''Boi Akih'' is a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

trio based in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Netherlands and composed of Monica Akihary on vocals, Niels Brouwer on guitar. The group combines musical traditions from the

Molucca Islands The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West Melanesi ...

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

, Dutch jazz, improvised music, Indian classical music, and traditional African music. Music is written by Brouwer and lyrics are written by Brouwer and Akihary.

History

Sandip Bhattachraya studied with Pandit Ishwar Lal Misra in the style of tabla musician Pandit Anokhelal Misra and has performed with Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia,

Prabha Atre Prabha Atre (13 September 1932 – 13 January 2024) was an Indian classical vocalist from the Kirana gharana. She was awarded all three of the Padma Awards by the Government of India. She died after experiencing breathing difficulty in the e ...

Lakshmi Shankar Lakshmi Shankar (née Sastri, 16 June 1926 – 30 December 2013) was an Indian singer and a noted Hindustani classical music, Hindustani classical. Born into a south Indian Hindu family, she became an outstanding Hindustani music, Hindustani voc ...

, Shujaat Hussain Khan, Ustad Munawar Ali Khan, and

Tarun Bhattacharya Pandit Tarun Bhattacharya (born 23 December 1957) is an Indian classical musician who plays the santoor, a type of hammered dulcimer. He studied with Ravi Shankar. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 2018. Early life Tarun Bhat ...

. Niels Brouwer studied at the Hilversums Conservatorium (

Conservatorium van Amsterdam The Conservatorium van Amsterdam (CvA) is a Dutch conservatoire of music located in Amsterdam. This school is the music division of the Amsterdam University of the Arts, the city's vocational university of arts. The Conservatorium van Amsterdam ...

) Monica Akihary is a graduate of

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

studies in Amsterdam and

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...

(Akademi Seni Rupa). Both studied classical Indian music in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

(2002) and

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

(2004). Akihary writes and sings in her father's native language, which has been regarded as

moribund Moribund refers to a literal or figurative state near death. Moribund may refer to: * ''Moribund'' (album), a 2006 album by the Norwegian black metal band Koldbrann * " Le Moribond", a song by Jacques Brel known in English as "Seasons in the Sun ...

. Since 1998 Brouwer and Akihary have been working with Dutch and Australian linguists who study

Haruku language Haruku is an Austronesian language spoken on Haruku Island, just east of Ambon Island in eastern Indonesia, part of a dialect chain around Seram Island Seram (formerly spelled Ceram; also Seran or Serang) is the largest and main island of ...

. They invited

gamelan Gamelan (; ; , ; ) is the traditional musical ensemble, ensemble music of the Javanese people, Javanese, Sundanese people, Sundanese, and Balinese people, Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussion instrument, per ...

musician Made Subandi to perform on ''Philosophy of Love'' (2010). Boi Akih has worked with Michael Vatcher,

Ernst Reijseger Ernst Reijseger (born 13 November 1954) is a Dutch cellist and composer. He specializes in avant-garde jazz, free jazz, improvised music, and contemporary classical music and often gives solo concerts. He has worked with Louis Sclavis, Derek ...

, Ernst Glerum, Owen Hart Jr.,

Sean Bergin Sean Bergin (29 June 1948 – 1 September 2012) was an avant-garde jazz saxophonist and flautist from South Africa. Bergin was born in Durban on 29 June 1948. He was a saxophonist, flautist, composer, educator and bandleader. In his youth Bergi ...

, and

Wolter Wierbos Wolter Wierbos (born 1 September 1957, in Holten, Overijssel) is a Dutch trombonist. Wierbos has played throughout Europe, Canada, USA and Asia. Wierbos has many awards to his name, including the Podiumprijs for Jazz and Improvised music and the ...

. Boi Akih has performed at the

Berlin Jazz Festival JazzFest Berlin (also known as the Berlin Jazz Festival) is a jazz festival in Berlin, Germany. Originally called the "Berliner Jazztage" (''Berlin Jazz Days''), it was founded in 1964 in West Berlin by the Berliner Festspiele. Venues included B ...

Kaunas Jazz Festival Kaunas Jazz is an annual international jazz festival in Kaunas, Lithuania. It started in 1991, soon after Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania, Lithuania declared re-establishment of independence from the Soviet Union, and is now ...

, and

Bimhuis The Bimhuis is a concert hall for jazz and improvised music in Amsterdam. With an average of 150 performances a year the Bimhuis is the main stage for these musical genres in the Netherlands. In 2017 it was also a host for the 17th edition of ...

. They have also appeared on

VPRO The VPRO (stylized vpro; originally an acronym for ''Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep'', lit. 'Liberal Protestant Radio Broadcaster', nowadays known as ''Omroepvereniging VPRO'') is a Netherlands, Dutch Public broadcasting, public broadca ...

France2 France 2 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...

Radio France Radio France () is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist media, generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed wi ...

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the g ...

, and

RTL4 RTL 4 (Radio Télévision Luxembourg 4) is a Dutch free TV channel; it is the most-watched commercial station in the country, popular especially with those aged between 20 and 49. RTL 4 is a general entertainment channel with infotainment, televi ...

Discography

* 1997 ''Boi Akih'' (Invitation/EMI, 1997) * 2000 ''Above the Clouds, Among the Roots'' (A Records, 2000) * 2003 ''Uwa i'' (

Enja Enja Records is a German jazz record company and label based in Munich which was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971. The label's first release was by Mal Waldron, and early releases included European and Jap ...

, 2004) * 2005 ''Lagu Lagu'' (Boiakih, 2005) * 2007 ''Yalelol'' (Enja, 2007) * 2012 '' Circles in a Square Society'' * 2016 ''Liquid Songs'' * 2017 ''Lagu Lagu 2'' * 2020 ''Storyteller'' (BROMO Sena) * 2023 ''From and to Infinity''

External links

Boi Akih in Vrije Geluiden Sessies live 2020

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boi Akih Chamber jazz ensembles Folk jazz musicians Dutch jazz ensembles Musical groups established in 1997 Dutch world music groups Enja Records artists