Tuesday 9 December 2008

Killer Opening Songs (Fela Kuti and Jethro Tull - Jam Session)

This week Killer Opening Songs is not bringing you an introductory track, but rather, as part of our mini-series within a series of K.O.S. that became trailblazers in their own right, Your Weekly Column will be profiling the work of two of the most prolific musicians ever: Scottish-born Ian Anderson and Nigerian firebrand Fela Kuti.

Each artist developed his own revolutionary style, Anderson as leader of Jethro Tull, Fela as the backbone of Afrobeat, the rhythm he pioneered in the 70s with his band Africa '70. The Tull became one of the linchpins of the so-called prog-rock movement in the 60s and 70s despite the fact that their early recordings had a strong blues influence. Fela, meanwhile, brought his political activism to his music and, on returning to his homeland from LA in 1969, founded the Kalakuta Republic in Nigeria, turning it into a commune with a recording studio and home for those connected with the band.

The clip below shows these two artists' incredible musicianship. I hope you enjoy it. Killer Opening Songs certainly did.



Copyright 2008

19 comments:

  1. I am a big fan of African music so thanks for the reminder about Kuti...ps I have left you a response to your lovely comments on my blog...

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  2. Thanks a lot, Catherine for you kind comment. I will be popping by your blog in no time.

    Greetings from London.

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  3. Esto es lo que se llama: !una descarga selecta!
    Como me gustaría que esta gente pudiera descargar en la Habana, ellos y Chick Korea por ejemplo,
    con Chucho, los Carcasses, Maraca, los Lopez Nussa, Roberto Fonseca, Yasek Manzano y deMas pandilla. Según me dicen el jazz tiene tremendo auge ahora en la isla. Pero bueno, llegará.

    Saludos, Cuban.

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  4. Gracias, asere. Tienes toda la razon, eso seria un concertazo de esos de los grandes, para no perdérselos.

    Saludos desde Londres.

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  5. That's the first time in all my blog-surfing I've come across a reference to Jethro Tull. And a vid, too! Wow! Ian Anderson is a legend.

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  6. great material!
    thanks a lot, man.
    funny thing about that jam session.
    anderson, in an interview a few years ago, told that the whole fela kuti improntu playing was made out of thin air when he was practically dragged out of a radio interview and rushed into the stage to perform with kuti and his band.
    anderson did not feel very good about this but obliged, but he kind of sensed he was being used by the african musician or his promoters to attract larger audiences to kuti's activism and/or kuti's music.
    the jethro tull front man was not comfortable at all with the whole thing, he stated later.
    but that's the miracle of good music.
    great music sessions (recorded or not) have been made under extremely tense situations among musicians.
    music stands above all, it seems.
    thanks a lot for this post, my man.

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  7. Thanks, garri, I had no idea about what went on behind the scenes. Great to have you on board, man.

    Greetings from London.

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  8. felaaaa! yes yes yes! always gets me moving. this sound good.

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  9. Thanks, fly and willow for your visit.

    Greetings from London.

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  10. Cuban: muy bueno. cuando lo vi por primera vez me impacto' muchisimo. ambos musicos estan entre mis favoritos y nunca pense que hubieran tocado juntos. me puse a buscar informacion y descubro que a Ian Anderson el experimento le habia parecido horroroso. en una entrevista dijo (esta es mi traduccion al español):
    “Yo estaba en el bar después de haber hecho lo mío. Hablaba con Jack Bruce, quien es uno de mis héroes, y nunca me lo había encontrado antes. […] De pronto viene esa gente apurada y dice “Rápido, tienes que ir al escenario”. Yo dije: “No, no, ya hice mi parte” pero “No, debes venir y tocar con Fela Kuti, te están esperando”. Podía oír ese tipo de ritmo selvático sonando y aparentemente ellos de hecho habían anunciado que yo iba a ir a tocar. Una vez que se había hecho el compromiso por mí sin mi conocimiento no tuve otra opción que aparecerme allí. Tenía los zapatos desacordonados y ni siquiera tenía mi flauta, estaba en su estuche detrás del escenario. Tuve que correr, tomarla y armarla en escena.
    Allí estaba ese montón de tipos sin entrenamiento tocando muy metidos en lo suyo y Fela Kuti, quien era un perfecto estafador. Él no podía tocar nada, era sólo mierda musical que estaba pasando como algo de vanguardia. Hasta donde sé él se vendía como un militante africano negro y todos los críticos compraban eso encantados. Yo no le gusté para nada; para él yo era un “Blanquito Capitalista”, pero estaba feliz de llevarme allí para que promoviera su carrera. Yo y Jack Bruce y todos los demás fuimos arrastrados allí y aquello era un caos. Aquello era sólo una maraña que siguió y siguió hasta que se le acabó el impulso.
    La gente en el público no estaba impresionada, sabían que aquello era aburrido a morirse y una pérdida de tiempo total. Pero ese es el tipo de cosas que hacen en la televisión alemana, ellos tienen esas ideas artísticas.”
    todo eso lo puse hace como un año en mi blog:
    http://enrisco.blogspot.com/2007/10/ahora-se-trata-de-otra-colaboracin-esta.html

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  11. Muchas gracias, enrisco. Te digo lo mismo que a Garri, desconocia todos los bretes estos.

    Saludos desde Londres.

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  12. I absolutely loved it! Great musicians!

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  13. Thanks, dutch and david for your kind comments.

    Greetings from London.

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  14. Wow, was that a jam or what! I popped over from Maithri's place. Nice, Ian Anderson was always one of my favs... the best musicians are those who can do it on the fly, nothing contrived. Thanks for the music :)

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  15. Thnaks, shimmerrings. That was an outstanding jam session by two greats of modern music indeed :-).

    Greetings from London.

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