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356

Afrobeat Diaries

Part 20 - ?uestlove Curates Fela Kuti Vinyl Box

by Freddy Charles
February 27, 2011

Fela Anikulapo KutiFela Vinyl Box Set 1Knitting Factory Records2011 With the release of the eight-CD and download collection Fela Power Show: Batch 4, two of the strands in Knitting Factory Records' high-end Fela Kuti reissue project have come to a conclusion. All of Kuti's albums are now available on CD and download (and additionally, via Britain's Wrasse Records, collected in one all-encompassing box set, the 27-disc The Complete Works Of Fela ...

712

Afrobeat Diaries

Part 13 - The Complete Works of Fela Anikulapo Kuti

by Freddy Charles
November 11, 2010

Fela Anikulapo KutiThe Complete Works Of Fela Anikulapo KutiWrasse Records2010 Who knew? Who imagined, even a few years ago, that the life and music of Fela Anikulapo Kuti would inspire the biggest Broadway musical sensation of 2010 and the concurrent release of this lovingly put together, definitive collection of his recorded work? Kuti's fans have long proclaimed his relevance to all times and to all peoples, but to see the dawn ...

334

Afrobeat Diaries

Part 12 - Fela Anikulapo Kuti: Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense

by Chris May
September 13, 2010

Fela Anikulapo Kuti & Egypt 80Teacher Don't Teach Me NonsenseWrasse Records2001 (1986) During the latter half of the 1980s, Fela Anikulapo Kuti's international star waned a little, as Congolese rumba and Malian desert blues became the new world music flavors of the moment. And in 2010, even a portion of the Afrobeat audience tends to underestimate Kuti's later work. But 1986's Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense, along with albums such as ...

748

Afrobeat Diaries

Part 11 - Knitting Factory releases Fela Kuti "Zombie" batch

by Chris May
September 9, 2010

Knitting Factory Records' meticulous, immaculately packaged and altogether exemplary Fela Kuti reissue program reaches its third, broadly chronological chapter with the six-disc “Zombie" batch, comprising eleven LPs originally released between 1976--1980. The batch chronicles Kuti's music from shortly before the Nigerian army's destruction of his live/work commune, Kalakuta Republic, in 1977, through that outrage's aftermath, and up to the cusp of the dissolution of Afrika 70 and the formation of its successor band, Egypt 80. It was ...

651

Afrobeat Diaries

Part 10 - Knitting Factory hits Fela Kuti purple patch

by Chris May
June 20, 2010

Knitting Factory's comprehensive, multi-format, Fela Kuti reissue program hits a new high with its second salvo, the “Na Poi" batch, released in May 2010. The seven discs span 1974-77, a remarkably prolific and creative time even by the Afrobeat originator's own standards. As with the first “Chop 'n' Quench" batch--reviewed in Part 7 and Part 8 of the Afrobeat Diaries--each disc in the latest batch pairs two of Kuti's original vinyl LPs. First up, ...

464

Afrobeat Diaries

Part 9 - Fela Kuti Live In Berlin 1978

by Chris May
March 31, 2010

Fela KutiAnthology 2Wrasse Records2010 (1975-80) This terrific three-disc compilation on the British label Wrasse offers a gold standard selection of Fela Kuti's recordings from the latter half of the 1970s. The 11 tracks featured on the two audio discs include eight landmark album tracks, and a 90-minute DVD contains four more pieces performed at the 1978 Berlin Jazz Festival. The video footage has not previously been released in its entirety.

526

Afrobeat Diaries

Part 8 - Knitting Factory rolls out Fela Kuti reissue program (continued)

by Chris May
March 11, 2010

Part 7 of The Afrobeat Diaries reviewed the first three discs in Knitting Factory's launch batch of Fela Kuti reissues, the six-disc “Chop 'N' Quench" batch. The first three discs span the years 1964-72, and follow Kuti's music as it evolved from the highlife-jazz hybrid of the mid 1960s to the almost fully formed Afrobeat of the early 1970s. Part 8 reviews the three discs comprising the second half of the “Chop 'N' Quench" batch, taking the ...