Fela Kuti is renowned as the innovator of Afrobeat, a creative blend of his native West African music, James Brown funk, and big horn jazz rhythms that were meant for more than just jump up dance and shout (although he did once state “”f music doesn’t make you move it’s not shit.” But more important to him, his music was an anthem, a call for equal justice, political truths and social awareness, and freedom for the people! He could very well have been recognized as the Malcolm X / Amiri Baraka of West Africa from a political and music platform.
At the Blue Note (131 West 3rd Street), April 3-6, the tradition of Fela continues the hardcore socially conscious truth in the swing of Afrobeat with Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 with two shows each night at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.
Seun Kuti, Nigerian singer and songwriter, and the youngest son of Fela, has spent most of his life preserving and extending his father’s political and musical legacy as the leader of his father’s former band Egypt 80 since 1997. As a developing saxophonist and percussionist, he entered the formal ranks of the band before he was 12.
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His most recent album with Egypt 80 released last year, “Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head),” on the independent Milan label (Record Kicks) showcases his evolution as an artist and activist. Executive produced by legendary musician Lenny Kravitz and Fela Kuti’s original engineer Sodi Marciszewer (artistic producer) and featuring special guests Damian Marley and Sampa The Great.
Seun’s global reputation has led to collaborations with The Roots MC and frontman Black Thought in the EP “African Dreams,” Janelle Monae’s “The Age of Pleasure” album with the two singles “Float” and “Knows Better”; teamed up with Talib Kweli and Madlib for their album “Liberation 2” on the song “Nat Turner” featuring Cassper Nyovest and released a new version of the single “Bad Man Lighter” with Black Thought, featuring Vic Mensa (Chicago rapper and activist). For reservations visit bluenotenyc.com.
The musician, composer, philosopher, and poet Sun Ra is often described as eccentric but essentially it was his out-of-the-realm inventiveness that ignited his innovative big band theories and encompassed his riveting keyboard solos with 12-20 musicians on stage leading audiences through a galaxy of electronic excursions, poetic songs, alluring chants, dancers and intense percussion pieces, and mesmerizing chants. His music was a mosaic of avant-gardism, swing, bebop, fusion and all that loomed in his imagination.
From the 1950s until his transition in 1993, Sun Ra transformed the big band sound into an intergalactic dimension, a form of modernism that captured the sound of big bands past and his bold interpretation of planet earth and its relationship to the African Diaspora, science and technology which were the early growing blacks seeds of Afrofuturism. Sun Ra’s work has influenced everyone from Jackie McLean and Lester Bowie to William Parker, Oliver Lake, and Craig Harris.
As the month of April celebrates International Jazz Month, Brooklyn’s Sistas’ Place will also pay tribute to the music of Sun Ra with “Satellites of the Sun-Music of Sun Ra.” The celebration on consecutive Saturdays begins on April 5 with trombonist and composer Dick Griffin, who will be joined by pianist Alex Marcelo, bassist Saadi Zain, and drummer Malik Washington. April 12 features trumpeter Robert Rutledge/drummer George Gray Quintet with bassist Alex Blake, pianist Sharp Radway, and saxophonist Eric Person. April 19 will be “Rays of Sun” and closes out on April 26 with Ahmed Abdullah’s “Diaspora (Dispersions of the Spirit of Ra).”
“The Sun Ra Festival at Sista’s Place affirms that Sun Ra is valued, appreciated, and legible today. Sun Ra remains pertinent — well beyond the music. This is something that we’ve explored in the ‘Sun Ra Course’ at the New Art School Modality and the Festival reminds us of his extraordinary vision and force,” said Romi Crawford, director of the Chicago-based NAS Modality.
All the musicians performing are former members of the Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of Sun Ra or Marshall Allen, who became leader following Sun Ra’s death and continues to lead the Arkestra in various configurations. “Marshall was the first person I called for this great tribute to Sun Ra but, unfortunately, he had another gig,” said Abdullah. “He is still constantly performing at the age of 101.”
For a complete listing visit sistasplace.org. For reservations call 718-398-1766. Two shows at 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Located at 456 Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn.
For over five decades, the brilliant drummer Roger Humphries served as a first call drummer for A-list musicians like Lee Morgan, Bill Doggett, Shirley Scott, Stanley Turrentine, Joe Williams, Hubert Laws, and Dwayne Dolphin. He is perhaps best known for his stint with Horace Silver playing on three of his most significant Blue Note studio albums, “Song for My father” (1964), “Cape Verdean Blues” (1965), and “The Jody Grind” (1966). Most recently, Humphries was one of 20 awardees of the Mellon Foundation Jazz Legacies Fellowship. At age 81, Humphries was honored as a “Jazz phenom who committed his career to nurturing his hometown scene of Pittsburg, PA.”
The Pittsburgh native, who hasn’t made an appearance in the Big Apple in some time, arrives on April 8 for his debut at Dizzy’s (60th street/Broadway) as part of “Dizzy’s Hometown Heroes: Celebrating Roger Humphries.” He will be joined by a generation of younger musicians that will include trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, alto saxophonist Patrick Bartley, pianist Miki Yamanaka, bassist Russell Hall and MD Joe Saylor, with two shows at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
“Looking forward to playing at Dizzy’s, this is my first time so it’s really special. Joey Saylor is the one that made this happen, you know he’s from Pittsburgh but he was also one of my students and he recommended me for this gig so I’m blessed,” said Humphries during our phone conversation. “I don’t really know the band but we will have one day of rehearsal and I’ve spoken to Joey about what we are going to do. I don’t want to give the whole thing away but we will play some Horace Silver and other tunes.”
Humphries led his own band in the early 1970s, R.H. Factor, and led ensembles under other names into the 1990s. He released albums under his own name in 1993, 2003, and 2011. “Pittsburgh is still a happening town so I have my own band and still play with other groups and I have a few festivals coming up,” noted Humphries with a chuckle. “Music is my life and I’m still playing, thank God.” For reservations visit jazz.org.
