She also describes other highlights:

“We had a Big Yellow Bus that picked us up from the hotel.  It transported us about ten miles to the party.  The Bus and its driver has made appearances on Oprah Winfrey show, People Magazine, The Steve Harvey Morning Show, as well as many other publications.  The Bus driver, Tonya, is doing great work through her GYO organization for youth in our community.  Jamaican Food was served… It was a good closing for Los Angeles. ”

Check out some video of the event below:

And some photos from the event. Thanks to Matt Sargis of Afrobeat Down for these!

more links:

Afrobeat Down on Facebook

Sandra Iszadore on Facebook

———————————————————–

BOB MARLEY & FELA KUTI

Musical giants in a time of revolution 

An exclusive extract from the upcoming book AFROBEAT ART (Part 1); The Revolutionary Vision of Fela Kuti and “His Artist” Ghariokwu Lemi by Ghariokwu & Goldman

Rebel music owned 1977 when musical giants walked among us. As Fela’s ferocious Afrobeat on his all-conquering track, Zombie, rose to challenge the tender lilt of Ghanaian highlife, then Nigeria’s most loved sound, it was part of a popular musical revolutionary front. In London and New York, Punk’s Sex Pistols, Clash and Ramones were yowling into being. In Afrikan Amerika,  the funk of artists like George Clinton’s Parliament, Earth Wind & Fire and the Godfather, James Brown, were trumpeting the long-drawn-out end of the Vietnam War and a futuristic Black Power. At the same time, an album by another revolutionary artist, Jamaican Bob Marley’s Exodus, was making the world identify Jamaica with Africa.

Underlining the part music played in the politics of the era, both Marley and Kuti experienced aggression from the systems their songs denounced.

Rightly suspecting he was under surveillance by the CIA, 1977’s Exodus, cut during months of exile in London, was Marley’s response to a politically motivated assassination attempt on his life at his Kingston home, 56 Hope Road. Equally, the overwhelming local and global love for Fela’s 1977 breakout success, Zombie, would prompt savage revenge from President Obasanjo’s men at Fela’s home, a sprawling grey concrete villa that became a haven for Fela’s tribe in a working class area of Lagos, the Kalakuta Republic,

Hope Road was quite a contrast to Fela’s extended family digs. A dignified mini-Great House set on a broad uptown avenue right by the Prime Minister’s residence, Bob had acquired the property to create a safe space where politically polarized Rasta bred’ren could meet and reason outside the confines of their war-torn downtown streets, where random fires blazed in the scrub and goats grazed in the gutters. The four gunmens’ attack in December, 1976,  shattered a peaceful Wailers rehearsal at Hope Road for Smile Jamaica, a free show for the people that was scheduled to happen at the Prime Minister’s Residence despite Marley’s concerns about the potential politicisation of the show. Wildly, the ghetto dons sprayed all around Marley’s newly-built galley kitchen; but their bullets only hit the singer’s forearm. Also wounded were his wife Rita and manager, Don Taylor.

The Smile Jamaica show did go on, with Bob ripping open his shirt onstage to display his bandaged body. The following day, he left the island, and didn’t return for almost two years, during which period he recorded Exodus. Though at the time, the shooting was said to be provoked by street-level petty gangster runnings, time has proven the Invasion of Hope Road to have been politically motivated.  The repercussions of the attempt on Bob’s life still echo in Jamaican and international politics today.

Already a local hero, Fela pierced global consciousness with Zombie,  a propulsive song satirizing Nigeria’s submissive mindset under military dictator, Obasanjo — an old schoolmate of Fela’s, and his nemesis. Zombie got dancers in clubs round the world swivelling left and right as if the dance-floor were a parade ground — and made Nigerian soldiers question their choices. The government of Obasanjo was one of a series of military regimes that  had left the Nigerian people reeling and disenfranchised, shattering the heady optimism of Independence in 1960. To give some sense of what it was like to live under such a military dictatorship, the sort of beating that Rodney King received from the L.A police, sparking the 1991 L.A. riots, was official government policy in Nigeria for infringements as minor as jaywalking. Even for law-abiding civilians, everyday life could feel like imprisonment.

