Fela Ransome Kuti and his Koola Lobitos

Description

Highlife - Jazz and Afro-Soul (1963-1969)DISCOVER THE FIRST RECORDINGS OF FELA RANSOME KUTI WITH HIS FIRST GROUP. AN EXCEPTIONAL DOCUMENT FOR ALL AFROBEAT FANS!It is almost impossible to assess the impact and importance of FELA ANIKULAPO RANSOME KUTI, or simply FELA, on world music.Producer, arranger, musician, radical political activist, he was all of these at once. He was also the ultimate showman, inventor of the afrobeat style, known for his "classic" African music, infused with socio-political messages.Born in Nigeria in 1938, he grew up in a politically engaged middle-class family. Thus, it was between politics and music that FELA lived his youth. In 1958, he was sent to London for medical studies. Instead, he enrolled in a music school to study trumpet with the dream of becoming a jazz musician.He formed his first group, KOOLA LOBITOS, and quickly became known in the city's club scene. Two years later, he returned to Nigeria and set up a new version of KOOLA LOBITOS more influenced by James Brown. By mixing these soul influences with highlife - a form of West African jazz - and jazz, he created a new genre called afrobeat. The group would later be renamed Africa 70.This 3CD box set includes 39 tracks that document the search for voice and style of a leading musician of his time, from highlife, to soul, to the beginnings of afrobeat.Includes a 12-page booklet featuring a complete discography and an essay by the author, Michael Veal.