― fritz, Tuesday, 4 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― your null fame, Wednesday, 5 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
(Although I think I'm still more annoyed that I missed seeing a free Grupo Niche concert because I didn't know when they were coming on.)
― Rockist Scientist, Wednesday, 5 February 2003 02:45 (twenty-one years ago) link
― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Sunday, 19 September 2004 06:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― jake b. (cerybut), Sunday, 19 September 2004 08:15 (nineteen years ago) link
― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Sunday, 19 September 2004 15:42 (nineteen years ago) link
dancing alone to Fela in living room = only known cure for depression
― J0hn D., Saturday, 17 November 2007 16:01 (sixteen years ago) link
temp cure OK but any port in a storm
>dancing alone to Fela in living room = only known cure for depression
You could also try dancing to Ornette Coleman's early Atlantic recordings, esp. This Is Our Music and "Ramblin'" from Change Of The Century. But I hear ya.
Worth noting: the Spanish label Vampisoul has just released a 2CD compilation of Tony Allen's first four solo albums, and the first three (Jealousy, Progress and No Accomodation For Lagos) feature Afrika 70 as the backing band, including Fela on sax.
― unperson, Saturday, 17 November 2007 16:25 (sixteen years ago) link
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/theater/06fela.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Fela! the off-broadway musical opening in NYC Sept. 4th
Hmmmmmmm....
― curmudgeon, Friday, 8 August 2008 03:30 (fifteen years ago) link
as long as it has an "!" it should be good
― velko, Friday, 8 August 2008 04:03 (fifteen years ago) link
The Most Happy Fela in the Whole Niger Delta
― gabbneb, Friday, 8 August 2008 04:04 (fifteen years ago) link
apparently Fela, Soyinka, Obasanjo and Moshood Abiola all come from the same town
― gabbneb, Friday, 8 August 2008 04:09 (fifteen years ago) link
finally got "music of many colors" (the roy ayers collaboration) and it far exceeds expectations. i had expected something along the lines of "africa centre of the world", instead i get dubby uptempo spaced-out afro-disco in the vein of tony allen's "NEPA dub". this is tremendous.
still think "coffin for head of state" is the best. shows off his tremendous grooves (second only to ITT or shuffering and shmiling in my mind), his wicked sarcasm ("alluahakbarablahblahblahblah ... wokka wokka wokka"), his righteous anger (they killed his mom!) all in the same track.
― moonship journey to baja, Friday, 8 August 2008 07:42 (fifteen years ago) link
otm
― baaderonixx, Friday, 8 August 2008 07:55 (fifteen years ago) link
I came to this thread wanting to write "Coffin For Head Of State" yes yes yes yes yes yes. I have become enthralled by Fela in the past month. not before time.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 23 September 2008 13:24 (fifteen years ago) link
Can someone recommend the early "L.A. sessions" CD?
― baaderonixx, Tuesday, 23 September 2008 13:26 (fifteen years ago) link
This close to OTMing, but on second thought it's Ayler's New Grass for me--big fun slapping you on the ass.
― RabiesAngentleman, Tuesday, 23 September 2008 13:39 (fifteen years ago) link
Though on the other hand, tragically, I'm only familiar with Confusion/Gentleman.
tim you must hear "2000 black" (roy ayers w/ fela + afrika 70)
― moonship journey to baja, Tuesday, 23 September 2008 14:14 (fifteen years ago) link
exact title is "2000 Blacks Got To Be Free"
― moonship journey to baja, Tuesday, 23 September 2008 14:15 (fifteen years ago) link
^^yes!
― andrew m., Tuesday, 23 September 2008 14:47 (fifteen years ago) link
also "mr. grammarticologylisationalism is the boss"lord it's good
― andrew m., Tuesday, 23 September 2008 14:50 (fifteen years ago) link
http://www.studio360.org/episodes/2008/12/19
Bill T. Jones, the choreographer/director of Fela!, talks about the show and Fela on the radio program Studio 360. It appears the show may run in London shortly and then come back to NYC for a longer run if they can get financing.
