photos by David Andrako

Beirut's upcoming shows include Lollapalooza, Outside Lands, and a Northside Festival show in McCarren Park with Sharon Van Etten. Tickets for the Brooklyn show are still on sale. Beirut's recent performances include a big, public, sold out one at the Wellmont Theater in NJ, and a very small, private one in Stratosphere Sound Recording Studio.

Before any of those, back on March 27th, Beirut played three songs at a Brooklyn loft party in celebration of the new Red Hot Tropicália tribute CD, Red Hot + Rio 2, that we discussed HERE and HERE. Like Beirut, Superhuman Happiness, The Phenomenal Handclap Band, Brazilian Girls, and Forro In The Dark, all have songs on the forthcoming Red Hot charity comp, and each of those bands performed the song they have on the CD (and actually, they each performed their song more than once, as the performances were being filmed to help promote the release, and they wanted the videos to be good). The setlist and more pictures from the party, below...

Continue reading "Beirut played a 'Red Hot' loft in March too, w/ Superhuman Happiness, Phenomenal Handclap Band & more (pics) "

photos by Tim Griffin

Femi Kuti & The Positive Force @ The Moody Theater

The Femi Kuti & The Positive Force 2011 North American tour is still underway and is now on the West Coast until the tour's final show in Seattle on May 15th. Along the way they hit Highline Ballroom & Music Hall of Wiliamsburg in April and the new ACL Moody Theater in Austin on May 6th...

"Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater is a state-of-the-art, 2,700 + person capacity live music venue that will also serve as the new home of the KLRU-TV produced PBS program Austin City Limits, the longest running music series in American television history. The venue will host 60-100 concerts a year, in addition to the nights the Austin City Limits show will tape. Commitment to green building standards qualify us to apply for LEED® certification, the highest standard for sustainable development."

Pictures from that swanky Austin show are in this post, as are the rest of the dates (below).

Fela's two most successful Afrobeat-playing sons are Femi and Seun. Seun even now leads Fela's old band Egypt 80. As you might have noticed in this summer's Celebrate Brooklyn lineup, Seun has a show (shows) coming up too. The free Brooklyn one happening at the Prospect Park Bandshell is listed like this:

FRIDAY, JULY 22, 7:00 P.M.
SEUN KUTI & EGYPT 80 | FAAJI AGBA

The yearlong celebration of Nigeria's 50th anniversary of independence that began last October continues here with a generation-bridging concert. Fronting his father Fela's legendary band, Seun Kuti is the living embodiment of afro-pop. Faaji Agba's lineup of Afrobeat pioneers--including Fatai Rolling Dollar, Chief Seni Tejuoso and Prince 'Eji' Oyewole of the Afro-Skittles Band--makes them Nigeria's answer to the Buena Vista Social Club: a supergroup of veteran musicians who are re-popularizing faaji grooves, agidigbo blues, juju and other styles of Nigerian roots. Travel support provided by Arik Air.

Seun's new album "From Africa With Fury" is out now in Europe, but will be released in the U.S. on June 21st. It looks like this:

A full Seun North American tour will be announced soon, but in the meantime, all known Seun & Femi dates, and more Femi pics, below...

Continue reading "Femi Kuti tour continues (Austin pics), Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 playing shows this summer (Prospect Park & other dates)"

DOWNLOAD: Femi Kuti - Dem Bobo (MP3)

Femi Kuti @ Lincoln Center (more by Chris La Putt)

Afrobeat royalty will majestically parade through North America in April/May, as Femi Kuti & The Positive Force will hit the road for a string of dates. NYC hits the jackpot with a double-dose: Apr 26 at Highline Ballroom and Apr 27 at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets just went on sale for both (at the links)

Femi Kuti released his latest LP, Africa for Africa, late last year overseas via Wrasse Records. It gets a U.S. release on April 12 via Knitting Factory Records who have also been responsible for a series of new Fela releases. Download the first single above.

Femi was recently filmed for a "Take Away Show." You can watch him perform the new disc's title track and another song, with all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Femi Kuti's "Africa for Africa" coming to North America (MP3, Take Away Shows & 2011 Tour Dates)"

photos by Chris La Putt

"Magic was in the air outdoors at Lincoln Centre when the Fela cast joined Femi Kuti on stage" - Steven Hall

Femi Kuti and the Positive Force headlined Monday night's Midsummer Night Swing show at Damrosch Park. Associate choreographer of FELA! the musical, Maija Garcia, was scheduled to give the dance lessons that come before the show, but she couldn't make it so actual FELA! cast members did the job instead. More pictures from the whole night, below...

Continue reading "Femi Kuti & Fela! cast members helped people dance @ Lincoln Center (pics) "

words & photos by Benjamin Lozovsky

"What we bring is heritage," said a gracious Tony Allen Tuesday night at the Oval in Stuyvesant Town. "Thank you for tripping with us."

Quite a few attendees of the free concert, part of the Music on The Oval performance series and the first of three shows Allen is/was playing in the NYC area, had probably not experienced much or any of the heritage of which Allen spoke.

Fela Kuti's longtime drummer and according to Brian Eno, "perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived," played to a munchkin-filled audience that had about as many temper tantrums (but far less chair throwing) as the canceled Drake/Hanson Seaport show that nearly turned into a riot the day before. But age or cultural backgrounds didn't matter as the father of afro-beat percussion illuminated his contributions to the music and cultural landscape to a sea of dads and a new generation of eager ears.

Even as age 70, Allen was effortless in his drumming, launching into understated fills and precise syncopation all while singing lead. A self taught drummer steeped in both western and African percussion, his jazz influences were obvious, categorized by a technical ability and suaveness that has yet to be matched within the Afrobeat genre.