Thus, Fela created his Kalakuta Republic as a city-within-a-city commune in the  concrete working-class Lagos streets. A mega-Alpha male, Fela could only rule, never follow. The attention received by Zombie and Fela’s own outsize lifestyle and charisma, drew attention away from the government’s own cultural project, Festac 77. International media preferred to chill at Fela’s, smoking a big spliff and admiring his women, than join the government soirées. Sheer jealousy was part of the reason  why the Kalakuta Republic was torched in February 1977, many of his women sadistically raped, and Fela’s mother Funmilayo thrown from the window, leading to her death.  Fela’s free zone was no longer inviolate.  The brutal treatment of his women led to his decision to marry twenty seven of them in a traditional African ceremony. As it is in the musical, Fela!, the violation of Kalakuta was a defining, pivotal moment for Fela, the man. Seeing those dread events re-enacted in the theatre, caught up in the mythic, imaginative intensity of the show, those like myself who have stayed at Kalakuta and were close to Fela, invariably find they’re moved to tears, even while the Afro-funky incantation of the  music stirs a fierce urge for life.

After Zombie and the rape of Kalakuta, Fela became an acknowledged avatar of popular music — part of the elite pantheon of activist musicians that includes John Lennon and Bob Marley, who all, in Fela’s oft-quoted words, used music as a weapon. He paid a terrible price for that status – yet paid it with pride.

copyright 2011 Vivien Goldman

*************************************************************

Vivien Goldman is the Professor of Punk & Reggae at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music. where she will be teaching a course on Fela in 2012. She is the author of The Book of Exodus, the Making & Meaning of Marley’s Album of the Century (Three Rivers Press/Random House); and with artist Ghariokwu Lemi, of the upcoming Afrobeat Art (Part 1.)

The FELA! cast and producers, in association with Knitting Factory Records is currently running a promotion with the amazing children’s charity run by Ziggy Marley, U.R.G.E. (Unlimited Resources Giving Enlightenment). U.R.G.E. If you enter the coupon, “africaunite” with your purchase from the Fela Kuti webstore, 20% of the cost of your items will be donated to U.R.G.E. from now until February 9th. Shop for a good cause –it’s a win for everyone.

Speaking of Ziggy Marley, check out this video of his appearance with the cast of FELA! at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles last month (many thanks to the lovely ADERO GREEN for this footage). Do share!

1. High School Assembly Program
February 6th – 10th
A team of comprised MC, Dancers/ B-Boys, Drummers, Stilt Walkers and DJ. Traveling to 6 area high schools:

University Liggett High School – February 6 11:45am
Henry Ford High School – February 7 11:30am
Detroit Country Day – TBD
Pioneer High School – February 9th 9:30am
Aisha Shule – February 10th 10am
Highland Park – February 8th 10am

Information:
Origin and influence of Afrobeat rhythms. Socio, economic and political introduction to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s social message and impact.

2. Fela Exhibit Charles Wright Museum
Now – April 1st
www.thewright.org

3. Lemi Ghariokwu (artist who did many Fela album covers) DIA Lecture
February 9th 7pm
http://www.dia.org/calendar/event.aspx?id=3113&iid=

4. Fela Art Exhibit Opens at Carr Center
February 9 – April 9, 2012.
The Felatastic Detroit Art Exhibition
The official local artist exhibit of Fela! Detroit, to run concurrently with Fela! The Musical, at the Virgil Carr Center.
Artists are asked to submit pieces that interpret the political work, music or lifestyle of Fela Kuti.

