FELA NEWS

I know this is months and months away, but how ill does this this look? Red, Hot, and Riot Live: The Music and Spirit of Fela Kuti at Brooklyn Academy of Music on Dec 1st and 2nd, featuring Amadou & Mariam, Cheikh Lo, dead prez, Keziah Jones, Les Nubians, Meshell Ndegeocello, Yerba Buena, and more to be announced. Also including "a week-long series of Afrobeat concerts at BAM Cafe and other surprises."

I still bump this 2002 Fela tribute/AIDS fundraiser album constantly. But I've never had a chance to see any of these artists perform the songs live. This is going to be effing historic. I'm sure the lineup is going to get quite a bit bigger, considering that other contributors to this comp included Femi Kuti and his band Positive Force, Tony Allen, Macy Gray, Taj Mahal, Baaba Maal, Talib Kweli, Blackalicious, Common, Roy Hargrove, Archie Shepp, Nile Rogers, Jorge Ben, Manu Dibango, Bilal, Kelis, Bugz in the Attic, and more.

And let me just tell you right now, if D'Angelo comes out for "Water Get No Enemy," it's over, I'll have died and gone to musical heaven.

Afrobeat lovers, note: Antibalas is performing at Central Park Summerstage this Saturday the 1st. And speaking of all things African, this weekend is the annual African Street Festival in Brooklyn at Commodore Barry Park near the Navy Yard. More info here.