Got back from hmv to shop for old skul fela cds, got myself 'stalemate/fefe ne efe, confusion/gentleman
and just reminising about the good old day back in lagos nigeria.That guy was a musical genius, how many musicians do you know ,that their music still stands the test of time 20 to 30 years later ? not too many.
He rates with people like robert nesta marley, john coltrane, duke ellington,marvin gaye,monk etc were you listen to music played way ,way back and its still relevant to today.Fela sang 'shuffering and shmiling' i think it was 1980's and we all thought, he was smoking too much marijuana, but check naija too day,
what he said is all there!!, that is the mark of a genius, a man with foresight.... Take 'gentleman', the opening arrangement is nothing short of 'classic'.Fela's music was all about 'mountains and valleys, he takes you up there, bring you down gently and lifts you up once again and in the mix of it all is 'baba 70' .
For those that want to research fela i personally feel a good starting point is zombie, mr follow follow, teacher dont teach me nonesense would be a good starting point.
I think he was at his creative best in the 70's were he created classics like lady, shakara, kalakuta show.Tony allen(afrobeat co-creator & drummer )tony allen was the only person in the whole of afrika 70 fela didnt write a part to play.when tony allen left the band fela kept on changing drummers and at a time had two drummers to recreate the 'tony allen afrobeat'
Fela has created a genre that has been copy, chopped or recreated from as far a field as canada, america and europe ...Nu afrobeaters to check out are Mr Something Something, Ultra Magnus, Chicago afrobeat project, akoya afobeat ensemble, antibalas . All these nu groups come highly recommended and also not forgetting the Princes Femi & Seun kuti still keeping the flag flying!!Seun is leading his dad's old band and femi's doing his thing at the new africa shrine in ikeja lagos nigeria
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