New tangents in soul music with K15, Maxwell Owin, Lynda Dawn, Lex Amor, Karun, Hibotep, Faizal Mostrixx and Labdi.
Extra Soul Perception is a new creative collaboration sparked by British Council’s new Art new Audiences programme that brings together innovative artists from the UK, Kenya and Uganda for a week-long writing camp in Nairobi to make an album at one of East Africa’s foremost studios, Supersonic Africa.
Inspired by the 1968 fusion experiments of American saxophonist Monk Higgins, ESP. is led by an open-minded approach of harmonising different sounds, techniques and traditions, to celebrate commonality across borders, aiming to change perceptions of a long-established genre.
From the UK they’ve recruited: Wild Oats Eglo family K15 (who curated MMM243 as Culross Close); Touching Bass-signed rapper and producer Lex Amor; singer and Brownswood Bubblers alumni Lynda Dawn; and Maxwell Owin, a production lynchpin for the new wave of London jazz. From Kenya comes: BET Awards nominated singer Karun, recently featured in Forbes Africa’s 30 Under 30 for 2019; and Labdi, who bucks the tradition that bars women from playing traditional Kenyan string instrument the orutu. Finally from Uganda come two counter-culture visionaries: Faizal Mostrixx, one of Kampala’s most renowned contemporary dancers and a Adidas approved producer; and DJ-filmmaker-fashion designer- producer-rapper Hibotep, one of the lead artists in East Africa’s New Wave by RA and a star of Boiler Room’s last two Uganda broadcasts.
Following a launch event in The Alchemist, Nairobi (1st Dec), all artists return to the UK in 2020 for a three-date tour starting at The Jazz Café, London (22nd Feb), followed by Band on the Wall, Manchester (23rd Feb) and 24 Kitchen Street, Liverpool (24th Feb) Band a series of events in Kenya, Uganda and the UK.
An album on London label Waella’s Choice will follow, alongside a film by Boiler Room collaborator Angela Steps, a music workshop with CDR and a panel talk exploring multi-national collaborations.
Head to the ESP. website for more info and follow them on Instagram to go BTS on the writing camp, with photos from Dan Medhurst.
Artwork by GP Works.
