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
dancing alone to Fela in living room = only known cure for depression
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
improvspirit speaks the truth. then follow that up with the live with ginger baker lp.
― Worth waiting for the fannypunch at 4.02 (stevie), Monday, 14 June 2010 07:24 (thirteen years ago) link
Saw The Musical! last night. Hugely entertaining. Story was thinly presented and verging on hagiography but music, not narrative, was the crucial element, and the songs sounded amazing.
― e.g. delegates at a set age (ledge), Tuesday, 23 November 2010 14:40 (thirteen years ago) link
I wanna go up to NYC and see this before it closes.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 23 November 2010 15:35 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
The first batch of these is out next week:
http://www.amazon.com/Vinyl-Box-Set-Curated-uestlove/dp/B0046I8MA2Knitting Factory Records is proud to release the first of the long-awaited vinyl reissues from the Fela Kuti catalog. This is the first in a series of curated vinyl box sets. The box includes six Fela Kuti albums that were handpicked by ?uestlove of The ROOTS. The artwork for each album is painstakingly recreated original album artwork along with vintage vinyl label artwork. What’s more is that this release marks the first time that some of these Fela Kuti albums have been released on vinyl domestically.
The box includes the albums:Everything Scatter (1975)Expensive Shit (1975)Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense (1986)Beasts Of No Nation (1989)Fear Not For Man (1977)Sorrow Tears And Blood (1977)
― bing, Wednesday, 26 January 2011 16:36 (thirteen years ago) link
awesome! been waiting forever for this to get off the ground. but...
bummed that they're gonna be box sets. means significant cash outlay that poor-ass me really can't afford, shouldn't be considering. and bummed that they're not just gonna be sequential. would make a whole lot more sense that way, allow for comprehensive liner notes devoted to the phases of his life and music that you could read while listening to the relevant albums.
looking a gift horse in the mouth over here
― normal_fantasy-unicorns (contenderizer), Wednesday, 26 January 2011 16:43 (thirteen years ago) link
i picked up expensive shit from the 2nd hand record store last wkend! it's awesome (obv)
― just sayin, Wednesday, 26 January 2011 16:46 (thirteen years ago) link
That's cool news bing. and $80 is not a bad price for 6 LPs
― van smack, Thursday, 27 January 2011 01:11 (thirteen years ago) link
true but what the hell with the scattershot non-sequential approach, bad move imo.
― sleeve, Thursday, 27 January 2011 01:17 (thirteen years ago) link
*hoping the next boxset will have No Agreement and He Miss Road*
Also year-ago j0hn otm
― last night a Drugs A. Money saved my life (Drugs A. Money), Thursday, 27 January 2011 04:36 (thirteen years ago) link
Expensive Shit/He Miss Road and Open & Close/Afrodisiac are probably my favorite twofers
― hey boys, suppers on me, our video just went bacterial (Hurting 2), Thursday, 27 January 2011 06:08 (thirteen years ago) link
But Shakara/London Scene and Confusion/Gentleman are also great. The jam at the beginning of Confusion is FIRE.
― hey boys, suppers on me, our video just went bacterial (Hurting 2), Thursday, 27 January 2011 06:09 (thirteen years ago) link
The artwork for each album is painstakingly recreated original album artwork along with vintage vinyl label artwork.
I dunno. I haven't ever seen the original album covers as they are hard to find, but I'd like to know what was so painstaking in creating the orginal covers. Expensive Shit looks like it is a very bad photocopy reproduction. The text is kinda fuzzy and maybe out of focus (if I'm looking at it right). Almost like the original image used was a 400x400 pixel blown up larger for the lp. Maybe someone with the original album can shed some input on this album's cover? The others look okay, I guess. Just a minor picking on my part.
Not sure how these are sourced either. But they sound pretty good.
― van smack, Monday, 7 February 2011 03:41 (thirteen years ago) link
i essentially know nothing about fela but i've been listening to that "the best of the black president" comp a lot lately. my default answer to the "favorite album" question has for years been remain in light, so this is simultaneously an "oh that's what they were ripping off" moment and a "oh amazing, hours and hours of this stuff" moment.
― difficult listening hour, Monday, 7 February 2011 04:13 (thirteen years ago) link
<3 you dlh, remain in light was my #1 for years until i finally overplayed it. If you're a fela neophyte like u say I would suggest watching "Music Is The Weapon" immediately.
Also this box set news is awesome! was starting to wonder if this project stalled out.
― Cosmo Vitelli, Monday, 7 February 2011 05:37 (thirteen years ago) link
I think if you want to know what Remain in Light is ripping off, you also need to check out Manu Dibango and King Sunny Ade. (xpost)
― hey boys, suppers on me, our video just went bacterial (Hurting 2), Monday, 7 February 2011 05:55 (thirteen 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