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 21 December 2008 16:32 (fifteen years ago) link
!!!http://www.voanews.com/english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=8DC92121-9F33-ED7A-D547329B08561449
― tylerw, Wednesday, 28 January 2009 20:11 (fifteen years ago) link
Did anyone see this Yale Prof talk on Monday April 20th at Harvard (Wayne Marshall highlighted this at his Wayne and Wax site)?
Michael Veal, professor of ethnomusicology at Yale, bassist, and the author of two interesting and informed books, Fela: The Life and Times of an African Musical Icon and Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae* is delivering a lecture at Harvard this afternoon called “Technotopia 1969.”
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 22 April 2009 05:00 (fifteen years ago) link
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/news/bal-fela-jay-z-1117,0,4543991.story
NEW YORK - It's official: After weeks of speculation, Jay-Z and Will and Jada Pinkett Smith have joined the producing team of the Broadway musical "Fela!"
Jay-Z told The Associated Press last month that he might be getting involved in the show, an Afrobeat musical about the life of the late Nigerian musical legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. Now producers say he and the Smiths are in, though there's no word on how much of a financial investment the three have made in the show.
"Fela!" is now in previews at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre and opens next Monday. It's directed and choreographed by Bill T. Jones.
― kingkongvsgodzilla, Tuesday, 17 November 2009 16:01 (fourteen years ago) link
Is Will Smith going to play Fela in the inevitable biopic? With CGI Jada as his 30 wives?
― tylerw, Tuesday, 17 November 2009 16:14 (fourteen years ago) link
it'd be really funny if "fela: the musical" had all its songs written in the broadway musical idiom.
― figuratively, but in a very real way (amateurist), Wednesday, 18 November 2009 01:14 (fourteen years ago) link
Andrew Lloyd Weber's Fela!
― tylerw, Wednesday, 18 November 2009 01:21 (fourteen years ago) link
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/theater/22fela.html?_r=1
Lotsa details in this Pareles article on the Broadway show plus the impending cd and vinyl reissues and Antibalas stuff
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 22 November 2009 18:58 (fourteen years ago) link
Knitting Factory Records has issued “The Best of the Black President,” a two-CD anthology of Fela’s music packaged with a documentary DVD. The label plans to release all of Fela’s nearly four dozen albums on CD and LP, including some that never appeared on vinyl in the United States.
― contenderizer, Sunday, 22 November 2009 22:37 (fourteen years ago) link
fwiw, C and D on Fela The Musical (off-Broadway verz) from Arthur No. 31/Oct 2008:
http://www.arthurmag.com/2008/10/16/c-d-from-arthur-no-31/
― jaybabcock, Monday, 23 November 2009 03:01 (fourteen years ago) link
anyone know what the forthcoming stones throw fela album is all about?
― andy watt (stevie), Monday, 23 November 2009 08:39 (fourteen years ago) link
saw the musical this weekend--really incredible
― max, Monday, 25 January 2010 02:29 (fourteen years ago) link
antibalas is shit-hot, too
― max, Monday, 25 January 2010 02:39 (fourteen years ago) link
expensive shit-hot
suspicious but curious about the musical...
i look forward to future volumes of the Nigeria Special series.
anyone hear that "black man cry - influences of Fela" comp? interesting...
― zoom, Monday, 25 January 2010 08:07 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah, if you can get past the inevitable uncomfortable feeling about watching a several-hundred-thousand-dollar music with hundreds of well-heeled new yorkers its really, really worth it
― max, Monday, 25 January 2010 12:13 (fourteen years ago) link
Are there any cheaper tickets available day of the show at those 2 Ticket Booths? Would like to get up to NY from DC to see it.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 25 January 2010 16:05 (fourteen years ago) link
i dunno--i am not really a theater-goer; my dad got the tickets
― max, Monday, 25 January 2010 16:40 (fourteen years ago) link
Ha. When tourist me is in NY I just show up and look on the boards posted at the Times Square and/or South Street Seaport locations, but maybe they also post the availability of the half-price or 25% off or whatever tickets online every morning also. The theatres want to fill the seats so each day they determine how many full-price tickets have sold, and then how many to sell cheaper. But maybe you know that. Not really a theater-goer either, but want to see this and "In the Heights" (the show with the uptown NYC Latin music)
― curmudgeon, Monday, 25 January 2010 17:01 (fourteen years ago) link
"See the FELA! matinee this Wednesday at a special price.
