Friday, March 02, 2007

Fela Kuti - Black Man's Cry 1988 @256

Time to return to World music, here's the originator of Afrobeat in fine form. Note the appearance of Cream's Ginger Baker on this one, although you'll be hard pressed to notice.

Here's an informed review:

"Fela Kuti was the Nigerian born purveyor of funky tribal beats which continue to shake the world's foundations. A recent casualty of the AIDS virus ravaging all of Africa, Kuti lived and played hard. Like Bob Marley, his music had strong consciousness raising power mixed into its heavy afro-funk rhythms. His political messages were not lost on the Nigerian military dictatorship he often sang about, and Kuti was imprisoned on several occasions. Still, he never lost sight of the fact that the music was as important as the message, and his bands were always tight and talented enough to muster much groove. A disciple of James Brown, Kuti masterfully used horns as part of his rhythm section to great affect. He added a strong dose of African percussion, fat bass lines, and some electrified instruments like pianos, organs, or guitars to complicate the rhythm hypnotically. On this live recording, the newly formed Africa '70 is joined by former-Cream drummer and fan, Ginger Baker. Baker, amazingly, fits right in, showing a restraint and intensity seldom found in showy rock drummers during his single solo on "Ye Ye De Smell." But Baker's presence is little more than a side show here, as it is the cumulative power of the band as a whole that really shapes the album's thickly layered grooves. Kuti's prowess on the keyboards is in strong evidence throughout, adding the necessary color and melodic voicing over the throbbing rhythm. His voice is raw with soul power. The band behind him is relentless, pushing forward into some of the hardest funk territory ever explored in the African continent, particularly on Kuti's hit, "Black Man's Cry." As a newly formed unit, this band was out to prove just how bad-ass they really were, and this jamming performance from Kuti's early days demonstrates just how well they succeeded."

John Ballon

1. Let's Start 7:51
2. Black Man's Cry 12:12
3. Ye Ye De Smell 12:35
4. Egbe Mi O 12:15
5. Alu Jon Jonki Jon 12:44
6. Egbe Mi O 7:08

Fela Kuti: Vocals, Keyboards, Saxophone
Ginger Baker: Drums, Percussion
Tunde Williams: Trumpet
Eddie Faychum: Trumpet
Igo Chiko: Tenor Sax
Lekan Animashaun: Baritone Sax
Peter Animashaun: Rhythm Guitar
Maurice Ekpo: Bass Guitar
Tony Allen: Drums
Henry Koffi: 1st Conga
Friday Jumbo: 2nd Conga
Akwesi Korranting: 3rd Conga
Tony Abayomi: Sticks
Isaac Olaleye: Shekere

Enjoy!

Links in comments.

15 comments:

micaus said...

The links are:

http://lix.in/d9ba43

http://lix.in/306923

Unknown said...

So how come the second link takes me to a file called Kott-_Live_Syd_2.rar?

Anonymous said...

Hello,
Just so you know:
- CD 1 doesn't have the same tracklisting as the one provided in the post,
- CD 2 doesn't have anything to do... It's a country music CD by Leo Kottke...

Anonymous said...

The second link is wrong

dalston shopper said...

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Laruchis said...

Hi!
Thx a lot for all the music.
And specially your hard work.
I do appreciate.
Is there a chance to u/l track #4 from Don Bradshaw-Leather - ''Distance Between Us''?
Thx again.
Laruchis.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the post. Always enjoy Fela and Afrobeat

Anonymous said...

Thanks Micaus, but you did a MISTAKE. The second link is a show by guitarrist Leo Kottke. The first link contains the first four songs of Fela Kuti's albumn. Please, post the rest. thanks in advance, Mark.

Anonymous said...

a must have ;-) so i do
i only hope to find one day
black president
that would make me scream
greetings

Anonymous said...

2nd link is wrong ! it's not Fela Kuti.

Anonymous said...

You can try these links fron another blog.

http://lix.ib/dpba43

http://lix.in/9f88c1


--deadmanstar--

Anonymous said...

THANKS --deadmanstar--

This link you gave us is a correct one.

http://lix.in/9f88c1 (tracks 5 and 6)

Erpmaster

micaus said...

Just noticed the confusion here, the correct links are:

http://lix.in/d9ba43

http://lix.in/9f88c1

Many, many serious aplogies. I normally check the links to ensure they are correct, but this one slipped under the quality control.

Anonymous said...

fisa de puta
your pw is wrong

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