Submissions: please send info + artwork photos – snelson@collegeforcreativestudies.edu

5. Bill T. Jones “A Good Man” Screening
Feb ( DATE TBD)
http://kartemquin.com/films/a-good-man
Charles Wright Museum

6. Opening Night Gala

February 14 6pm
EMCEE: Diana Lewis – WXYZ
Attire: Cocktail/Traditional
Individual Ticket: $350.00 Gala Patron Ticket
Evening Details: 6:00 pm Cocktails and Dinner in “The Shrine” Big Top Tent adjacent to Music Hall

Proceeds benefits Music Hall’s Diversity Programming

7. Project SNAP
March 4th (although outreach begins now)
http://www.projectsnap.org/fela

A 4′x6′ mosaic mural will be made up of Fela inspired artworks, contributed by local high school students and DTE Energy employees and will reflect the important themes that participants learn. A physical copy will be permanently installed in a prominent location in the Metro Detroit area.
Closing presentation of student artwork – March 4th

A couple happenings in the world of FELA! we wanted to alert you to — Ziggy Marley showed us some serious love recently. We’re giddy. Won’t you follow him on Twitter? Psst. Don’t forget to follow us too if you haven’t already.

And look who visited us at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles recently: Taye Diggs and actress Idina Menzel! The star of Broadway’s RENT and How Stella Got Her Groove Back stopped by for a photo with cast member Adechike Torbert. You may recognize him from Private Practice. Check out more sightings on the rest of our blog — You may see a certain Stevie…

BBC Radio 4: Fela Comes Home by felamusical

Fela spoke out against widespread government corruption and police brutality in 1970s Nigeria. In the immediate present, Fela’s message of resistance can be heard ringing through the OccupyNigeria movement: protestors in Lagos have resurrected their national political hero by playing tracks like “Zombie” and “Gentleman” at demonstrations, while decrying President Jonathan Goodyear’s recent removal of the national fuel subsidy — the only tangible benefit Nigerians (who often live on less than $2 a day) receive from the government.

The removal of the subsidy took effect from Sunday, 1 January 2012 as announced by the Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA Reginald Stanley. In response, demonstrations have cropped up not only in Nigeria, but also abroad in London, New York, and Washington D.C.

Al Jazeera‘s The Stream featured an entire program on the #OccupyNigeria movement. Among others, they feature guests like Fela’s son, Seun Kuti, and Nigerian activist and founder of Sahara Reporters Omoyele Sowore.

“I’d like to add that we reached out to numerous Nigerian government officials, but all declined to appear on the program.”

Footage of protests in New York and London:

1. New York: (Note the car honking!)

2. London: “We’re signing this petition to tell the government that not only Nigerians in Nigeria are angry about the subsidy.”

To learn more, check out OccupyNigeria on Facebook or this excellent interview about the movement with Nigerian author, Chinua Achebe.

What do Nas, Stevie Wonder, Kanye West, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Ziggy Marley, and Smokey Robinson have in common? They all led standing ovations at FELA!  at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. You can do the same next week when the FELA! cast has its very special free in-store performance and signing at Amoeba Records in Hollywood on Wednesday, January 18th at 5pm. Then, take an hour or five to browse the West Coast’s premier record store — only a joint this behemoth could contain our cast!

Purchase tickets for the remaining FELA! dates here. The Original Broadway Cast Recording is available here through Knitting Factory Records. While you’re at it, you can RSVP for the event on our Facebook page.

Fela was sweet; perhaps not an adjective that would normally be used to describe this tornado of a man, but Fela was sweet to me. The sweetness that I perceived in him emanated from his love for humanity; particularly for those who had drawn life’s short straw. Hundreds of people depended upon Fela for living. Many more than he needed to run his Lagos club, The Shrine, or to play in his band.

I saw him as a social  engineer, concerned with issues of injustice, corruption, the abuses of power. He was ready to lay his life on the line in defense of such causes, which he did on countless occasions. For his trouble he was beaten with rifle butts, endlessly harassed, imprisoned, vilified by the authorities, despised by bourgeois society (whose sons and daughters were captivated by him) His house was once burned to the ground by a thousand soldiers after they had raped and beaten his followers, thrown his mother and brother from a window, both of whom suffered fractures (his mother was ultimately to die from her injuries) Each time they were to beat him, though, he always bounced back with a vengeance, stronger than ever. It is my view that the only thing that kept him alive and the ultimate source of his strength, was the love the people had for him.