Wednesday Matinees $52 (reg. $99)
Now thru 02/28/10 $67 (reg. $110-$120)
Use Code FE4FANSBest Available Seats!"
― jaybabcock, Tuesday, 26 January 2010 23:07 (fourteen years ago) link
Fela is one of those artists who sometimes I think how incredibly my life changed when I first heard him and the general overall splendor of music is reawakened for me
fuck yeah, Fela
― Lee Dorrian Gray (J0hn D.), Tuesday, 26 January 2010 23:11 (fourteen years ago) link
Yeah, I reviewed it for The Wire along with the two new Nigeria Special comps. I didn't like it much - the old material was solid but the new stuff at the end really jarred.
― neither good nor bad, just a kid like you (unperson), Tuesday, 26 January 2010 23:37 (fourteen years ago) link
xpost: just read that very review earlier today, and thought how so few tracks on these afrobeat comps of late reward me as much as Fela.
― De que estas hablando? (Tannenbaum Schmidt), Tuesday, 26 January 2010 23:49 (fourteen years ago) link
Bill T. Jones just won a Tony Award for best choreography for the Broadway show Fela. I wonder if they had a scene from the show on the Tonys (I've been watching more of the Basketball Final between Boston and L.A.)
― curmudgeon, Monday, 14 June 2010 02:28 (thirteen years ago) link
given i saw antibalas a week ago (for free in chicago) and had one of those 'wtf !?!' moments, i need a starting block.which one ? a compilation, or head straight into the albums proper ?
― mark e, Monday, 14 June 2010 02:33 (thirteen years ago) link
This is great if you can find it (I guess it's out of print now). A two-disc best-of paired with a DVD containing a documentary filmed in about 1982 in Nigeria. There are two versions of the documentary, both included on the DVD - one in English and one in French, and each contains footage not found in the other, so it's worth it to watch both.
― Born In A Test Tube, Raised In A Cage (unperson), Monday, 14 June 2010 03:23 (thirteen years ago) link
The 2-fer of 'Expensive Shit" & 'He Miss Road' is devastatingly good.
― ImprovSpirit, Monday, 14 June 2010 03:29 (thirteen years ago) link
This is absolutely awesome
― tsrobodo, Saturday, 25 January 2014 16:13 (ten years ago) link
Otm!!!!!!!!
― stop ingesting (Drugs A. Money), Sunday, 26 January 2014 09:29 (ten years ago) link
wow
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 26 January 2014 15:42 (ten years ago) link
Six individual vinyl LPs to be released on 1 September 2014
* Fela With Ginger Baker Live!* Confusion* Expensive Shit* He Miss Road* Sorrow Tears & Blood* Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 30 July 2014 09:17 (nine years ago) link
not going to lie, would love to have live!, he miss road and expensive shit on vinyl...
― a biscuit/donut hybrid called “bisnuts” (stevie), Wednesday, 30 July 2014 09:22 (nine years ago) link
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CGBu6F9UUAAA63Z.jpg
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 27 May 2015 17:05 (eight years ago) link
I WANT TO TELL YOU A STORY
― Fedora Dostoyevsky (man alive), Friday, 4 May 2018 13:52 (six years ago) link
No be story o
― Fedora Dostoyevsky (man alive), Friday, 4 May 2018 14:02 (six years ago) link
E no be story?
At all, very very at all.
man fela gets me so amped up i feel like i can conquer the world when i listen to him
― marcos, Friday, 4 May 2018 14:22 (six years ago) link
Kind of fell down a fela youtube/spotify hole last night after discovering this beautifully shot footage of Africa 70 live --there's not much of that out there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz2jXHKa7TY
― Fedora Dostoyevsky (man alive), Friday, 4 May 2018 14:53 (six years ago) link
as posted by Ward Fowler on the King Sunny Adé thread:
Fela documentary on BBC2 today:https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000pr2n
― kiss some penis reference (breastcrawl), Saturday, 21 November 2020 19:21 (three years ago) link
(starts two hours from now)
― kiss some penis reference (breastcrawl), Saturday, 21 November 2020 19:22 (three years ago) link
That was a fine documentary. It is now on yt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbOXDCqbPZo
― walking towards the sun since 2007 (alex in mainhattan), Thursday, 26 November 2020 14:30 (three years ago) link
yesterday it still was, sorry.
