Various Artists: Red Hot + Fela

Rating: ★★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Tony Allen (d, perc, v)
Baloji
Spoek Mathambo
M1
Angélique Kidjo
Kronos Quartet
Nneka

Label:

Knitting Factory Records

February/2014

Catalogue Number:

KFR1131-2

And so the Fela Kuti behemoth keeps rolling. Had he not passed away in 1997 from complications relating to AIDS, the Black President would be 75 this year, and very likely the recipient of a host of awards from Nigerian officials whose predecessors variously beat him, imprisoned him and killed his mother, the feminist campaigner Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. The last four years have underscored his rehabilitation what with the Broadway hit FELA! and the transforming of his Kalakuta commune in Lagos into a heritage site. But the spectre of AIDS still looms large in Africa; with this 13-track disc, a continuation of 2003's Red Hot + Riot, the indomitable Red Hot Organisation continue the fight. Here a host of cross-genre collaborators representing rock, hip-hop, Americana and classical put their singular spins on such classic Fela anthems as ‘Zombie’, ‘Buy Afrika’ and the anti-malaria broadside ‘Yellow Fever’. None, thankfully, are slavish imitations of the funk-and-highlife infused Afrobeat that Fela invented and took to the world, though the wailing brass and fanging electric guitar of ‘Lady’ – recorded by tUnE-yArDs, ?uestlove, Angélique Kidjo and Akua Naru – honours the tradition. Fierce stuff.

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