We first heard of Stockholm’s High Life party last summer when our good friend headed to Sweden to rock the decks there. Summer’s gone, leafs are turning yellow and red, but the highlife heat is still rumbling under the surface… so get ready Stockholm! This is a Sunday gig, so expect more old school, mellow sounds from BBRAVE, Congolese rumba, highlife and juju at the core, with tidbits of zouk, Brazilian funk and more interspersed in there… oh and Anna and Seb sound like really nice people – with fantastic taste, so tell your Swedish friends to hop by!

Onyenze – “Onwu” (Akwaaba Music) from Akwaaba Music on Vimeo.

Onyenze grew up in the shadow of his uncle, the late great Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe, a highlife legend at home in Nigeria, but also abroad: Onyenze saw his uncle tour the world several times, spreading the sounds of the Eastern Nigerian Ebo Highlife. With his uncle gone, Onyenze carries on the tradition, in particular with Livin Dey Highlife, his newest album, a good way to celebrate Nigerian independence! Sneak peak on Onyenze’s brand spankin’ new myspace page.

Classix is a new monthly party that you can depend on! Every month Classix will challenge dj’s to dig deep in the crates and bring out only the truly classic ish. Maybe it’s a jackin’ Chicago house track from ‘89, a bumpin’ re-edit of an old disco jam, a hip-hop golden oldie or the newest future classic. These will be nights to remember. These nights will be Classix.

DJs:
Liza Richardson (KCRW)
Trick Turner (Juxtaphone)
BBRAVE (Akwaaba Music)
Heidi (heidi.la)

Saturday August 01, 2009, 10om – 4am, 3820 Willat Ave., $5 door, cash bar.

Kofi is a Ghanaian highlife legend. We met today and I listened to a few of his albums. He formed the Okukuseku International Band in Accra in 1969, released music throughout the 70s and became one of Ghana’s top acts by the time he left for Nigeria in 1979. He kept recording in Eastern Nigeria, incorporating musical elements from this other highlife hotbed. He now lives between Ghana and Nigeria and occasionally plays for Ghanaians abroad, but has yet to truly breakthrough. Akwaaba’s hoping to re-release and probably remaster some of his great highlife. For the time being all we could find online were these – out of stock last time we checked, but the covers alone are worth checking!