Fela Kuti

[Jules]

What do you guys reckon to Fela kuti as a sax player? There was a debate on his playing on sax on the web a while back with various snooty comments about his tone, intonation etc. At the time I thought that he, without doubt, had got his horn sounding exactly the way he had wanted it- it's just a non-western way to approach a sax...

 

[Bobby G]

I only know a little of Fela's playing, and like some other players*, there are unusual (to Wester ears, possibly?) elements to it, but you have to think that's what he's striving for.... I have a tendency, when presented with a certain type of snootiness, to immediately want to listen to the object of the snootiness with even more of an open mind, and to want to leap to their defence.

*Thelonius Monk and Eric Dolphy to name two, and I love the both of them.

 

[jadoube]

I have a few CD's of his stuff, which I enjoy.

Simply on 'tone' others might rank higher, but it sounds good enough to me and seemed to work pretty well for a huge fan base in his home country.

I probably listen to Fela as much as to Coltrane, which is occasionally. (Now that would mean brickbats headed my way if said on sotw)

 

[Bobby G]

Let's face it, anyone who listens to, and enjoys 'difficult music', be it later Trane, Beefheart, Tom Waits, Dolphy, Monk etc isn't likely to be put off by deviation from the norm in terms of tone or intonation. Even some of those rock'n'roll screamers are a bit in-yer-face tonewise!

Not forgetting of course the humble alphorn, an instrument with a very long tradition, whih has inherent intonation anomalies, meaning more than one playing in harmony has many dissonances (or to put it more crudely, sounds out of tune), and still manages to sound good.

Any recommendations for Fela tunes for me? I'm intrigued now...

 

[tengu01]

I've been listening to Fela on and off for a number of years now. On his saxophone playing, I have a few observations:

Yes, there are people who have "better" intonation.
Yes, he could tongue his attacks better
No he wasn't the best saxophone player ever to have graced the tenor.

However:
1. He is the "father" of afrobeat and has been an inspiration to many, many musicians.

2. He voiced the feelings of a nation at a corrupt and often brutal military dictatorship. Putting his music into context, he sang and played what he passionately believed in, despite considerable "discouragement" from the Nigerian government at the time" - Repeatedly assaulted, jailed, his mother killed etc. because they didn't "approve" of the political overtones.

3. You try playing along with his solo in "Zombie" - not as easy as you might think

4. His playing has energy and power. Coming from a completely different school of thought to the American/European Jazzmen (even though he was enrolled at Trinity College of Music for 4 years)

Check out this Guardian article on the man.
http://music.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1927705,00.html which includes his encounters with Paul McCartney, Bootsy Collins,

5. The Man Himself:
Fela Kuti and Africa 70: Zombie (this got him into a LOT of trouble)
Fela Kuti: Music is the Weapon of the Future (including the tracks "Suffering and Smiling"
Fela Kuti: Music is the Weapon of the Future 2 (Standout track - Gentleman)

6. Continuing Afrobeat After Fela -
His Son: Femi carried on the family torch and has graced London stages a number of times recently. If you get a chance go see him. The show is electric. I went to see him at the Barbican and by the 3rd song, the audience was up and dancing in the aisles (yes, in the Barbican)

Femi Kuti: Shoki Shoki

Tributes:
Red Hot and Riot: The Music and Spirit of Fela Kuti - Modern remakes and interpretations of his music by musicians including
Me'Shell Ndegeocello, D'Angelo, Macy Gray, Roy Hargrove, Kelis, Baba Maal, Archie Shepp, Les Nubians and Tony Allen.

This album is a good way to get into Fela because it isn't sung in Pidgeon English (a mix of Yoruba and English) that can make his singing a little hard to understand if you've never lived in Nigeria or with Nigerians. It is very very funky.

Masters At Work: MAW Expensive (A Tribute To Fela) which is a reworking of Fela's track "Expensive S*it". This has some serious tenor sax on it which perfectly encapsulates the power with (I would argue" better technique. GREAT TRACK if you can find it.

Recommended Modern Afrobeat:
Daktaris - Soul Explosion
Antibalas - Liberation Afro-Beat vol. 1; Who is this America?
The Budos Band - The Budos Band; The Budos Band II
Tony Allen - Jealousy/Progress

 

[Bobby G]

Interesting stuff, tengu, I shall make some investigations. Didn't Ginger Baker out of Cream work with Fela years ago?

 

[spike]

Great guy, when all's said and done,
. . . have a very old vinyl of him with "International thief, thief" on it, like a lot of his stuff, goes on and on for ever, his sax playing always struck me as though it wasn't his main purpose in life and sounded like he hadn't worked too much at it. It was only later I discovered his political activities, which would explain it. I have mixed feelings when politics and beliefs get the upper hand in music, but can fully understand those who use it as their vehicle for the fight. (posted aware of offering the risk of controversy)
gruss - spike

 

[Bobby G]

I'm all for it, myself - music and song has always been an important part of the struggle, a rallying call if you like; a song may not change the world But it can do wonders for engendering a feeling of solidarity... ow...oops, just fell off me soapbox there...

Mind you, I draw the line at the Labour Party using 'Things Can Only Get Better'; not because I particularly objected to or supported their policies at the time, which is immaterial, just on the grounds of inappropriateness, crassness and bad taste. And having to watch John Prescott trying to dance to it.

We shall overcome.....!

 

[tengu01]

Bobby G wrote:
Interesting stuff, tengu, I shall make some investigations. Didn't Ginger Baker out of Cream work with Fela years ago?

I believe you are right there... Apparently they did some really funky things together as well. I haven't actually heard it through, so this is pure speculation on my part....

 

[spike]

wasn't that in Ginger Baker's Airport days, he was well into African rhythms and percussion, in fact he looked and dressed more like a Masai warrior at times, he was certainly tall enough. I seem to remember seeing him live somewhere in the hazy days between '69 and '74 with an entourage of African musicians.

 

[Bobby G]

That's right! I don't know if that band was GB's Airforce (certainly wasn't the Baker Gurvitz Army, tho') or another band at the time, but Ginger did work with some African musicians. The Afro-rock (Osibisa etc) was the Next Big Thing for a short while in the early 70's. I think Fela was Fela Ransome Kuti at the time.

 

[sassysax]

His music has certainly had a big influence on me since the 80's. Apart from everything else, I think the horn section arrangements are amazing.

I can well imagine Fela wouldn't be taken seriously by many SOTW types but I don't think that perfect technique is always necessary for musical expression - it all depends on the context.