BOI AKIH 7Extend - Bimhuis Amsterdam, 13.07.2025

Boi Akih is an Amsterdam duo that through 28 years of its existence continuously has transformed itself into manyfold extensions. Its latest manifestation is a Dutch-French-US-American seven-star pleiades constellation with a firm Moluccan and Ghanaian background comprising additionally to the core duo, vocalist Monica Akihary (of Moluccan descent) and guitarist Niels Brouwer, a promising crew of musicians: bass clarinetist Hélène Duret, tubaist Fanny Meteier from Paris, trumpeter Peter Somuah from Rotterdam/Accra (of Ghanian descent), cellist Joshua Herwig from Amsterdam and drummer Mike Reed from Chicago.

Boi Akih is, considered its long lasting successful existence, not only a special phenomenon of the Amsterdam scene. Boi Akih is also special in the way it has merged musical sources from Melanesian, Indian and African musical cultures with Amsterdam free improvisation approaches. It has found recognition not only in an intense concert practice and longer term structural state funding but also in two prestigious awards: the Boy Edgar Award, the most important Dutch jazz award, for Monica Akihary (2023), and the Anugerah Kebudayaan Indonesia (AKI) State Award, an honouring for Akihary-Brouwer’s merits for their dissemination of Indonesian culture of Maluku, Sunda and Bali (2024).

The music of the septet is based in a wealth of aforementioned musical sources and is at the same time a matter of multiple-voiced narratives as they unfold in different temperaments, temperatures, tempos and textures during these vocated birds’ gatherings embarking together on traces of ancestors’ grounds. Birds of … narrative grounds conjuring up vibrating sounds. Birds of … narrative grounds chasing the lurking spirits of significance, meaning and moods. Birds of … narrative grounds ... entering luminous confluent lines.

The musicians are not only playing an instrumental part to ground and accompany a strong vocalist. They are parts of weavings of individual voices making up significant collective narratives in these ritual spheres. This was embodied in the stage choreography of the vertical rows where the members were backing and stimulating each other while simultaneously  taking responsibility for their own part and individual voicing. That way the music unfolded  in closing and opening circles, in ascending and descending movements, where a new equilibrium came about time after time somewhere in between babble of voices and concentrated purity of sacred chant.

Boi Akih 7Extend is a prime example of solid international collaboration and of curatorial work from the Ochem-kitchen. Boi Akih has a long history of participation in the Jazzdor Strasbourg Festival. For an appearance on the 2024 edition of the festival and series of concerts in The Netherlands they're looking for inspiring musical partners that would help to set the group on new paths. Bass clarinetist Hélène Duret and tubaist Fanny Meteier came from the quiver of Philippe Ochem.

Philippe enjoys a high level of trust among musicians and can help such endeavours well on their way, which was also successful in this case. He not only has a good hand for it, but also a wealth of experience (see my article on Jazzdor Berlin). Collaboration with drummer Mike Reed had been on the agenda for some time, and became in timing only possible happily just now for the short Dutch tour (Rotterdam, Utrecht, Nijmegen, Amsterdam). It proved to be a productive stroke of luck, opening a new chapter in the Boi-Akih story with new pieces, new sounds and productive challenges for all participants. The journey has just started …

Text & photo’s © Henning Bolte

   

Set list 

1.Call for the Ancestors
2.Emergence
3.Acknowledgement of Entanglement
4.Interdependence
5. Intro for Talato
6. Talato (ocean currents) 
7. Embrace Complexity
8. Up here 
9.Interconnectivity
10. Ama u  
11.Ainele ( prepared guitar, micro tonality)
12.Closer The Forest
13. Carlos
 
encore: Salo Au ( If I )