― walking towards the sun since 2007 (alex in mainhattan), Thursday, 26 November 2020 14:31 (three years ago) link
been starting to go through uh... possibly every fela record, we'll see. early verdict roforofo fight is one of the best albums i've ever heard
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 11 June 2021 17:00 (two years ago) link
he has a lot of best albums ever
― Mr. Cacciatore (Moodles), Friday, 11 June 2021 17:03 (two years ago) link
Trouble Sleep Yanga Wake Am is the best song I've ever heard on the best album I've ever heard
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Friday, 11 June 2021 17:15 (two years ago) link
Open and Close is still my favorite but there are so many good ones. Confusion/Gentleman definitely up there for me.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Friday, 11 June 2021 17:39 (two years ago) link
I have discovered recently that "Expensive Shit" / "Water No Get Enemy" is great music for running... A side makes me go fast fast fast, B side nice and slow coming home
― daily growing, Friday, 11 June 2021 18:39 (two years ago) link
In general I'm not a fan of super-long intros, but I make an exception for "Confusion"
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Friday, 11 June 2021 19:22 (two years ago) link
The Confusion/Gentleman twofer CD was my fave during my peak Fela obsession (I also enjoyed reading Michael Veal's book on him at that time), but everything named in the revive is great and Moodles is otm. I also loved "Lady" off of Shakara though, uh, I do not endorse the lyrics lol
― trap door to hell opens underneath (rob), Friday, 11 June 2021 19:52 (two years ago) link
"Lady" is icky but also fantastic. At random I'll sing, to myself, "She waaaaant that piece of meat before anybody."
― i carry the torch for disco inauthenticity (Eric H.), Friday, 11 June 2021 20:30 (two years ago) link
it also inspired a great Hugh Masekela track
― Long Tall Arsetee & the Shaker Intros (breastcrawl), Friday, 11 June 2021 21:00 (two years ago) link
This is cool for the tracks with Fela that I hadn't heard before, but would be 10000000000000x better with Tony Allen instead of Ginger Baker, obviously
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37sDbvQOJ2I
― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Thursday, 9 November 2023 22:11 (six months ago) link
That's p much how I feel about the Ginger Baker / Fela album - it would be better without Ginger Baker and just Tony Allen
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Friday, 10 November 2023 14:55 (six months ago) link
Oh! forgot that I went to an artist talk last week with Lemi Ghariokwu, creator of all the iconic Fela album covers, and it was a night full of amazing anecdotes. Got to enjoy dinner with the man as well. A funny, brilliant human.
― SQUIRREL MEAT!! (Capitaine Jay Vee), Friday, 10 November 2023 16:30 (six months ago) link
re Ginger Baker: (paraphrased) "Always passed out on a sofa with a big joint in one hand, a glass of wine in the other."
― SQUIRREL MEAT!! (Capitaine Jay Vee), Friday, 10 November 2023 16:31 (six months ago) link
i'm no Ginger Baker apologist but that album has one of my top 5 Fela tracks - Egbe Mi O. i guess it might have been right at the top if it was just Allen drumming.
― stirmonster, Friday, 10 November 2023 17:09 (six months ago) link
Very cool JV!
― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Friday, 10 November 2023 17:09 (six months ago) link
Crazy.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/apr/10/life-with-fela-kuti-dangerous-tour-roy-ayers-nigeria
― My God's got no nose... (Tom D.), Wednesday, 10 April 2024 15:26 (one month ago) link
Whoa
― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Wednesday, 10 April 2024 16:04 (one month ago) link
Bernard Purdie content alert!
― Cow_Art, Wednesday, 10 April 2024 16:18 (one month ago) link
Bernard is playing in Chicago this weekend and I don't think I can make it :(
― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Wednesday, 10 April 2024 16:19 (one month ago) link