JNF WMC & PHILLY! FELA!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012

 

Fela!  is making it's FIRST USA TOUR STOP in Philadelphia from March 20th to March 25th. In honor of Rich Medina and Jump N Funk's 10 years as America's premiere Fela Kuti Tribute party, we have a brand new DISCOUNTED TICKETS CODE! Now, you can go enjoy Fela! in Philadelphia at The Kimmell Center at a discount! See below for details!

PROMO CODE FOR DISCOUNT PLAY TICKETS!

Promo Code: RICH

Link: https://tickets.kimmelcenter.org/APO/apo.aspx?apo_no=RICH

JUMP N FUNK is THE OFFICIAL OPENING NIGHT AFTERPARTY FOR FELA on MARCH 20th! at Fluid, 613 South 4th Street, Philadelphia. Doors are at 10pm, FREE.99 Entry for al Fela! ticket holders, and $5 entry for everyone else! Come shake your nyash with us in honor of Nigeria's Godfather Of Afrobeat, Fela Anikulapo Kuti! 

JUMP N FUNK returns to the Winter Music Conference 2012 @ The Electric Pickle in Downtown Miami on March 17th, 2012 from 9pm to 5am! Those who know already know. Those who don't…come see what we're about if you like that afro global dance floor sound…We got what you need…right here…

March 17th Jump N Funk at Winter Music Conference FB Invite:

https://www.facebook.com/events/119162771543226/

March 20th Fela Afterparty in Philly FB Invite:

https://www.facebook.com/events/260625794020492/

 

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The AfroBeatles Manning Marable Tribute - Nowhere Man vs Fear Not For Man
Wednesday, April 06, 2011

 

The AfroBeatles tribute to Black Scholar and Activist Manning Marable.

Manning Marable, one of the leading scholars of African-American history in the United States, has died at age 60. He had been hospitalized with pneumonia last month, according to reports.

"He would want to be remembered for being both a scholar and an activist and as someone who saw the two as not being separated," Manning's widow, Leith Mullings Marable, told The Root.

For Newscast, Karen Grigsby Bates reports:

Marable, professor of history and African-American Studies at Columbia University, is known for his well-regarded books on the American Civil Rights movement, the meaning of race in America, and the tension between race and democracy.

Marable had suffered from the lung disease sarcoidosis for much of his adult life; he had a a double lung transplant last summer.

In 2003, Marable told a reporter for the Columbia Record how he thought about the civil rights movement:


Slaves couldn't free themselves by themselves, so it had to be a movement. It comes from a group of people deciding, 'We will sacrifice individual choice for the benefit of the group.' That's the logic of trade unions, the women's rights movement and the lesbian and gay movement.

In other words, emancipatory freedom is group freedom. Freedom is not found through multiple choices, but goals for all. Everyone should be able to eat, everyone should be able to vote and have decent schools.

Marable appeared on Democracy Now in 2007, to discuss his work on a biography of Malcolm X. That book, titled Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, is coming out Monday (4/12).

by BILL CHAPPELL, NPR News

 


Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

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It's Spring! Here Comes The SUN! The AfroBeatles meet Ocote Soul Sounds
Monday, March 21, 2011

 Here Comes The Sun vs La Primavera by AfroBeatles 


The AfroBeatles celebrate the release of our brothers, Ocote Soul Sounds', new album "Taurus" dropping soon on ESL Music.

Yes, AfroBeatles is traditionally Fela Kuti and Beatles mashes but, we will occasionally explore the recordings of bands that are heavily influenced by Baba (Fela).Heading up that list is the mighty Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra which has been for years preserving the riddims established by Fela Kuti, Tony Allen and others.

One of the founding members of Antibalas, Martin Perna (Sax, Flute, Vocals, Composition, Arrangement, Production) has a dope, dare I say, side-group, Ocote Soul Sounds with his production partner Adrian Quesada.These cats have been dropping dope original afro-latin-soul-funk grooves since '06 and you need to cop ALL their records.

If you aren't hip to these dudes, The AfroBeatles are happy to introduce, Ocote Soul Sounds with a cut off their new album "Taurus" entitled "La Primavera" or "The Spring" for the latino-challenged amongst us.How perfect to find a song about the winter ending and the spring beginning right when we are pining for that exact transition to occur."La Primavera" is the perfect conceptual groove-vehicle to smash with The Beatles' "Here Comes The Sun" which is, after all, roughly the same lyrical concept.


"La Primavera" lyrics M. Perna

Despues del invierno, (After the Winter)

Llega la primavera (Comes the Spring)

Llega la primavera

Dulce primavera (Sweet Spring)

"Here Comes The Sun" lyrics G. Harrison

Here comes the sun

Here comes the sun

and, I say, it's alright

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter

Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here

Here comes the sun

Here comes the sun

and I say, it's alright

Little darling, the smiles returning to their faces

Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here

Here comes the sun

Here comes the sun

and I say, it's alright

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes

 

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A Day In The Life vs. Egbe Mi O (Carry Me I Want To Die)
Friday, February 18, 2011

Here we are.  Just another day in the life of The AfroBeatles, literally.  Today we smash-up John Lennon and Paul McCartney's "A Day In The Life" with Fela Kuti's "Egbe Mio" which means Carry me, I want to die. 

