AJOYO

Friday, November 1st and Saturday, November 2nd

AJOYO featuring Sarah E. Charles is the vision of saxophonist Yacine Boularès: a mystic brew blending African tradition, jazz and soul.

More than music, it’s a joyful ceremony, a fuller experience bringing musicians and audience close together. AJOYO chants in the name of Tony Allen, Oum Khalsoum, Charlie Parker and Donnie Hathaway. Stomping towards you in the eye of the dancer, arms open, horns, bell and bass interwoven like the fabric of a ceremonial dress,

AJOYO speaks the language of the talking drum with a New York accent.

Based in New York and originally from France & Tunisia, Yacine Boularès has played sax, composed and arranged music for Cameroonian musicians such as former Fela Kuti drummer Jojo Kuo, for the late Martino Atangana, for the Haitian Kompa legends Tabou Combo, for Placido Domingo’s latest album Encanto Del Mar or more recently for his trio Abu Sadiya with Vincent Segal and Nasheet Waits.

The project, featuring Sarah E. Charles on vocals, originated in these encounters and influences, as Yacine assembled a band that reconciles his North African and Western heritages. AJOYO celebrates life, love and justice through music: music for the heart, the mind and the body, the kind that is soulful, sophisticated and that makes people want to dance.