Chris May edited Black Music & Jazz Review (UK).
Writer and broadcaster Chris May worked for Celluloid Records, the vehicle for Bill Laswell's pre-Axiom productions. Before that he edited the magazine Black Music & Jazz Review. His books include Vibes From The Scribes (Pluto), an anthology of work by the Last Poets, and African Music: The Pop Music Of A Continent (Quartet, Picador), an overview of electric African music. Alongside jazz, another big love is Afrobeat. May was the first overseas journalist to visit and interview Fela Kuti following the Nigerian army's sack of Kalakuta in 1977. In 2010, he wrote the liner notes for Wrasse Records' The Complete Works Of Fela Kuti boxset (UK), and for releases in Knitting Factory Records' Kuti reissue program (US). Early in 2011, he undertook a lecture tour of the UK titled Fela And Me, alongside Rikki Stein, Kuti's longtime manager, and Ghariokwu Lemi, creator of many of Kuti's album cover designs. He is currently completing a history of Afrobeat, and is music writer for the newly-launched London style/history/culture magazine Jocks&Nerds.
