fela live

in the true spirit of cross-promotion one blog posting promotes another
a few weeks ago i started a little project documenting 50 unique world music styles
as presented by songlines magazine in an article of last year
one of the first styles covered is that of afro-beat out of nigeria
nowhere in african music can the cross-pollination with black american rhythms be heard more thrillingly than in the sound of fela kuti
after briefly moving to the u s in 1969, he returned to lagos in the early 70's to create afro-beat
a mighty simmering stew of african rhythms, call-and-response vocals, brooding horns, jazz flavours
and a funk outrageous enough to make james brown blush
quite a few years ago i laid my hands on this dvd featuring fela kuti titled fela live
recorded in concert at the glastonbury festival in eng-er-land
tonight i dug it out fired up the projector and sat back to take it all in
i don't know much about fela kuti beyond the musical and invention of a complete genre
but it seems he must have done that in his spare time
a quick check of wikipedia provides a daunting list of facts
calling him politically active would be like saying nelson mandala was a member of the anc
this chap ran for president of nigeria on several occassions
has been imprisoned on supposed false charges by the military dictatorship of nigeria
successfully created his own republic independent of nigeria
worked actively to create a united republic of africa
and along the way true to his polygamist views married 27 women
which may well explain his death in 1997 from an aids related illness
his funeral apparantly was attended by no less than 1 million people
a brief introduction at the start of the film sees a smiling and happy fela
explaining it is impossible for him to not have 'politic' in his music - you see
then he is on stage and introducing the first tune called cbb - confusion break bones
as for the music well even for a lo-fi 1981 recording of an outside concert
it's very infectious and though jazz/funk oriented the music is absolutely unique
something to do no doubt with the complex african rhythm
that i recall miles davis himself said he could not possibly begin to get
quote - i may be black but i'm not african - unquote
fela cuts an imposing figure on stage
starts out in a very in vogue 80's cat suit
but before long stripped to the waist with his sinewy body on display
and prowls the stage laying his hands on organ, clarinet and african drums at times
a lot of the time he is directing the large 20 piece band
giving the look of death at times presumably to some errant dancer or musician
mind you the same look seems to be constantly applied to the audience
whitey english folk late at night probably waiting for phil collins to come on stage
my suspicions are the crowd are not all big supporters of the main man
but the focus of attention is on the stage and the sight of a very raw band at work
loose but then again cutting in and out, soloing , or playing in unison at ease
it's a strange off-key kind of sound that takes a while to tune into but then is engrossing
the first tune has to be close to 30 minutes long and includes an audience singalong
intermission comes in the form of another interview with fela
talking in a happy animated manner about his upbringing and experiences
particularly education and his observation of the respect teachers are given in africa
that he did not see in his time living in england
this is working up to the introduction of the next and final tune called tdtmn
teacher don't teach me nonsense
the basis of the tune taken from the word demo-cracy and altered to be demo-crazy
a demonstration of craziness - now bearing in mind this is 1981 that is hugely prophetic
and we're off again with the band and singers all over the place
strange and dischordant organ keys and brass and out-of-tune singing
but the groove is there and once again infection sets in
at one point he introduces his first son femi who is on saxophone
i had the pleasure of seeing femi and his band at womadelaide this year
he has well and truely captured his father's spirit and carried it forward
but for now this performance of fela would be afro-beat at it's best
jazzy, funky, groovey, roller-coastery music
2 tunes over an hour or so and it's all over
thank goodness for the repeat button
fela live
is good