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Part 13 - The Complete Works of Fela Anikulapo Kuti
by Freddy Charles
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 ...
Continue ReadingPart 12 - Fela Anikulapo Kuti: Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense
by Chris May
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 ...
Continue ReadingPart 11 - Knitting Factory releases Fela Kuti "Zombie" batch
by Chris May
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 ...
Continue ReadingPart 10 - Knitting Factory hits Fela Kuti purple patch
by Chris May
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, ...
Continue ReadingPart 9 - Fela Kuti Live In Berlin 1978
by Chris May
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.
Continue ReadingPart 8 - Knitting Factory rolls out Fela Kuti reissue program (continued)
by Chris May
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 ...
Continue ReadingPart 7 - Knitting Factory rolls out Fela Kuti reissue program
by Chris May
Following the release of its The Best Of The Black President sampler in November 2009, New York's Knitting Factory has cut to the main event in its Fela Kuti reissue program. The label, which is scheduled to release all of Kuti's albums during 2010, put out the first batch of six discs in February. Titled the “Chop 'n' Quench" batch (after the title of an early single), the discs cover the years 1964-74, Afrobeat's formative years. They contain nine albums ...
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