After playing another free show at Metrotech in Brooklyn today (happening as this is being posted), Allen brings his Afrobeat Orchestra to Le Poisson Rouge tonight for a slightly older crowd. Janka Nabay is also on the bill of the show that doesn't get started until 11:30pm (6/17). Tickets are still available.

More pictures from Stuy Town below...

Continue reading "Tony Allen played Stuy Town (pics), plays LPR late tonight"

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Fela Kuti - Water No Get Enemy (MP3)

Fela!, the musical based on the Afrobeat pioneer's songs and life, has been running on Broadway since November - this upcoming November it'll be expanding to London's National Theatre - with its two Broadway leads (who alternate nights now) splitting US and UK duties.

The show is more of a concert with a story than a typical Broadway experience. It's a worthwhile night (if a bit expensive, though you can usually find discount tickets), and it goes without saying that the music is superbly performed by the house band, comprised of mostly Antibalas members. Though it's seated, prepare to get up and dance: the strongly encouraged crowd participation is one of the show's more unique aspects (check it out in the video below).

Fela Kuti's complex and often controversial views (on politics, women, AIDS) are condensed for the purposes of the show, but the amount of drugs, sex and politics included is still considerable. And it's hard to argue with New York mag's assertion that "if you don't spend a portion of Fela! staring at the amazing asses onstage, you're just not doing your job." The show has also raised a larger debate about authenticity and representation with regard to Fela and his music. A big feature in the Voice last fall discussed some of those issues at the start of the Broadway run (the show tightened up considerably from its Off Broadway version). Another more recently written good read is Afrobeat blog's response to the claim of one Times critic that the show is culturally insensitive..

Information on discount tickets can be found here.

A big implicit part of the show is the continuing Afrobeat revival outside of it. Around NYC, Antibalas and its associated acts have been central to that. Those groups, that include Amayo's Fu-Arkist-Ra and Ocote Soul Sounds, play sporadically around town. One of them, Stuart Bogie, sax player for Fela! and Antibalas, and his band Superhuman Happiness performed last night at Union Pool, for a show with Nomo, In Tall Buildings and Natalie Bell.

Off stage, Knitting Factory Records is in the process of reissuing Fela's catalog, and it'll be releasing an original cast recording of the Broadway show on June 8th, the tracklist of which is below. Their first Fela disc was a best-of compilation, which came out last fall - a track from that is above.

There's also a Record Store Day-only 10-inch EP of Kuti's "My Lady Frustration" and "Wayo" on the A-side and "Lover" + "Eko" which you should at least be able to find at Sound Fix.

Outside of those Brooklyn-centric Fela-influenced acts, there are also two of Fela's sons, Femi (who toured North America last summer) and Seun, who lead their own bands. Femi Kuti and the Positive Force will be back in the US for a tour this July - that includes a July 12th show at New York's City Center. Ticket info TBA.

Videos of Fela! the musical and Fela the performer, cast CD tracklist, and all Femi tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Fela! still on Broadway & going to London, the soundtrack & actual Fela CDs coming soon, Femi Kuti touring this summer"

by BBG

Antibalas in Philly on 6/6 (more by Tim Griffin)

Much like The Roots, who they shared the stage with at The Roots Picnic in June, have been doing lately, Antibalas will play a NYC residency. Theirs will take place at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn over four Thursdays in December (they exclude Dec 24th), culminating in a New Years Eve show. Tickets are on sale for the 12/3 show, the 12/10, the 12/17 and the New Years Eve show. Antibalas is also scheduled to appear at the Winter's Eve Festival on 11/30 along with Joy Behar. Yes, that one.

Members of Antibalas are also notably a part of the Broadway musical FELA! based on the life of the Afrobeat legend, and produced by Jay-Z and Will Smith/Jada Pinkett-Smith.

A provocative hybrid of dance and Broadway musical, FELA! features the Afrobeat music of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, a book by Jim Lewis... arrangements by Aaron Johnson and Antibalas with direction and choreography by Tony® Award winner Bill T. Jones...
FELA! uses stirring Afrobeat music (a blend of jazz, funk and African rhythm and harmonies), to tell the story of Kuti's controversial life as artist, political activist and revolutionary musician. Featuring many of Fela Kuti's most captivating songs and Bill T. Jones's visionary staging, FELA! is the most original new musical on Broadway.

Lots of familiar faces on stage during the show which also includes Knitting Factory and Questlove (one of the producers) in its credits. Head on down to catch it at The Eugene O'Neill Theatre, but before you buy, make sure and use Antibalas's discount code FE4NFP9. Questlove (via Okayplayer) is running a promotion too.

Some related videos below...

Continue reading "Antibalas are playing mutliple shows @ Knitting Factory & are in the Fela! musical (for which they offer a coupon)"

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Femi Kuti - Eh Oh (MP3)

Femi Kuti, son of legendary Nigerian musician Fela and Afrobeat institution in his own right, is coming to New York this summer. His last set of NYC dates, scheduled for January '09, were canceled, with the rest of his tour, because of illness.

Femi and the Positive Force visit the Fillmore NY at Irving Plaza for two Knitting Factory-presented nights on Wednesday, June 3rd and Thursday, June 4th. Tickets, including two-night passes, are on sale now at LiveNation.com. If you miss them, we suspect Femi might also be back later in the summer.

Other scheduled Femi gigs include Bonnaroo and opening dates for the Dave Matthews Band (an honor shared this spring/summer with The Roots, The Hold Steady, The Avett Brothers and others).

Femi's last record was Day By Day, which came out in November '08 on Downtown Records imprint Mercer Street Records. June 3rd will be his first North American show since its release.

All tour dates and videos of Femi live, and recording and discussing his latest record below...

Continue reading "Femi Kuti - 2009 Tour Dates (2 nights @ Irving Plaza), MP3"