Strangely enough, while working on this. we stumbled upon this entire sub-culture that we had no idea existed.  I told you from the beginning I knew very little about The Beatles before starting this project, but really, do all the fans out there know about this "Paul McCartney is dead" business???   

B, I'm sayin that there is an entire set of people walking this planet who believe that Paul McCartney died in a car-accident in 1966 and that the dude we have been living with all these years is not at all Paul McCartney.  The progenitors of this belief system weave an intense web of British Secret service involvement, assassination, and deception to maintain the cash cow that is the Beatles brand and, as exemplified in www.ispauldead.com, go to extreme lengths to document the extensive evidence supporting this theory.  There is even a flick called Paul McCartney Really Is Dead which supposedly features recordings George Martin made on his deathbed admitting that Paul was indeed killed and that our Paul is this dude Billy Shears.  The cover of SGT. PEPPERS is supposed to have some of the most blatant clues from John, George and Ringo that Paul is no longer with us, along with a backmastered run-out groove on the original vinyl that some interpret as the Beatles saying "Paul Is Dead, Paul Is Dead". The rabbit hole is DEEP on this one folks so decide if you want to take the blue pill or the red pill.  Happy listening!

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Valentine's Day The AfroBeatles Way... Can't Buy Me Love
Monday, February 14, 2011

The Beatles never picked up many Grammys on their comeup, but yesterday, they won for best historical album at the 2011 Grammy Awards, just as The Beatles / Cirque Du Soliel "LOVE" album makes its digital release debut exclusively on the iTunes Store. Seems like there is still ALOT of LOVE for The Beatles.  But, when it comes to The Beatles and FELA, however, there is an interesting twist.

According to The Observer's Peter Culshaw:

Paul McCartney found himself in Lagos in August 1972. The plan had been to record a new record - the record that became Band on the Run - at somewhere other than Abbey Road and EMI had offered one of its studios in Rio de Janeiro or Peking. Instead, the former Beatle insisted on the Nigerian capital, picturing himself 'lying on the beach all day doing nothing and recording at night'.

As he drily noted later, 'it didn't turn out quite like that', what with being held up at knife point, the lepers in the streets, the omnipresent military, the corruption and the lack of security. Still, Lagos had its attractions. Chief among these was the chance to check out Fela Ransome-Kuti's band - 'the best band I've ever seen live ... When Fela and his band eventually began to play, after a long, crazy build-up, I just couldn't stop weeping with joy. It was a very moving experience.'

Thrilled by his experience, McCartney thought of recording with some of the musicians. When Fela caught wind of the plan he denounced McCartney from the stage of The Shrine and then arrived unannounced at the studio to berate him for 'stealing black man's music'.

As McCartney said at the time: 'We were gonna use African musicians, but when we were told we were about to pinch the music we thought, "Well, up to you, we'll do it ourselves." Fela thought we were stealing black African music, the Lagos sound. So I had to say, "Do us a favour, Fela, we do OK. We're all right as it is. We sell a couple of records here and there."

Wow... so, Paul McCartney of The Beatles LOVED FELA and FELA showed NO LOVE BACK!!!  

When venturing down the path to do this mashup, I NEVER considered the possibility that Fela Kuti and The Beatles might have crossed paths. About a month ago @thisisjohnbook hit us with this tweet:

"If Fela Kuti did not threaten Paul McCartney in 1973 for suspicions of musical theft, it might have lead to@AfroBeatles afrobeatles.com"
 
I didn't know quite what that meant but it was my first clue that Fela and The Beatles had indeed mixed it up. After stumbling upon Culshaw's article from 2004, I got the full rundown which made working on this project even more precious. We are putting together greats that could have rocked together but didn't.  This experiment shows what might have come from this collabo.  But let's explore why Fela dissed Paul with the smashup of Can't Buy Me Love and Expensive Shit.

"Can't Buy Me".. meaning it's too expensive or priceless.

Thinking about the pairing from a race and colonialism perspective which constantly fueled Fela Kuti's music, i think specifically of the Diamond Industry and how the British, amongst other European nations, have pillaged and exploited the lands, resources and peoples of Africa so literally that the trade is often called Blood Diamonds due to the toll on human life to retrieve the precious stones from African mines and sell them in the World market.  The Beatles and the "British Invasion" were so emblematic of the that White world power, Fela's response is essentially 'i don't care who you are, you can't buy my love.'  The lyrics themselves say it most plainly.  Happy Valentine's Day, The AfroBeatles way.


Can't buy me love, love 
Can't buy me love 
I'll buy you a diamond ring my friend if it makes you feel alright 
I'll get you anything my friend if it makes you feel alright 
'Cause I don't care too much for money, money can't buy me love 
I'll give you all I got to give if you say you love me too 
I may not have a lot to give but what I got I'll give to you 
I don't care too much for money, money can't buy me love 
Can't buy me love, everybody tells me so 
Can't buy me love, no no no, no 
Say you don't need no diamond ring and I'll be satisfied 
Tell me that you want the kind of thing that money just can't buy 
I don't care too much for money, money can't buy me love 

 

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