Azubike is a bass player, multi-instrumentalist, composer and teacher from Amsterdam. Besides performing as a soloist he is a member of Urban Chaos, Ante Medić Octet, 12 Tribes of Mars, Carolina Brusse Quartet, LIKEMINDS, Douce Ambiance, Brandon Delagraentiss & The Gospel Experience. Azubike teaches bass guitar, band coaching, composition, solfège and music theory.

Born on 31 July 1995, in the colourful neighbourhood of Amsterdam Zuidoost, he began playing music at the age of 12. He started off on guitar, studying under Guillermo Celano, and after a few months definitively switched to electric bass, studying under Rodrigo Reijers. Initially his playing was influenced by the hours and hours of music he heard playing when growing up: Jazz, Soul, Funk, Reggae & Blues as well as Classical- and Early music. Rodrigo’s teachings opened him up to improvisation, interplay, philosophy behind music and eventually inspired him to study at the Conservatory of Amsterdam (CvA).

Already in his teens he started playing in different bands such as Fufu, Les Biftecs, Joëll Wilson Quintet, Kauw and The Ish. During this period he followed the Junior Jazz College preparatory course at the CvA for two years and won the 1st prize of the Prinses Christina Jazz Concours with the Joëll Wilson Quintet in 2011 and the 1st prize of the Amsterdamse Muziekprijs with Kauw in 2012.

Later he studied at the CvA and finished his Jazz Bass guitar bachelors degree in 2017. Here he began to expand his interests into other genres such as Jazz fusion, Hindustani classical music, Baroque, EDM and West African music. In these years he also frequented jamsessions such as Amsterjam and eventually hosted his own weekly session in the CC Muziekcafé. All while performing regularly at clubs and festivals, sometimes playing as much as 4 concerts per day. This helped him to perfect his craft and put all the teachings of the CvA into practise.

By now Azubike has established himself as a versatile international musician with allround live- and studio experience, capable of interpreting many different styles tastefully & skilfully and thinking outside of the box. Having been raised in a culturally rich and diverse neighbourhood and having both Dutch and Nigerian roots, Azubike always looks to find the common ground between seemingly distant areas: “To me, different genres of music are like different dialects of the same language; if you look deep enough you can always find a connection between them. Essentially they’re just different ways of delivering the same universal message“.

Bach on Bass: Cello Suite No.1
In 2022 Azubike started a solo project in which he approaches the bass guitar as a classical instrument. He performs classical works such as the Cello suites, violin partitas & Chromatic Fantasy by J.S. Bach on the electric bass as if it were the original instrument for which those pieces were written. “To me, the fact that after hundreds of years these compositions still work on an instrument the composer couldn’t have dreamt of, is a testament to the ingenuity of these works“. From a Baroque point of view, the bass guitar comes closest to some sort of bass lute or theorbo yet it is still quite different. After hearing parts of his ‘Cello Suite No.1’ Fuensanta Mendez described the sound “as if a harpsichord and an organ had a baby together“. Coincidentally, Azubike actually took both harpsichord and organ as minor subjects during his time at the Conservatory.
So far Cello Suite No.1 has been recorded and at the moment Azubike is working on recording the other 5 suites as well as other classical works on the bass guitar. “Ofcourse, we know the bass guitar from large & loud stages. But it rarely appears in more intimate classical settings as a solo instrument. I do believe this instrument has great potential in this area and I have high hopes for the development of its repertoire this coming century!“

Noteworthy performances include the following:

  • 2015 concert with Kauw in Wernershöhe (DE)

  • 2016 3FM radio & DWDD tv performances with Nicole Bus

  • 2017 “Moments“ UK tour with Nai Barghouti

  • 2017 “De Stijl“ NL tour with Nationaal Jeugd Orkest

  • 2018 Tour in Palestine with Nai Barghouti

  • 2018 Jeppis Landis Jazz Festival (FI) with Son Swagga

  • 2018 Womex Festival Gran Canaria (ES) with Son Swagga

  • 2019 North Sea Jazz Festival (NL) with Son Swagga

  • 2022 Tour with Etuk Ubong through Satu Mare (RO), Roskilde festival (DK) & Afrikafestival Hertme (NL)

  • 2023 Concert with Maher Zain at MuslimFest Mississauga (CA)

  • 2024 Urban Chaos tour through Canada