Friday Full-Length: Fela Kuti, Gentleman
Fela Kuti and the Afrika ’70, Gentleman (1973)
There are many others way more qualified than I am to write about the life and the work of Nigerian-born Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, so I’ll keep it relatively brief. Comprised of just three tracks, Fela Kuti and the Afrika ’70‘s Gentleman is both a political and stylistic document of its time, calling to mind visions of colonial subjugation almost as readily as of the party it sounds like they’re having while they make it. And while the title-track, also the opener and longest of the three cuts at 14:32, finds Kuti criticizing the Europeanization and Americanization of African society, with talk of putting on hot suits in the African heat — something which he positions himself directly against — that song and its compatriots, “Fefe Naa Efe” and “Igbe” show a clear influence from the funk and soul of James Brown as well, so as with colonialism and wider culture at large, things are not neatly divided across ideological lines. The very idea of “post-colonialism” is colonial, no less now than it was in 1973 when Gentleman came out. Who gets colonized, who does the colonizing, issues of race, gender, religion, economics. It runs pretty deep.
Aside from the wit of Kuti‘s critique, Gentleman makes its primary impression in the righteous momentum it builds and the effectiveness in the movement of the Afrobeat that was by then already his hallmark. Even in its less active stretches, it is an exciting listen, shifting between jazz and soul as only the truly unconcerned with genre possibly can. From its very beginnings, “Gentleman” is polyrhythmic, and after a nine-minute jam of sax solos, Kuti himself stands out to declare, “I no be gentleman at all,” answered immediately in call and response with his backing band. After a spoken explanation of the titular saying’s origins, “Fefe Naa Efe” starts out with a particular funk in its horn arrangement, but moves into avant jazz sax before settling into a hypnotic stretch of keys and ending up not so far out from where it began, which leaves the more frenetic “Igbe” to close out with a more open, running feel, less about the horns than the interplay of vocals, meant to invoke tribal traditionalist impressions and finish the album with what in hindsight seems to be a sense of process as ritual. Particularly as the title translates to “shit” — not to mention the Ygbo people, also a religion, also a ritual — it’s not far from the humor of the opener either.
Fela Kuti of course proved to be one of the most influential musicians of his generation, easily Nigeria’s most recognizable musical export and perhaps all of Africa’s in the ’70s and ’80s, working in experimental and increasingly politicized forms until his death in Aug. 1997. His sons Seun and Femi Kuti both perform, the former with Egypt ’80, a later incarnation of Fela‘s band, and Knitting Factory Records has overseen a host of reissues the last several years, including a box set, Gentleman, and the albums Sorrow, Tears and Blood (1977) and Confusion (1975).
There’s some cool info included in that video above as well. Hope you enjoy.
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I put word out on Thee Facebooks, but if you didn’t see it there, I’ll be stopping by WEMF radio in Cambridge, MA, tomorrow afternoon to guest on Show Sucks, which is hosted by Doug Sherman from Gozu, Darryl Shepard from every band in Boston, Dave Jarvis from Worshipper and probably seven or eight other guys. It starts at 1PM and you can listen if you’re so inclined at www.wemfradio.com. They told me I could pick a couple songs if I wanted. Haven’t yet, but I may before I go. We’ll see.
Tonight, I’m going to catch Geezer with Curse the Son in Connecticut though. I’m at work now, so when I leave here, I’ll head south for that, then back up tomorrow morning to get to the station in time. The Atomic Bitchwax are playing tomorrow night in Providence, but I expect I’ll be pretty dead by the time the evening rolls around. Again, we’ll see. Would be nice to see those guys again, especially since their record is so gosh darn good.
Review Monday of tonight’s gig either way, and album reviews next week for Clutch and Golden Void — breaking out the big guns — as well as a video premiere from Banda de la Muerte and an exclusive from Mos Generator, who are also kicking around New England this weekend, having just wrapped a string of dates with the Bitchwax. A lot depends on whether or not I drive back to Connecticut after doing the radio thing tomorrow.
Anyway, much goodness to come, and also news about Magic Circle‘s new album, Peter Pan Speedrock touring with Mondo Generator, and a ton of other thisses and thats. Frankly it’s all too much for me to keep up with at this point, but I’m trying.
Oh, and I want to do a podcast too to allow myself time to prepare because — and I’m going to put this in bold — the next Quarterly Review starts Sept. 28. Same as the last two: One week, 50 records. Good thing next weekend isn’t my anniversary or anything, so I should have plenty of time to put it all together.
Next weekend, by the way, is my anniversary.
This weekend, however, is just a lot of driving, and I’m going to get started on it as soon as humanly possible. I hope you have a great and safe couple of days wherever you may or may not be headed. See you back here Monday and please check out the forum and radio stream.
Tags: Fela Kuti, Fela Kuti and the Afrika '70, Fela Kuti Gentleman, Gentleman, Nigeria
