Samstag, 15. September 2018

Fela Ransome Kuti & The Africa 70 – Music Of Fela - Roforofo Fight (1972)

It's true that Fela Kuti's early-'70s records tend to blur together with their similar groupings of four lengthy Afro-funk-jazz cuts. In their defense, it must be said that while few artists can pull off similar approaches time after time and continue to make it sound fresh, Kuti is one of them. 

Each of the four songs on the 1972 album "Roforofo Fight" clocks in at 12 to 17 minutes, and there's a slight slide toward more '70s-sounding rhythms in the happy-feet beats of the title track and the varied yet rock-solid drums in "Go Slow." There's just a hint of reggae in "Trouble Sleep Yanga Wake Am," in the pace, vocal delivery, ethereal keyboards, and lilting yet dramatic minor melodic lines. 

The James Brown influence is strongly heard in the lean, nervous guitar strums of "Question Jam Answer," and the horns cook in a way that they might have had Brown been more inclined to let his bands go into improvisational jams.


Tracklist:

A Roforofo Fight 15:33
B Trouble Sleep Yanga Wake Am 12:00
C Question Jam Answer 13:45
D Go Slow 17:21

(320 kbps, cover art included)

3 Kommentare:

rev.b hat gesagt…

Robert Wyatt summed it up well when he included Fela on his listof favorite arrangers; 'He really only has one arrangement, but it's so good it doesn't matter!' I know I never tire of his music. Thank you for this and all the rest.

zero hat gesagt…

Thanks a lot for the Robert Wyatt quote. Well said!

Feilimid O'Broin hat gesagt…

Thanks for posting so much of Fela's music. He has influenced many other artists and, at great risk to himself, was an important critic of the corrupt Nigerian regimes that exploited Nigerians during his too brief lifetime. I love his music and greatly respect his courage.

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