Difference between revisions of "Afrobeat" - New World Encyclopedia

Latest revision as of 06:08, 16 June 2023

Afrobeat developed in Africa in the 1960s and 1970s and blends elements of Yoruba music, jazz and funk rhythms with an instrumentation that emphasizes African percussion and vocal styles.

Afrobeat was pioneered by Fela Kuti, a Nigerian bandleader and instrumentalist whose musical ideas and political ideals formed the core of Afrobeat's aesthetic as it appeared in the 1960s. Kuti's experience with Highlife music in the Koola Lobitos Band moved Kuti to include the African pop-jazz hybrid as one of the primary influences upon the new style.

Afrobeat elements

Some common elements of Afrobeat:

Big bands: Performing forces requiring many performers on a variety of different instruments.
Energy: Fast tempi combined with polyrhythmic percussion.
Repetition: The continual deployment of some musical cell in a repetitive pattern.
Improvisation: Spontaneous creation of music within a set of parameters that may place melodic, harmonic, or rhythmic restrictions.
Mixed genre: Seamless integration of several musical styles.

Afrobeat evolved during the 1960s in southern Nigeria and drew some of its inspiration from the free jazz movement. Fela Anikulapo Kuti took African harmonic and rhythmic concepts and surrounded them with the musical trappings of Highlife, free jazz, and other contemporary musical genres to create the sound.

As is often the case with Afrocentric genres of music, politics play a role in the subject matter of many Afrobeat songs, which in turn serve as part musical expression and part social commentary. Fela Kuti, in his songs, adopted a stance opposed to the contemporary African political climate of the 1960s, broaching topics as diverse and military corruption and national sovereignty, which resonated across much of the continent. This resonance spurred a blossoming number of Afrobeat performers throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and although much of this music was recorded, evidence of those performances is now scarce.

Influence of Afrobeat

Afrobeat's influence extends beyond the genre itself, with jazz musicians paying particular interest to the sound. Notable musicians who have drawn inspiration from Afrobeat include Roy Ayers, Randy Weston, Branford Marsalis and Brian Eno. The music has experienced a resurgence as DJs continue to discover Afrobeat source recordings and incorporate them into their work in modified or original forms.

After his death in 1997, Fela Kuti's musical style has continued to find willing performers and audiences, aided in part by Afrobeat's prominence on the World Café. Current practitioners are as geographically dispersed as are the musical influences which led to Afrobeat's birth. Femi Kuti and the Positive Force, and Ayetoro (a musical project of Funsho Ogundipe) are entrenched in Afrobeat's Nigerian heritage. Prominent groups are also rooted in Los Angeles, Brooklyn (Antibalas), and Chicago (Chicago Afrobeat Ensemble).

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Olaniyan, Tejumola. Arrest the music!: Fela and his rebel art and politics. Bloomington, ID: Indiana University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-253-34461-1
Schoonmaker, Trevor. Fela: from West Africa to West Broadway. NY: Palgrave MacMillan, 2003. ISBN 1-403-96209-X
Veal, Michael E. Fela the life and times of an African musical icon. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2000. ISBN 1566397642

External Links

All links retrieved June 16, 2023.

BBC World Service. BBC Afrobeat Documentary
AllMusic. Afro-beat

Credits

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Afrobeat ^history

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History of "Afrobeat"

