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This August Bossaphonik celebrates 16 years of uplifting live jazz world dance music in Oxford!
To mark the occasion we have a very special double-bill of superb live bands.

Soma Soma

Bristol?s Anglo-Brazilian groovers have successfully pulled off a clever blend of Afro-Latin influences that can only be defined as their own Soma Soma sound. A meeting point of the delicate Brazilian bossa nova of Jorge Ben with the modern dynamite Ghanaian highlife experience of Pat Thomas. Soma Soma are an 8 piece collective featuring songs sung in Brazilian Portuguese, their winding compositions feature soaring Afrobeat-style horns and grooving percussion delivering an emotionally vibrant experience which will instantly transport you to sunnier climes.

Originally formed in 2011 in Falmouth, Cornwall, the band reformed in Bristol incorporating a larger line up in 2017 and released their debut LP ?Saudade? on the Mintaka label. A second studio LP ?Agua Viva? dropped last spring. Some past highlights of the band include playing at Shambala Festival?s legendary Barrio Afrika stage, the Wilderness Festival main stage, Tropical Pressure Festival also supporting the mighty Dele Sosimi.

??Saudade? expresses not only a very special heartwarming nostalgia, but it also manages to find a combination of Brazilian percussion and Afrobeat brass lines that is hard to find elsewhere.?
Tigre Sounds

?Its like being on holiday?
BBC Radio Bristol

Check out some videos on the Soma Soma website:
https://somasoma.co.uk/

Check out their new album Agua Viva on their bandcamp page:
https://somasoma.bandcamp.com/album/gua-viva

Azhaar Saffar & Global Wave

Playing before Soma Soma is vocalist/violinist/composer Azhaar Saffar and her band Global Wave. Azhaar established her reputation fronting and co-writing with highly regarded Brazilian jazz act Sirius B, who featured twice in Bossaphonik?s early days back in 2006. The band reached number 1 in the Jazz FM playlist charts and Japanese Brazilian music chart, they were also regulars at Camden?s Jazz Cafe.

After a period of living a nomadic lifestyle travelling and touring in South America, Azhaar returned to the UK and worked on a new personal project, Global Wave. The sound is in some ways a continuation of the Brazilian fusion grooves of Sirius B but casts a wider net focusing on groovy soul jazz with Latin and Brazilian foundations. Within this new band she adds her virtuosic highly melodic jazz violin into the groove. Azhaar composed much of the music during inspired times spent exploring jungles and surfing.

Global Wave?s debut LP ?Original Love? was released in 2018 and features jazz-dance percussionist/DJ giant Snowboy on production and renowned jazz flautist Gareth Lockrane. The album received a big thumbs up from the jazz dance community and has received much international radio air play.

?One of the most distinctive acts on the jazz world scene? Andy Roberts BBC Radio Wales

?Azhaar expresses herself with grounded experience, full of joy and passion? Fernando Rose

Check out the Global Wave album here:
www.azhaarsaffar.com/music1-1

And a live video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7FYufkbiPs
Following the live bands as ever at Bossaphonik is a club session with DJs Dan Ofer & DJ Badger keeping the dancefloor alive til 1:30am with?
jazz Funk * Afrobeat * Afro Jazz * Brazilica * Latin Jazz * Cumbia * Latin Hip Hop * Balkan Beats * Electro Swing * Soul Jazz * Global Grooves * Nu Jazz Bizniz!

Friday 19th August
Bossaphonik 16th anniversary double bill special
Soma Soma + Azhaar Saffar & Global Wave live + Bossaphonik club session
Cowley Workers Social Club (Between Towns Road, OX4 3LZ. Close to Cowley Templars Square Shopping Centre. Bus 1/5/10 from City Centre goes up Cowley Road, stops directly outside the venue and runs til 3am)

See ya there!

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Between Towns Road,

Oxford,

Oxfordshire,

England,

OX4 3LZ.