Getting the band back together

I wanted to write about this one now to give a heads up for anyone in Sydney, because Seun Kuti is coming, playing the Luminous Festival on 12 June. That's less than two weeks away.  If you haven't heard, Seun Kuti has taken over the family business, and he's getting the band back together!

Seun is the youngest son of the mighty and legendary Fela Kuti, bandleader, saxophonist and co-founder of Afrobeat. In Nigeria in the late 60's, Fela and his drummer Tony Allen created one of my favourite musics, by mixing up funk, highlife and jazz with social and political commentary.

Unfortunately Fela left us 12 years ago, but Seun, also a saxophonist, has taken over bandleader duties with Egypt 80, Fela's long term band. And they have recently released Many Things, their first cd. It is monster.

Many Things is worth the price of admission just for "Don't give that shit to me", a track that shows how well Seun is keeping the politics in Afrobeat. But the rest is also great - funky, sharp, and modern. Egypt 80 are displaying the benefits of playing together for so long, they are tight and intuitive, but also sounding fresh and enlivened behind their new leader.

If you get the chance to see them play, I would absolutely recommend going. If not, then try Many Things. To Robert and Di, for alerting me to this cd, Many Thanks!