Still hungry for more Afrobeat...check this out.

Did you miss the Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 (Madison) and Femi Kuti (Milwaukee) shows?

Well check out Anitbalas and The Chicago Afrobeat Project (CAbP).

Antibalas (pronounced ahn-tee-BAH-lahs) is a Bushwick, Brooklyn based afrobeat band that is modelled after Fela Kuti's Africa 70 band and Eddie Palmieri's Harlem River Drive Orchestra. Although their music is primarily afrobeat, their music incorporates elements of jazz, funk, dub, improvised music, and traditional drumming from Cuba and West Africa.

Currently they are touring mostly outside the U.S. right now with the exception of only one show on Aug 4th - Governers Island, NY. Check out their latest release, Security from their site store.

Chicago Afrobeat Project (CAbP) is a dynamic musical collective rooted in '70s funk and jazz-infused afrobeat. CAbP mixes traditional afrobeat with other dance-invoking musical motifs such as Chicago’s electronic house music, complex West African percussion rhythms and upbeat funk. At each performance, the polyrhythmic groove and sharp horn lines of CAbP stir up energetic momentum, sweeping listeners directly to the dance floor time and time again. (taken from their "about" page).

Their new cd titled, (A) Move to Silent Unrest will be out in September but can be pre-ordered here.

Check them out live (near the MMR area):

Thu, 8/2/07 6:30 pm
Jazz in the Park in Milwaukee
Free, All Ages

Thu, 8/23/07 11:30 am and 6:00 PM (Also 2 sets)
Peanut Butter and Jam in Kenosha, WI
No Cover

Thu, 9/13/07 10:00 pm
High Noon Saloon in Madison
$8 advance, $10 day of show

Hopefully we will see you there.

[phred]

Say "Ya Yeah!"

Those of us who witnessed the North American premier of Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 felt truly fortunate. This is a show that will be remembered for decades. Egypt 80 came out and warmed up the audience and there was lots of groovin' in your seat, but only a few brave souls up dancing. That all changed when Seun took the stage.


Frankly, I can't remember the last time I was at a Union Theater show where the audience danced like that. We tried fruitlessly to keep up with the fantastic background singers - who shimmied and shook for throughout the two hour set!

Too bad this picture is not in motion!

I'd forgotten how great the sound is in the Union Theater - perhaps the best acoustic venue in Madison, don't you agree? Imagine how great it sounded when the 18 musicians on stage in this band were groovin' together. To me - it felt like a privilege to see the original members of Fela Kuti's legendary Egypt 80 rhythm section - they were just solid.

A treat for those of us cooling off on the Terrace was the appearance by these "ringers" at Open Mike:

Say "Ya Yeah!" and look for more comments and photos soon from Malliman!

Do you have your tickets for Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 @ The Memorial Union Theater?

Fela was my introduction to AfroBeat music... Femi I have seen perform live at Bonnaroo 2004... and now it is time to experience Seun... and what could be better than seeing him lead his late father's band on his debut North American tour at The Memorial Union Theater! We are indeed lucky to host a world class big band of this caliber and have them kick off their tour in Madison on their way to Chicago's Millennium Park and venues in Toronto, Philly and NYC.

On to a bit about Seun - the youngest son of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Seun is no stranger to his father's music and has been playing with the band since he was a nine year old. With a deep singing voice that is often compared to that of Fela's, Seun blows hard on the alto sax and has fans shimmying to his shake. The 22-piece band is sure to get you grooving in your seats to the tight brass and rocking bass sections and a big band jazz/Afro funk sound complimented by pulsating rhythm and scathing social and political messages.

Mr. Bill and I (and a whole bunch of friends) are going to be at the show and hope that you can make it too. If you haven't already, go get your tickets now! See you there and while we wait to hear Seun and Egypt 80 live here are some tunes for you to listen to/download.

Seun's MySpace page is here.

- malliman