King Sunny Ade and his Afrobeat orchestra on tour (and on disc)

Who has seen O.C. and Stiggs?!
I have. I really enjoyed it the first time I saw it, too, but I guess it helped to be in a room full of friends and drunk. I tried to watch it again by myself a couple of years later and it was just unwatchable. But that's not King Sunny Ade's fault. I picked up AURA for four dollars a couple of months ago and it is good. I like Juju Music best, though.

I wish I loved Juju Music a bit more than I do. The talking drum, the skittery electric guitar, the synth, and esp. the steel guitar are all excellent, but my old early 90s CD just seems a bit thin, and doesn't envelop me and kick my ass the way, say, the best Fela discs do. I'm only a bit familiar with Aura and Synchro-System, and after that nada (and I actually sold back my copy of Live at Hollywood Palace.)

What do i need -- older, newer?

Older -- get Best of the Classic Years

It's not going to kick your ass in the way Fela does, exactly -- Juju is a bit more ethereal and less driving and angry than afrobeat.

is it a 90s cd of 70s music, or a 90s cd of 90s music?

My 90s CD? The "Juju Music" album, and i gotta confess, I don't know when that was recorded.

And by kick my ass, I mean I'm hoping for a recording that compares with seeing him in concert mid 80s: about 25 musicians onstage, mad polyrhythms and that ethereal, swirly steel floating thru.

I dunno, I have the mp3 version of Juju Music and it def kicks my ass. Esp on headphones.

This comp is pretty good, Dan.

btw juju is ideal stuff to buy via emusic, since the tracks are usually around 20 mins and you can get a whole album for only a few credits.

What years are covered on the Shananchie label "Classic Years" one? The Juju King one covers the early 80s.

IIRC the Classic Years one is almost exclusively 70s, which I think was just a period of better-sounding recording and amp technology for the purposes of music like Juju. Juju Music was an early 80s album on Island -- the one that I think sort of launched him as an intercontinental, as opposed to just African superstar. I don't enjoy it as much as the 70s stuff.

I've never heard the seventies stuff, must investigate.

It's really good, but I actually prefer the electronic trippiness that was added on Juju music ("prefer" is really too strong of a word. they're both awesome)

The Stevie Wonder harmonica on the title track of Aura is the perfect retro finish to a futurist groove.

Hello, currently stay in d UK and am a huge fan of king sunny ade. How can i get to buy a copy of his tour videos? Cheers!!!

If you're in London, tbourne, you could worse than take a trips to Sterns http://www.sternsmusic.com/about.php

Anyone know if KSA's current tour takes him to Europe? I can't seem to find any tour info on his myspace

This was one of the most mind-blowing things at bonnaroo.

He was up against Grizzly Bear, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Santigold so it wasn't too crowded either

Saw these cats last night.

the Afrobeat Orchestra?

Well, King Sunny Ade and His African Beats.

He was solid last night, but not transcendent. Similarly, Femi had to stop just as he was taking off. Maybe it was the yuppie venue or the 60 degree weather at work?

the show was good, wasn't as blown away as I'd hoped. echoing Matos, wanted to actually hear him play a little guitar -- he only broke it out for one song. Kuti's hamhanded political lyrics got to be a bit much but his, um, enchanting dancers more than made up for that.

Yeah, Nigerian Team Jiggle.

Similarly, Femi had to stop just as he was taking off.

Yeah, I noticed this -- despite the fact that I was mostly hanging out on the lawn with a bottle of wine, my ears perked up mostly toward the end of his set.

are the video screens new, or do they just light them or for "selected" shows or something? if it's the former, i seriously can't believe it took them two decades or whatever to put them up.

Had a great time at the Zoo:
http://blogs.citypages.com/gimmenoise/2009/07/review_femi_kut.php

There are two volumes of the Classic Years compilations on Shanachie, and both are fantastic. I need to get Juju Music and Synchro System again.

I just read that he hurt his shoulder so that's why he's not playing much guitar. Also, he still uses up to a 52 piece band sometimes at home, while he's going with a 16 piece outfit on this tour (down from the 26 he used way back in 88 on tour).

In DC Friday night.

I'm pretty sure didn't have 16 people in Chicago. Maybe a dozen? Bass, drums, guitar, keys, three percussionists, and a bunch of singers.

