Afrodisiac (Fela Kuti Album)
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''Afrodisiac'' is an album by Nigerian
Afrobeat Afrobeat (also known as Afrofunk) is a West African music genre, fusing influences from Nigerian (such as Yoruba) and Ghanaian (such as highlife) music, with American funk, jazz, and soul influences. With a focus on chanted vocals, complex i ...
composer, bandleader, and multi-instrumentalist
Fela Kuti Fela Aníkúlápó Kútì (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997) was a Nigerians, Nigerian musician and political activist. He is regarded as the principal innovator of Afrobeat, a Nigerian music genre t ...
, originally released on the Nigerian
EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
label in 1973.Fela Kuti discography
, accessed 12 May 2014. The album's four tracks were re-recordings of Nigerian 45s redone in London in 1972. The album features Kuti's first Nigerian hit "Jeun Ko Ku," which sold over 200,000 copies.
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
stated that "These four workouts ..are propulsive mixtures of
funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
and
African music The continent of Africa is vast and its music is diverse, with different regions and nations having many distinct musical traditions. African music includes the genres like makwaya, highlife, mbube, township music, jùjú, fuji, jaiva ...
, avoiding the homogeneity of much funk and African records of later vintage, done with nonstop high energy. The interplay between horns, electric keyboards, drums, and Fela's exuberant vocals gives this a
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
character, without sacrificing the earthiness that makes it danceable as well".Unterberger, R.
Allmusic review
accessed 12 May 2014.
The album later served as both an inspiration and a template for American
post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...
band
Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads
' 1980 album ''
Remain in Light ''Remain in Light'' is the fourth studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cass ...
''.


Track listing

All compositions by Fela Kuti. # "Alu Jon Jonki Jon" – 12:41 # "Jeun Ko Ku (Chop & Quench)" – 7:14 # "Eko Ile" – 6:41 # "Je'nwi Temi (Don't Gag Me)" – 13:15


Personnel

*
Fela Kuti Fela Aníkúlápó Kútì (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997) was a Nigerians, Nigerian musician and political activist. He is regarded as the principal innovator of Afrobeat, a Nigerian music genre t ...
tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...
,
alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...
,
electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument that has a piano-style musical keyboard, where sound is produced by means of mechanical hammers striking metal strings or reeds or wire tines, which leads to vibrations which are then converted into ele ...
, vocals *Eddie Faychum, Tunde Williams – trumpet *Igo Chico – tenor saxophone *Lekan Animashaun –
baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...
*Peter Animashaun – guitar *Maurice Ekpo – bass guitar * Tony Allen – drums *Tony Abayomi – percussion *Isaac Olaleye –
shekere The shekere (from Yoruba Ṣẹ̀kẹ̀rẹ̀) is a percussion instrument consisting of a dried gourd with beads or cowries woven into a net covering the gourd. There are multiple ways to produce sounds with the instrument. It can be shaken or ...
*Henry Koffi, Akwesi Korranting, Friday Jumbo –
congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are stave (wood), staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (drum), quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), an ...


References

{{Authority control Fela Kuti albums 1973 albums Afrobeat albums EMI Records albums Yoruba-language albums Albums produced by Jeff Jarratt (producer)