REMEMBERING A LEGEND

FELA ANIKULAPO KUTI REMEMBRANCE

       Fela Kuti (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997), also known as Fela Anikulapo Kuti or simply Fela, was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist, musician, composer, pioneer of the Afrobeat music genre, human rights activist, and political maverick.

        Nigerian saxophonist, pianist and vocalist Fela Anikulapo Kuti started out with the Koola Lobitos in 1961 in London. Returning to Nigeria in 1963, he coined a new style of music (Afro-beat) by combining James Brown's funk music, highlife and jazz. In 1966 he joined the Highlife Jazz Band. In 1968, after visiting the USA and being influenced by the "black power" movement, he also added sociopolitical lyrics. Persecuted by the Nigerian government, he became the voice of the oppressed. At his best, Kuti concocts lengthy improvised jams of bebop saxophone lines, Frank Zappa-esque horn fanfares, call-and-response vocals, and wild polyrhythms led by Tony Allen's spectacular drumming. Unfortunately, the quality of his (very many) recordings is often quite low. They include: London Scene (1970), one of his most propulsive and exuberant albums, despite being very derivative of James Brown, Blackman's Cry (1970), Viva Africa (1970), Lady (1970), White Man to Suffer (1970), Wayo (1970), Open and Close (1971), Na Poi (1971), Ikoyi Blindness (1971), Yellow Fever (1971), Who Are You (1971), Shenshema (1971), Why Black Man Dey Suffer (1971), Alijon-Jon-Ki-Jon (1971), Roforofo Fight (1972), Shakara (1972), beginning to develop a personal language via two 13-minute jams, Afrodisiak (1973), Gentleman (1973), one of his most popular albums, containing three sermons, Alagbon Close (1974), devoted to his arrest following the establishment of a hippie commune, He Miss Road (1975), Expensive Shit (1975), one of his most accessible, Noise for Vendor Mouth (1975), Everything Scatter (1975), Again Excuse-O (1975), the EP Confusion (1975), one of his most challenging tracks (25 minutes), Before I Jump like Monkey Give Me Banana (1976), Upside Down (1976), with two radio-friendly jams, No Bread (1976), Zombie (1977), perhaps the most popular of the era, containing four jams Zombie, Mister Follow Follow, Observation Is No Crime, Mistake), No Agreement (1977), with two jams blessed by trumpet player Lester Bowie, Sorrow Tears and Blood (1977), intense and uncompromising, dedicated to yet another police raid that ended him in jail, the EP Shuffering and Shmiling (1977), with the funk-jazz workout of the title-track, Opposite People (1977), four energetic tracks, Stalemate (1977), Fear Not for Man (1977), Why Black Man Dey Suffer (1977), Observation No Crime (1977), I Go Shout Plenty (1977), Unknown Soldier (1979), International Thief Thief (1980), Authority Stealing (1980), 2,000 Black (1980), Music of Many Colors (1980), a collaboration with with Roy Ayers, Black President (1981), that packages together Sorrow Tears and Blood and International Thief Thief, Coffin for Head of State (1981), also two suites but less invigorating, Original Sufferhead (1982), with the colossal title-track and a general magic of interplay, Parambulator (1983), Army Arrangement (1985), heavily produced by Bill Laswell, Mr Follow Follow (1986), Volume One and Two (1987), Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense (1987), that contains two of his best instrumental jams (and two corresponding songs), perhaps his definitive statement in terms of extended pieces, Beasts of No Nation (1989), Overtake Don Overtake Overtake (1990), the best of the last phase, with the 31-minute Overtake Don Overtake Overtake and the 29-minute Confusion Break Bones, Just Like That (1990), Undergrand System (1992). Alas, most of these are repetitive, to say the least. The albums on which the music prevails on the message, the songs are long enough to justify the album, and the structure of the song justifies its length are not many: Gentleman (1973), Zombie (1977), Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense (1987), Overtake Don Overtake Overtake (1990). Then there are albums marred by either short length, inferior material or excessive repetition: London Scene (1970), Yellow Fever (1971), Confusion (1975), No Agreement (1977), Sorrow Tears and Blood (1977), Shuffering and Shmiling (1977), Original Sufferhead (1982). The rest rank from merely sufficient to ridiculous. The founding father of Afro-beat music, Fela Anikulapo Kuti died in 1997 of AIDS.
The Underground Spiritual Game (Quannum Projects, 2004) is a dj mix of Fela Kuti's music. The Best Of The Black President (2002) is a double-disc career retrospective.
          may the gentle soul of our music legend rest in perfect peace.