At Bossaphonik’s festive season event on Friday December 19th we welcome back one of our most popular and long enduring acts, the South London Afro-dub titans – Soothsayers.
Soothsayers are an institution of the capital’s global music scene, having consistently refined their sound since their formation way back in 1998. In that time they have released 11 studio albums of sonically adventurous dub, reggae, Afrobeat and Afrojazz vibrations that exude a joy of life and music. They are now taking a triumphant 25 year anniversary tour with this gig at Bossaphonik being their final date. They’ve released a new celebratory album “Fly Higher” to mark their extraordinary longevity which will be performed for us and more as a full 7 piece line up. The new album has already received much radio exposure and demonstrates Soothsayers passion for creating universally uplifting and meaningful music burning as strongly as ever.
The band were originally formed by the legendary Soothsayers horns of trumpeter Robin Hopcraft and saxophonist Idris Rahman who lay down joyous horn lines and together with the sublime vocals of Julia Biel they also deliver thrilling 3 part vocal harmonies with lyrics reflecting on social problems and political pitfalls. Soothsayers’ reputation as a high calibre live band along with being innovative studio producers has led to high profile collaborations with world famous Jamaican reggae figures such as Johnny Clarke, Cornell Campbell and Michael Prophet as well as hugely respected UK dub reggae luminaries Mad Professor, Earl 16 and Manesseh. Soothsayers horns have featured regularly in other global music bands of the capital such as Dele Sosimi, Yaaba Funk and Afrospot Allstars and have collaborated with Aswad, Anoushka Shankar and many more. The horns were also part of the onstage band at the musical “Fela!” which ran at the National Theatre, showcasing the life of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti.
Soothsayers cite their key influences as The Wailers, Fela Kuti, Lee “Scratch” Perry, The Skatalites, The Specials, Hugh Masekela, Roots Manuva, Massive Attack and King Tubby. They are signed to the hip jazz dance label Wah Wah 45s and the band have performed at large scale international festivals and venues such as Glastonbury, the main stage at Womad Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Dhaka World Music Festival, London Jazz Festival, Barbados World Music Festival and more. They have played live radio sessions on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio London, BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service, Jazz FM and more.
“The grooves are solid, the playing immaculate and the three-part vocal harmonies the icing on the cake” The Independent on Sunday
“One of the finest slices of Anglo-Caribbean fusion since The Specials in their prime… artfully mixing in funk and afrobeat into their deep dub.” Uncut Magazine
“A deep reggae rhythm section is always a pleasure; so too is an afrojazz horn section – put the two together and add some seriously cool singers and some speaker squeezing sonic manipulation and you have a party hit on your hands.” Jazz FM
Check out a live video of the song “Love is still the answer” from the new album “Fly Higher”:
Check out a video of the band performing “Irie” at Freedom Sounds Festival 2024:
Check out the full new Soothsayers album “Fly Higher” on their bandcamp page (please support the artists):
https://soothsayers.bandcamp.com/album/fly-higher
Following on from Soothsayers is a Bossaphonik club session with resident DJ Dan Ofer & DJ Badger treating the dancefloor til 1:30am to the sounds of…
Jazz Funk * Afrobeat * Afro Jazz * Reggae * Brazilica * Latin Jazz * Cumbia * Global Hip Hop * Balkan Beats * Middle Eastern Delights * Soul Jazz * Electro Swing * Global Grooves Galore * Nu Jazz Bizniz!
Friday 19th December
Bossaphonik Presents Soothsayers + Bossaphonik DJs
Cowley Workers Social Club, Between Towns Road. OX4 3LZ (Near Templars Square Shopping Centre. Regular buses 1 and 5 go from city centre up Cowley Road and back til 2:55am, stopping opposite the venue)
8pm – 1:30am. Band on at 9:30pm
£14 advance + £1.40 booking fee (wegottickets.com) / £16 student ID on door / £19 door
Hope to see you there!
Also check out other Entertainment events in Oxford, Music events in Oxford, Festivals in Oxford.