Oh, I read "16" in one of the various articles I googled. That may have been the original plan and/or maybe there were visa issues or money issues in paying that many. I also read that he just did a 70 minute set somewhere. Wow, that's short---I'm spoiled by the 2 DC shows I've seen--an all-nighter and a 2 3/4 hrs. one. Apparently there's no lap-steel player on this tour.

Oh, def. no lap steel in Chicago. It was heavy on the a cappella break downs.

Yeah, sadly no steel player (although King Sunny occasionally got similar tones from his guitar.) Set was around 70 minutes in Winnipeg, too. Bass player was too loud for the first half of the set, and I thought the keyboard player's presets were kinda pedestrian/cheesy, but overall it was a really good show.

The DC show last night went on longer than 70 minutes. Yea, 10 or so minutes were for a song where folks came up and sprayed King Sunny and his bandmates with dollar bills (and this little kid who came onstage to dance dresed in traditional Nigerian clothing) but the show did not feel short. 2 other songs were showcases for 2 women dancers to do African hip and butt-shaking moves. The percussion was great and the band's timing is so on. King Sunny was only on guitar on one song that I saw(um uh, I had to leave at the 2 hour mark as I had to get to the airport at dawn). Lots of dance and pantomime moves from Ade and the band,plus lots of call and response and accapella vocals. Some of these African keyboard players are still playing their Korg's like its the early 80s or something (maybe the instrument used was that old). A pretty good show and different than the prior ones I had seen over the years because of the smaller band and Ade's shoulder injury limiting his guitar time.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106178245

NPR.com story on the Seattle show with link for stream of that show

Sad news I just received from the publicist:

It is with great sadness that we announce the cancellation of the entire April/May 2010 North American tour for King Sunny Ade and his African Beats.

On March 26th 2010 a tragic car accident took the lives of two members of the African Beats, talking drummer Gabriel Ayanniyi and percussionist Omo Olope, who were en-route to a video shoot for a forthcoming recording. When the US Embassy refused to grant visas to replacement members in a timely manner, there was confusion about the possible courses of action.At the same time, it became clear that the artist and the band had neither recovered from the impact of the tragedy, nor were they able to find consensus on how to move forward with normal touring.

As a result, the North American April/May 2010 tour has been canceled until such a time as King Sunny Ade and his group have sufficiently regrouped and are ready to face the rigors of an International tour again.

We offer our heartfelt condolences to the band and the families of the deceased. On behalf of the artist and his band we extend our apologies to all who will be disappointed by their inability to perform in North America this year.

GRAViTON: African Arts (N.A. management fo King Sunny Ade)

Press inquiries:

Mat Martin, Publicistrock paper scissors, inc.

I'm really bummed about this; I was gonna get to interview him. I'm not even that bothered by losing the (tiny) fee for the article - I just really wanted to ask him about his memories of the '70s Nigerian music scene, given all the compilations that have been coming out.

fuckk.. rip

ugh, that's sad ... i was about to pull the trigger and buy tix for his show near me in a couple weeks!

What are the best Sunny Ade released King Sunny Ade & his African Beats albums (i.e. not given a proper release in the West)?

I love Bobby and Explosion. Christgau loves The Message (which I haven't heard). If I lay down hard cash for any of these which should they be?

Good question. Thought this thread was reopened because he's gonna do a US tour in June

I'm busy listening to masked Nigerian bandleader/singer/sax player Lagbaja (who is touring the US now) but need to catch up on old King Sunny efforts too

Should I go see him? He's coming around my way this summer....

Yes to Lagbaga and of course to Kingy Sunny. Admittedly I haven't been as wowed by more recent Ade gigs compared to the all-night one way back when, but he still puts a great fairly big band together that know those juju grooves.

The Shanachie label Best of the Classic Years from 1966 to 1974 takes songs from a dozen albums Ade recorded for the Nigerian label African Songs Ltd.

i really love this one though each side runs as a continuous side which makes it slightly annoying coming from a dj perspective. the moog in "she loves me" is sublime.

http://www.discogs.com/King-Sunny-Ade-And-His-African-Beats-Searching-For-My-Love/release/1371674

i mean each side runs as a continuous track.

this one is good too. it's the first record of his to feature hawaiian guitar.

http://www.discogs.com/Sunny-Ade-And-His-African-Beats-Syncro-Chapter-1/release/2324708

I was so lucky to find a decent LP version of the deleted Aura seven years ago.

There's also a sequel to Best of the Classic Years called Gems from the Classic Years that gathers up more 70s material. Both are highly worthwhile.