Dates: Friday 14 June
Times: 7.30pm - Close
Space: The Gig Space, Level 5
Access: There is step-free access via a lift
Nok Cultural Ensemble are taking over Peckham Levels for a very special in-the-round-concert for what promises to be one of the must-see UK jazz gigs of the year.
Nok Cultural Ensemble is the latest project from Nigerian-British musician/producer Natcyet Wakili - fka Edward Wakili-Hick - (Sons of Kemet, Cleo Sol, Nala Sinephro, Steam Down, Kokoroko).
A fluid and evolving collective, they have performed at venues and festivals throughout UK and Europe, including The Barbican Centre, Notting Hill Arts Club, We Out Here Festival, and London Jazz Festival (Kings Place).
Njhyi, the critically acclaimed debut album, was awarded Guardian Contemporary Album of the Year. It features an impressive line up of Natcyet’s longtime collaborators including Theon Cross, Angel Bat Dawid, Joseph Deenmamode (Mo Kolours) and Nubya Garcia.
Their sound has proven to be popular from concert halls to the dance floor, based on a forward thinking array of Afro-diasporic percussive traditions. Glitching beats unfold on African timelines, expressed through free jazz sensibilities which extend the futuristic pulse of dub technologies.
"Relentless Afrofuturism; this is transhistorical music that serves as a portal linking the ancient past and the distant future." - ***** The Guardian
"A collection of songs that are practically vibrating with the rhythmic, melodic, and emotional power of Africa and its diaspora." - Bandcamp
"Building on the legacy of drum-led ‘60s West African bands, Kokoroko’s Edward Wakili-Hick adds free jazz and dub to the densely percussive formula, with star turns from Theon Cross and Sulyim" - **** MOJO