Some kids bond with their parents through sport, or perhaps a hobby. Seun Kuti bonded with his dad through music. Not just listening to certain bands, or collecting records, but playing and performing. Seun's dad being Fela Kuti, the man who ranks right alongside Miles Davis, Bill Monroe or Little Richard as an architect who created a certain style of music.
For Fela Kuti, that style was Afrobeat, an upbeat and at times psychedelic cocktail of traditional West African music mixed with American funk and jazz. Fela’s sons continue to make that music, which includes his youngest son Seun, who started playing in his father’s band in the 1990s – he now leads that band.
Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 will perform Tuesday (May 13) at Animas City Theatre. This show is co-sponsored by local KDUR Radio, a station that this columnist manages.
If you go
WHAT: Afrobeat with Seun Kuti with a DJ set by Rasta Stevie.
WHEN: 7 p.m. Tuesday (May 13).
WHERE: Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Drive.
TICKETS: $45/$50.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.animascitytheatre.com.
A young Seun Kuti was part of his father’s musical world, without knowing he was going to be a vital part of that world.
“I pretty much joined that band when I was about 8, and I’ve been doing it ever since,” Seun said. “We went on every tour, we went to every show, so I was just really fascinated by the lifestyle, the culture, and that’s what drew me in as a kid. I said to my dad, ‘I want to be a part of this,’ and that was the beginning of the journey.”
That journey included Seun first playing the drums, then moving to saxophone. He’ll admit that when it comes to the saxophone that’s where he “holds his ground,” but he sees himself as a composer, as he continues to write and arrange new Afrobeat music.
He’s also the band leader, at one time conducting up to 18 different musicians, which now, because of economics, that number tops off at about nine. That are still plenty of people to make a glorious symphony of Afrobeat music, blasts of horn-heavy funk driven by solid percussion. Afrobeat is dance music, as groove heavy as old-school funk and at times as aggressive as rock ’n’ roll.
Seun and Afrobeat aren’t household genres. However, thanks to a tour that found Kuti and Egypt 80 opening for Lenny Kravitz, it is getting in front of new audiences.
“Music is a universal language, and Afrobeat is one of those different accents. People tend to find it just like finding a dialect, they find similarities. My music is something that is social and speaks to the realities of working people of the world,” he said. “Even when I played with Lenny Kravitz for the first time, it was a completely new audience. I think it was one of the first times in a long time that I played to an audience where I don’t think people knew who I was. By the end, they knew who I am and that for me is what music can do, if done properly. It doesn’t need to develop an explanation because people will understand and pick it up.”
It’s also music with a message. The elder Kuti was an outspoken critic of the injustices and military rule of his home country of Nigeria; he was an important figure beyond music, and Seun honors that, while touting Afrobeat bands worldwide.
“It’s what he represented that resonates in all of us. The rebellion against the system, giving truth to power, representing the voiceless as a way to confront the evils of society. That’s the spirit that I love of an Afrobeat band, to keep that alive today and honor my father” Seun said. “That for me is what I do. I don’t think I’m more special or less special than any other Afrobeat band in the world doing the same thing.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