And his music – the rumble of thunder and the crack of lightning – layer upon layer of sublimely interwoven rhythm and melody, tangled in a delicious knot of divine inspiration. Deliberate conspiracies of hot brass woven around the intricately hypnotic consistency of bass and guitar lines, all driven by the dual forces of lavish percussion and Fela’s own passion for the precision of his musical vision. Heaven help any musician who might stray from his given task. Fury would descend upon him until, in mortal terror, he would struggle his way back into the groove.

The icing on the cake of a Fela performance were his singers and dancers; fabulous glittering unreal creatures from another world who would exude waves of sensuality and downright sexiness that you could cut with a knife. All in all, thirty something people on stage, each playing their part in  what Fela called “the underground spiritual game”.

In the centre of this audio-visual feast for the senses, Fela reigned supreme. He was everywhere at once; playing keyboards,  soprano or alto, the occasional drum solo, a sinuous dance from one side of the stage to the other and then it was time to sing, the ever-present spliff held in his elegant fingers. No moon and toon and joon for this articulate firebrand. Only eloquent biting poetic social observation, expressed with a breathtaking clarity and natural authority which placed him firmly in an unsurpassed realm in which he had no equal. Perhaps Pavarotti can break a wine glass at sixty paces, maybe Bono can make girls wet their pants with a flick of his sweat laden hair, but for sheer mastery, panache, style and guts nobody could or can beat this guy.  To get a bead on who he was, once he had  recorded a song, he would never perform it again on stage, no matter how record company execs may plead.

Recently, however, he had ceased his endless harangue of politicians, big business,organised religion, the military, police etc (once, when running for President of Nigeria, he proclaimed that his first act upon being elected would be to enroll the entire population in the police force. Then, he said, “before a policeman could slap you he would have to think twice because you’re a policeman too.” The authorities ultimately refused to allow him to enter the race. Too bad.)

He now saw politics as “a distraction” saying that our only task was to enter into contact with our own spirit, without which “we would not survive”. His last years were spent in spiritual contemplation. He never left the house, except twice a week to go to the Shrine and play. He wouldn’t arrive until two in the morning. There would be fifteen hundred people waiting for him and he would finish at dawn.

And now he has gone. AIDS, they said. As far as I’m concerned it was one beating too many which had weakened his body sufficiently to allow disease to enter.  He was a giant of a man, but a man nevertheless. The system can only take so much.

I went to his funeral. A hundred and fifty thousand people or so gathered in Tafawa Balewa Square to pay their last respects. Bands played, people queued endlessly to file past his glass coffin. We then ran with  the coffin to a hearse (there were still thirty thousand people queuing up) to make the 20 kilometre journey to the Shrine where Fela’s children were to carry out a private ceremony for family and friends. In a cavalcade of vehicles we rode through Lagos City behind a band in the back of a pick-up truck playing Fela tunes. The road was thronged with tens of thousands of people, until we came to the brow of a hill. I looked down across the valley to the distant horizon. The road was filled with people from one side to the other and  as far as the eye could see. A million people or more, and even more came as we passed through each neighborhood. Seven hours to cover 20 kilometres and the band never dropped a note. As we came nearer to Ikeja, we began to worry. What would happen when we reached Pepple Street, a small side street in which The Shrine was situated. How, in fact would we reach The Shrine with a million people in front of us? Night fell as we drew near. We turned in to Pepple Street. There was hardly anyone there. One million or more people had decided that it was not appropriate for them to be there.

Fela was my friend for the past fifteen years. Our fourteen year working relationship had grown from that friendship. I regret his passing but celebrate his life. He will live forever through the incredible legacy of more than 50 albums of music which he has left us and through the love and respect of the millions of people who knew him, from near or far.

He was finally laid to rest in front of his house, Kalakuta, in Ikeja on the morning of Tuesday 12 August, 1997. His son, Femi, played a plaintive sax solo. A gentle rain fell; like perfume.

- Rikki Stein

London, September 1997

(Rikki Stein was Fela’s friend and longtime manager)