Koeju :: BILAL (US) & Live Band

Basic formula: Using acoustic and electronic instruments to create live club beats + a lot of outstanding guest artists, contributing with new ideas and vibes. We've got the honour of presenting BILAL himself with a full live band, so get ready for an extraordinary evening!   //  Doors open 21:00

GUEST ACTS:

BILAL & LIVE BAND :: Excellent vocalist & neo soul pioneer.

AMINA SEWALI :: Soulful & innovative approach to live beats.

ANJA ELINE SKYBAKMOEN :: World of voice. Vocal sample experiment.

SULEKHA ALI OMAR & FADLABI :: Improvisation :: Dance & videodrawing.

YASIR AL-MAJID & SAFAA AL-SAADI :: Seductive arabic rhythms & melodies. Club-reworks.

BLOCO AFRO - CAPOEIRA ANGOLA (OSLO) :: Percussion orchestra.

BILAL

Bilal Sayeed Oliver, better known by his stage name Bilal, is an American neo soul and jazz singer-songwriter and musician, who is also a member of the loose collective, the Soulquarians.

In 2001, he released his debut album 1st Born Second, which featured contributions from the Soulquarians as well as high profile producers such as Dr. Dre. The album, while critically lauded, failed to achieve any significant mainstream success, and received limited promotion (although the single "Soul Sista" became fairly popular on late night alternative radio). Despite this, Bilal managed to gain a sizable following and high attendance at his live shows, as well as much acclaim and respect from his peers, many whom noted his range and ability to sing in a freeform style, and his classically trained falsetto.

In 2002, Bilal contributed to the critically acclaimed Red Hot + Riot, a compilation CD created by the Red Hot Organization in tribute to the music and work of Nigerian musician, Fela Kuti, that raised money for various charities devoted to raising AIDS awareness and fighting the disease. He collaborated with fellow hip-hop artists Dead Prez, Talib Kweli, and Jorge Ben to remake the famous song by Fela Kuti, "Shuffering and Shmiling," for the CD.

In the following years Bilal continued to appear on projects by other artists both high profile and avant garde, while recording and developing his follow-up set to be released on Interscope Records and featuring contributions primarily from producers Dr. Dre and J Dilla (as heard by Dilla himself). These plans proved to be changeable and the final result, Love For Sale, was an album that appeared to be built around Bilal's own musicianship, with many of the tracks produced and written by the artist himself except "Something to hold onto" was produced by grammy award producer Nottz. However, near the album's completion, Interscope delayed the release date, then shelved the album indefinitely, hinting that it saw little commercial potential in it since it had already leaked online in its entirety. Online, many fans and music critics expressed their sadness that what they viewed as a carefully crafted album would be kept from a proper release. Bilal signed to Plug Research in 2009. His third album Airtight's Revenge was released September 14, 2010. Bilal has said in interviews that the album's inspiration came from the struggles of dealing with the fallout from Love For Sale. Bilal continues to tour in 2010.

KOÈJU PROJECT

Koèju is a club concept, which has established an unique combination of electronic and acoustic live music. Always with lots of guest artists, new song material and pulsating rhythms for the dancefloor. After a successful winter season with regular clubnights at Nomaden in Oslo, the Koèju project has moved to the live music / club venue at Blå.

I årene som fulgte ble det konserter og klubbopptredener på diverse steder i Oslo/Bergen som Landmark, MS Innvik, Sosialen, Emil og Samuel, Mogador, og i flere andre land, bl.a. med en rekke klubbkvelder i Shanghai i 2007 sammen med pipaspiller Tong Lan og VJ ExitNor. I september 2009 begynte en ny serie med med sessions på Nomaden, denne gangen i større format, og med et nytt musikkkonsept (inkl. gjesteartister) hver uke. Det etablerte seg raskt som et møtepunkt for musikere, mye på grunn av en litt uvanlige beatbasert jam session rettet mot et dansende publikum. Blandt gjesteartistene var Celio de Carvalho, Steinar Ofsdal, Selecta Harmony, Becaye Aw, Kenneth Ekornes, Per Zanussi, Andre Roligheten, Luison Capote, Luis Landa-Schreitt, Sara Chen, Dominic Reuben, og Underdogs International.

Koèju Sessions 2011:  6. May, 3. Jun, 1. Jul, 5. Aug, 2. Sep, 7. Oct, 4. Nov, 2. Dec