English - harking back to the Afrobeat greats. Fuji, Highlife, Juju, Afrobeat, Jazz and Funk form the foundation that the band builds upon to create a 21st-century heavy groove.

Die-hard Fela fans, Dublin-based band Yankari, aspire to advance the original Afrobeat genre by incorporating contemporary sounds, such as, jazz, funk, dance, rock-and-roll whilst keeping the traditional groove elements of Afrobeat. This new sound has worldwide appeal and the Yankari fan base stretches from Ireland to Japan, Brazil to Spain, Nigeria to the US.

Yankari founding members, brothers Segun and Michael Akano along with Uché Gabriel Akujobi, are originally from Nigeria and came together in Dublin while playing at various gigs around the city. Gradually through the love of music and rhythms from their Yoruba and Igbo cultures they created the groovy and energetic sound that is reminiscent of Afrobeat of the '60s and '70s but with a modern twist. That sound is called Yankari.

Support act Ṣelu and the Living Things celebrate life’s infinite dimensions with a soulfully rare blend of talent and style. Evolving from a collaboration between drummer Segun

Akano (Yankari, Dublin Afrobeat Ensemble) and guitarist Morgan Baker (Louisiana 6, Pop Republic Collective), Living Things integrates afrobeat, neo-soul, jazz, and progressive flavours into a compelling modern sound.

Safety

• Our audience’s safety is our primary concern and we will be fully compliant with any government guidelines around event safety.
• If you are feeling unwell or experiencing any of the symptoms of Covid-19 please do not attend this event.