February 6 - LIVE AT SULLIVAN HALL, 9PM February 14 - Valentine's Day, the offical holiday of EMEFE. March 1 - LIVE AT TUTUMA SOCIAL CLUB, 9PM March 11 - LIVE AT CAMEO in Brooklyn, 9PM April 2 - LIVE AT BOWERY POETRY CLUB, 12MIDNIGHT April 16 - LIVE AT TUTUMA SOCIAL CLUB, 8:30 and 10:30PM May 6 - "HELLO SUMMER" SHOW at SULLIVAN HALL, 10:30PM July 2 - BOWERY POETRY CLUB with MOKAAD, doors at 9:30pm July 25 - MERCURY LOUNGE with NYLE, Gato Loco, and The Mighty Mighty, 7:00pm September 17 - CEG Presents: End of the Summer Afro-Funk Throwdown featuring EMEFE w/ guests Mokaad and Underground System Afrobeat, more info atemefemusic.com September 17 - EMEFE releases it's debut cd, Music Frees All! October 23 - AN EVENING WITH EMEFE at The Bitter End, 7pm November6 - Get Up/Get Down with Eyelove/DJ SMKTZ at Cameo Gallery November 7 - Double Beat with Gato Loco at Bowery Poetry Club November 19 - USA V EMEFE, AN AFROBEAT DOUBLE HEADER - Rose Live - 10:30pm November 30 - AROUND THE WORLD PARTY at Cameo Gallery
December 18th - EMEFE DANCE PARTY with Guarco and DJ Feliz Cumbe - Bowery Poetry Club - 11:30pm
2011:
January 28th - AFRO-FUNK THROWDOWN PART 2 with Mokaad and members of Antibalas/FELA! - Sullivan Hall - 9:30pm
February 3rd - LOCAL 269 WITH THE BAILEN BROTHERS! 10PM
February 4th - UNDERGROUND GROUND with JAKE SNIDER BAND and ANTHONY DA COSTA!
February 23 - THE STUDIO @ WEBSTER HALL with SPORT OF KINGS !! 9PM
February 24 - NYU Ultraviolet Live at Kimmel Center. 7pm
February 26 - AFROBEAT PARTY @ ECLECTIC HOUSE, WESLEYAN with Superhuman Happiness ! 9pm
March 9 - Knitting Factory with Ismael Kouyate 9pm
March 19 - Highline Ballroom as part of 3 Generations Fundraiser
March 25 - SUNY Purchase with Mokaad
April 17 - EMEFE horns in Tribeca
April 21 - Joe's Pub with Jake Snider
April 22 - Milcreek Tavern in Philly
May 6 - Live at the Blue Note
May 20 - EMEFE/MOKAAD at BPC
June 3 - Music Frees All Festival at Drom
June 18 - Crest Fest
June 25 - Ars Nova
July 15 - Brooklyn Lyceum with MOKAAD
Sept 1 - NYU Kimmel
Sept 9 - EMEFE/MOKAAD at Purchase
Sept 24 - Cornelia St Block Party
Oct 1 - Bishops in Northampton MA
Oct 6 - Southpaw with Mokaad and Ms Lady
Oct 21 - LPR with Rusted Root, Felabration at Joe's Pub
SHOW! SHOW! SHOW! WE ARE PLAYING TWO SETS (8 AND 10:30) AT TUTUMA SOCIAL CLUB THIS FRIDAY NIGHT APRIL 16TH NO COVER OR MINIMUM
featuring tunes like Jump and Stomp, Oh That's What It Is, Sneaky, new tunes like 221 Groove, The Night, and The Animal Shuffle, and also Fela and Antibalas tunes.
Anyway, here it is: Darling Nikki by Prince, off Purple Rain. It is too sexy for young audiences, and too ridiculous for mature audiences. But to those somewhere in the middle, it is genius.
And here is Foo Fighters completely kickass studio version of the same tune. They do it justice, man. Dave Grohl's shrill scream fits right in.
Check it out. What is the difference between the two? Prince's version is sneaky, unsettling, eccentric, sexual... no wonder Tipper Gore had a problem with it. Foo Fighters' version, though, almost masks the weirdass lyrics. I actually heard the Foo's version first before hearing the original, and it took me a few listens to realize what Grohl was singing about... and it ain't pretty. But the Foo Fighters give Prince's tune a new dimension, a very intense dimension. Whether or not you like it is a personal choice. But I am down for both. Not a chance EMEFE is covering this anytime soon... but 'thank you for a funkay time.' m
It is sure to be a blast tonight at 93 N. 6th St. Between Berry & Wythe, (Near the Bedford ave (L) station, one stop into Brooklyn), where we will be tootin' our horns and bangin' our drums at 9PM sharp. This lovely event will only cost you 5 dollars, and there are also two excellent bands playing after us. Additionally, there will be
the bass in afrobeat is an art in itself. restraint is key, as pointed out by Antibalas' bassist Nick Movshon in bass player magazine. click on the image to check out the article.
Tonight we are rockin out at tutuma social club at 9pm. we are trying to win the second and final round of their Rising Stars series! so come out and support, gonna be fun.
When the Talking Heads released their fourth studio album in 1980, Remain in Light, many fans were puzzled by the new influences to their sound. Critics did not know how to categorize this rise in rhythmic patterns, and an increase in subtle straight-ahead guitar riffs, with punchier vocals. As the album settled in, critics stated that the Talking Heads had begun to play "world music". This nebulous title that has been thrown around for decades, "world music," is both nondescript and inaccurate. Tower Records (RIP) once had an entire section of their store devoted to this "genre". However, in retrospect, much of what was originally deemed "world music" is being appropriately re-categorized and appreciated. An incredibly large portion of the music previously labeled as "world," is in fact Afrobeat - a wonderful mix of African highlife, jazz, funk, and spanish influences. When critics incorrectly labeled Remain in Light as a "world music" album, they were in fact unknowingly noticing that Brian Eno, the Producer of the album, had gifted Fela Kuti's 1973 album Afrodisiac to David Byrne, the Talking heads' frontman, during the recording of the album. This Afrobeat record quickly became the main source of inspiration for Remain in Light, deeply affecting Byrne's songwriting.
Here is a great track off of Remain in Light, called "Born Under Punches". It's amazing to see so many Afrobeat elements shine through, and mix with the Talking Heads' unmistakably 80's sound.
Here is a video of them playing it live during the year of its release
Fela Kuti has long been an inspiration to wildly popular and talented members of the music industry, and although these influences have never been fully recognized or appreciated, it's better late than never.
EMEFE is a band lead by Miles Arntzen, a young musician based in New York City. Miles got the group together in December of the year 2009 after beginning his studies in the Jazz Department at New York University, taking inspiration mainly from his musical heroes in Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra and Medeski Martin and Wood, in addition to his new teachers and fellow students at NYU.
EMEFE has a debut CD released next month, called Music Frees All. EMEFE currently has a live album available ("Live at Tutuma Social Club") and a demo EP ("EMEFE SOUND"), both of which are currently available on BANDCAMP at http://www.emefe.bandcamp.com.
The band could be called an afrobeat band, with influence from Fela Kuti and Antibalas. It could be called a funk band, with influence from MMW, The Roots, and the Dap-Kings. But what's in a genre? We are, quite simply, EMEFE.
EMEFE is: Miles Arntzen Doug Berns Billy Aukstik Christian Anderson Nick Kokkinis Javier Ramos James Delano Jas Walton Deen Anbar Davy Levitan Kris Nolte Jake Pinto and our friends... Ian Chang Michael Harlen JJ Lindenthal
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