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{claimed}}
+{{Copyedited}}{{approved}}{{submitted}}{{Paid}}
-'''Afrobeat''' is a combination of [[Yoruba music]], [[jazz]], and [[funk]] [[rhythm]]s, fused with [[Africa]]n [[Percussion instrument|percussion]] and [[vocal]] styles, popularized in [[Africa]] in the 1970s.
+[[Category:Image wanted]]
-Afrobeat's most famous artist was the [[Nigeria]]n multi-[[Musical instruments|instrumentalist]] and [[bandleader]] [[Fela Kuti]], who coined the term Afrobeat, shaped the musical structure and shaped the political context of the genre. He launched Afrobeat in the early 60s.
+'''Afrobeat''' developed in Africa in the 1960s and 1970s and blends elements of [[Yoruba music]], [[jazz]] and [[funk]] [[rhythm]]s with an instrumentation that emphasizes [[Africa]]n [[Percussion instrument|percussion]] and [[vocal]] styles.
+{{toc}}
+Afrobeat was pioneered by [[Fela Kuti]], a [[Nigeria]]n [[bandleader]] and [[Musical instruments|instrumentalist]] whose musical ideas and political ideals formed the core of Afrobeat's aesthetic as it appeared in the 1960s. Kuti's experience with [[Highlife]] music in the [[Koola Lobitos]] Band moved Kuti to include the African pop-jazz hybrid as one of the primary influences upon the new style.
-Afrobeat also has influences from [[Highlife]] music, a style of African pop-jazz. Kuti had earlier played this type of music with the [[Koola Lobitos]] Band.
+==Afrobeat elements==
-Characteristics of Afrobeat are:
+Some common elements of Afrobeat:
-* [[Big band]]s: A large group of musicians playing various instruments (Fela Kuti's band in the 80s ''Egypt 80'' featured 80 musicians);
+* [[Big band]]s: Performing forces requiring many performers on a variety of different instruments.
-* Energy: Energetic, exciting and with high tempo, [[polyrhythmic]] percussion;
+* Energy: Fast tempi combined with [[polyrhythmic]] percussion.
-* Repetition: The same musical movements are repeated many times;
+* Repetition: The continual deployment of some musical cell in a repetitive pattern.
-* [[Improvisation]]: Performing without set music;
+* [[Improvisation]]: Spontaneous creation of music within a set of parameters that may place melodic, harmonic, or rhythmic restrictions.
-* Combination of genres: A mixture of various musical influences.
+* Mixed genre: Seamless integration of several musical styles.
-Afrobeat originated from the southern part of [[Nigeria]] in the 60s, influenced in part by the American [[free jazz]] movement. [[Fela Kuti|Fela Anikulapo Kuti]] experimented with many different forms of music - first with High-Life jazz, and then other forms of contemporary music of the time. Prevalent in his music are native African harmonies and rhythms, taking different elements and combining, modernizing and improvizing upon them.
+Afrobeat evolved during the 1960s in southern [[Nigeria]] and drew some of its inspiration from the [[free jazz]] movement. [[Fela Kuti|Fela Anikulapo Kuti]] took African harmonic and rhythmic concepts and surrounded them with the musical trappings of Highlife, free jazz, and other contemporary musical genres to create the sound.
-[[Politics]] are essential to the genre of Afrobeat, since the founder [[Fela Kuti]] was deeply concerned in social criticism to pave way to social change. His message can be described as confrontational and controversial, which can be related to the political climate of most of the African countries in the 60s, many of which were dealing with political injustice and military corruption while recovering from the transition from colonial governments to self-determination.
+As is often the case with Afrocentric genres of music, [[politics]] play a role in the subject matter of many Afrobeat songs, which in turn serve as part musical expression and part social commentary. [[Fela Kuti]], in his songs, adopted a stance opposed to the contemporary African political climate of the 1960s, broaching topics as diverse and military corruption and national sovereignty, which resonated across much of the continent. This resonance spurred a blossoming number of Afrobeat performers throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and although much of this music was recorded, evidence of those performances is now scarce.
-As the genre spread throughout the African continent, many bands took up the style in the 60s and 70s. The recordings of these bands and their songs were rarely heard or exported outside the originating countries and are quite rare finds nowadays.
