2009-01-01
Femi Kuti, son of the legendary Afrobeat founder and political activist, Fela Kuti, takes up his father's mantle with this mixture of Afrobeat and jazz, backed by the 17-member band Positive Force. Femi, like his late father, flirts with attracting the wrath of the Nigerian government as he decries corruption and encourages people to empower themselves. Some musicians face barriers that we can't imagine here. Femi mentions that he was particularly influenced by American jazz musicians in making this record, and that's most apparent in "They Will Run," "You Better Ask Yourself" and "Do You Know" (the latter is an instrumental after which he mentions many of the names of jazz greats). W-Africa 01/09 Michael J.VARIOUS
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