‘When you listen to the music, you really feel that you’re joining us on our travels’
Interview with Monica Akihary
The new septet
A new duo album
Projects and touring
This year’s North Sea Jazz Festival saw the debut of a new septet under the name of Boi Akih. The constantly evolving group around core members Monica Akihary, eminent vocal improviser, and composer-guitarist Niels Brouwer, has started writing a new chapter in their book of borderless musical discovery. In the meantime, the date for a new duo album release has been set as well. We asked Monica to tell us more.
The new septet
‘For this edition of the North Sea Jazz Festival, Niels composed a whole new project, entitled Entangled, for a beautiful lineup. On drums, we have Mike Reed from Chicago, on trumpet Peter Somuah and then two players from Paris: on clarinet Hélène Duret and on tuba Fanny Meteier. We also bring in cello player Joshua Herwig. Niels is playing guitar and, of course, I’m the vocalist. The nice thing about the sound is that on one side there are the beautiful arrangements Niels writes – sometimes it feels like you are listening to an orchestra – but on the other side you have the input of various combinations within the group. Sometimes you have a duo or a trio improvisation and that makes it really interesting.’
What is the story behind this new work?
‘The funny thing is, we were supposed to do this concert with a totally different kind of group. But last November we were performing with Hélène and Fanny in Strasbourg at the Jazzdor. And a month after that, I also met Mike Reed, we heard him performing at the BIMHUIS. We thought his playing was amazing. I think we really needed this kind of musician, who feels all the entanglement actually flowing in and out of the music and who can make dialogues all together. And the sound of these musicians together is really something else.
‘Can you take care of the world,
of mankind, of nature? That’s actually the theme
that we want to explain musically to the audience.’
Also, the way Niels composes the music; there are different levels to it. And when you listen to the music, you really feel that you’re joining us on our travels. Maybe even search with us: what is this world that we live in today? Putting question marks and also thinking about how all the ancestors used to live. Can you take care of the world, of mankind, of nature? That’s actually the theme that we want to explain musically to the audience.’
What was your own impression of the North Sea gig? And how did you manage the new lineup to get settled in time?
‘At the beginning of that week in July, all the musicians came to Amsterdam for a number of rehearsals and the series of concerts we played at Brebl in Nijmegen, TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, the North Sea Jazz Festival, and a finale at the BIMHUIS. In just one week, we got to know each other both musically and personally. It was all about understanding and discovering the music, how to shape the pieces – and also your own role within the composition. That was a fantastic challenge, especially because of the different musical backgrounds of the musicians. We bring together classical, jazz and improvisation, traditional music from Europe, Africa, North America, Indonesia – and with that we work to understand and interpret Niels’ composition. One feels that everyone is searching and exploring, while at the same time wanting the best for the music and the whole. Everyone contributes and shows their qualities. It’s been a week in which you learn to trust each other, so you can support each other while playing.
‘The performance at the NSJF was our third concert in the series. Every venue is different: from a small, intimate alternative setting like Brebl to a large hall, where the placement of the musicians is very important. The sound of the band and the music must always come into its own. Working with our own sound engineer is very important in this regard. This was also the case at North Sea Jazz: the Missouri is a beautiful venue. Our engineer made sure that we could be on stage in our own sound and our own atmosphere. We could continue to respond well to each other – both in the compositional and free parts. There, too, everyone was playing with concentration, giving that extra something to the music. We could sense it was played with increasing intensity.’
A new duo album
You have signed a record deal at jazzahead! this year, you told me. Is the new material already recorded?
‘During jazzahead! 2025 we had the final discussions for the release of our new album. It is now planned for the spring of 2026, our third album with enja/yellowbird records. We are already playing the material live, precisely to ensure that you can really feel the music and have the freedom to play with the pieces. As a duo, you have enormous freedom on the one hand, but it also has to be very precise. We are now in the process of finding the right place to record. We have a number of options and are listening and looking carefully to see where the guitar and vocals come into their own. A place that feels like home, where the acoustics give you the sense that you can play anything, because the music is carried and embraced by the resonance of the space.’
Projects and touring
What else is going on in your musical world at this moment?
‘In addition to preparing for our new album, Niels has been working hard over the past month as producer and guitarist for Ghanaian singer and kologo player Atongo Zimba on his new album Climate Voices. We recorded the basic tracks for this album here in Amsterdam at the end of July. Atongo came to Amsterdam especially for this, staying for a week. In 2007, Niels also produced an album for Atongo, inviting a number of musicians who often played with Boi Akih, just like this year.
‘At the end of October, we will tour Ghana, together with Saskia Meijs on viola, and drummer Michael Vatcher. Prior to that trip, we will first do a duo tour through Indonesia. This time we will only play on Java, mainly in Jakarta and Yogyakarta. The artist collective Ruangrupa, who were curator of Dokumenta 2022 in Kassel, have invited us as a duo to the Synchronize Festival, a festival that focuses on music and musicians from Indonesia, from jazz to pop and more. For us as Boi Akih, it is an honor to be invited to perform there.
‘This fall, we also have a number of great concerts in our own country, including a performance for the Prix de Annelie de Man in Orgelpark in Amsterdam. For this, Niels will arrange the music we played at North Sea Jazz, this time for organs, harpsichord, modular synthesizer, guitars, and vocals.’
Find out more about Boi Akih:
- Website: Boi Akih
Text by Mark van Schaick
Photo Boi Akih Duo and photo Boy Edgar Award by Maarten Mooijman