+==Influence of Afrobeat==
-Jazz musicians have always been attracted to Afrobeat. From [[Roy Ayers]] in the seventies to [[Randy Weston]] in the nineties there have been collaborations which have resulted in albums such as ''Africa: Centre of the World'' by Roy Ayers, released on the Polydor label in 1981. In 1994 Branford Marsalis, the American jazz saxophonist, included samples of Fela's "Beast of No Nation" on his ''Buckshot leFonque'' album.
+Afrobeat's influence extends beyond the genre itself, with jazz musicians paying particular interest to the sound. Notable musicians who have drawn inspiration from Afrobeat include [[Roy Ayers]], [[Randy Weston]], [[Branford Marsalis]] and [[Brian Eno]]. The music has experienced a resurgence as DJs continue to discover Afrobeat source recordings and incorporate them into their work in modified or original forms.
-Afrobeat has profoundly influenced important contemporary producers like [[Brian Eno]], who credits Fela Kuti as an influence.
-New generation DJs of the 2000s who have fallen in love with both Kuti's material and other rare releases have made compilations and remixes of these recordings, thus re-introducing the genre to new generations of listeners and fans of Afropop and Groove.
-Post-Fela, the Afrobeat scene is spreading and the music has taken solid root on the World Café. There is a diverse group of bands influenced by the music operating out of different countries. A list of acts to watch would definitely include Femi Kuti (Fela's first son and a saxophonist) and the Positive Force; Ayetoro (a group led by Nigerian pianist/composer Funsho Ogundipe); Afrobeat Down, a Los Angeles based group working with Sandra Izsadore, [[Antibalas]] ([[Brooklyn]], New York based multiracial Afrobeat Orchestra formed by baritone saxophonist Martin Perna); [[Chicago Afrobeat Project]], which brings a fresh contemporary twist to the genre; [[Illinois]] based Afrobeat group the [[Alma Afrobeat Ensemble]]; Speak in Tones, originating from Tribeca's Walker Stage scene (international artists all over the world celebrating Afrobeat & indigenous rights.); and finally, [[Tony Allen (musician)|Tony Allen]], the man who held the drum chair during Fela's productive "Africa 70" phase, and whose drumming was, according to [[James Brown|James Brown's]] autobiography, the influence behind his 'Discovery' of funk.
+After his death in 1997, Fela Kuti's musical style has continued to find willing performers and audiences, aided in part by Afrobeat's prominence on the [[World Café]]. Current practitioners are as geographically dispersed as are the musical influences which led to Afrobeat's birth. Femi Kuti and the Positive Force, and Ayetoro (a musical project of Funsho Ogundipe) are entrenched in Afrobeat's Nigerian heritage. Prominent groups are also rooted in Los Angeles, Brooklyn ([[Antibalas]]), and Chicago ([[Chicago Afrobeat Ensemble]]).
 ==References==
-* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/music/musicdirectory/afrobeat.shtml BBC Afrobeat Documentary]
+* Olaniyan, Tejumola. ''Arrest the music!: Fela and his rebel art and politics''. Bloomington, ID: Indiana University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-253-34461-1
-*[http://www.afrofunkforum.com The AfroFunk Music Forum] Daily news, music reviews and commentary on Afrobeat and related music from Africa, The Caribbean and The Americas.
+* Schoonmaker, Trevor. ''Fela: from West Africa to West Broadway''. NY: Palgrave MacMillan, 2003. ISBN 1-403-96209-X
+* Veal, Michael E. ''Fela the life and times of an African musical icon''. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2000. ISBN 1566397642
-*[http://http://www.mooziko.com/-Afro-Beat,62- The Afro caribbean Website] Afro Caribbean videos website, watch movies, music videos and more. This website is powered by Sanaga LLC which is a video syndication service.
+==External Links==
+All links retrieved June 16, 2023.
+* BBC World Service. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/music/musicdirectory/afrobeat.shtml BBC Afrobeat Documentary]
+* AllMusic. [http://www.allmusic.com/style/afro-beat-ma0000004495 Afro-beat]
-{{Genres of African popular music}}
 [[Category:Music]]
-[[Category:Art, music, literature, sports & leisure]]
+[[Category:Art, music, literature, sports and leisure]]
+{{Credit|137142458}}