Afripop Sessions, at MoCADA museum in Brooklyn last night, put me on to an amazing soul/folk/electronic singer-guitarist, Denitia Odigie. I have a new music crush. Check out this little vid I shot of "Lay Our Burdens Down," made even more poignant by its juxtaposition to the Katrina-inspired performance video art, by Tameka Norris, playing on the back wall.
Also check out the a/wake in the water exhibit at MoCADA, curated by Erin Christovale, on display until November 30. Artists include my film colleague Danielle Lessovitz, whose short film The Earthquake deals with the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake on an immigrant family in New York City; Wanuri Kahiu's Kenyan sci-fi thriller Pumzi; and the post-global warming apocalyptic drama White. Watch a PBS interview online with White director A. Sayeeda Clarke. --AL.
I've been a huge fan of future-soul trio King ever since they played at the Soul of Brooklyn Festival in the summer. Here's an acoustic of "Hey," recorded live for OkayPlayer. And watch this cellphone vid I shot at the King Soul of Brooklyn show! All love. --AL.
I went to a great show at Radio City Music Hall on Tuesday night. Dave Chappelle + The Roots live w/special guests Chrisette Michelle and Bilal, plus the guy who did that robot dance all the time in Chappelle Show party scenes.
Dave gave a really great, tight set, even had jokes about Malaysian airlines flight 370 and Boko Haram. To paraphrase: "So they kidnap 200 girls and white women all around the world start tweeting about it...I mean, do they really think that'll make the guys give them back? *fake Nigerian/oddly Arab accent* 'Oh my goodness! I cannot believe it! We are trending on Twitter! This is very bad for business.'"
I can report he's sharper than ever, had a whole set piece on LGBTQ issues--inspired by a documentary he watched about the history of the Pride movement, plus his close friendship with a lesbian couple at his son's prep school. I could tell that he's grown a lot (quite literally, has probably added 15 pounds) in the 10 years since he walked away from Comedy Central (and toward his true self). Chain smoking a series of cigarettes and cigars, he riffed on parenthood, Donald Sterling, turning 40, and being black while walking in Ohio before we gave him a standing ovation.
The Roots killed it with a 30-piece orchestra, concert pianist, Chrisette, Bilal, and this guy whose name I didn't catch playing some kind of otherworldly beats/music/synthesizer machine. But Rahzel, tho! He was beyond the beyond. Honestly, they're the most brilliant band in the game right now. That Jimmy Fallon gig has tightened and polished their sound and they're taking it to an entirely higher level.
Dave gave out free T-shirts at the end of the concert, but they ran out of them before I got down to the lobby. Apart from that it was one hell of a show. It reminded me of the block party--jammed into a rarified, upscale space with a rainbow-colored crowd aged 25-65. I can't lie though, the air up there smelled really good and I'm glad I caught the show. For what it offered, 100 bucks was a steal.
I'm in total awe of black cool right now. But it ain't got nothing on black genius. Check out a Billboard review here. --AL.
Maybe I should be grateful to Beyonce for giving African feminists a trojan horse delivery method for our most subversive ideas: juxtaposed by an overtly sexual personage, such that the listener is inoculated against both the anti-feminism of the image and the actual power and import of the feminist message. --AL.
still battling jet lag and hungry for a bit of lagos in new york, i walked in the doors of s.o.b.'s last night eager to hear music from seun kuti's new brian eno-produced album, from africa with fury: rise.wearing jeans and little makeup, i parked myself inconspicuously halfway between the bar and the stage, immediately spotting kunle ade--king sunny ade's son--whom i've never actually seen out at an event with 'normal' people. he gave me a hug and obligatory kiss on the cheek, before sliding away to mix and mingle. soon the crowd started pouring in and i glimpsed a few more friends--an academic; a drummer; a dancer; a photographer who covered the africa aspire ball with me, at the national museum of african art, during obama's inauguration--as well as a few brooklyn mainstays whom i haven't seen in ages--namely, ngozi odita of harriets alter ego.
it had been four years since i first saw seun kuti & egypt 80 perform at s.o.b.'s.
i was 25 then, writing for the african magazine. showed up with my notebook wearing a gold tube dress and plenty makeup, was paparazzied to death while dancing, and stayed till the last patrons had already left. i wasn't the shy, silent type as i found seun to be then--though he was also uber-talented, energetic, and mesmerizing to watch. i loved the way he defered to his band members on their solos, leaving centerstage to stand somewhere near the back. and how he paid homage to his late father, starting his set off with a fela tune and displaying a 'fela lives' back tat proudly.
seun has changed a lot in four years. now balding, he was high most of the night and gazed at the audience through half-opened eyelids. in spite of all that, or maybe because of it, i loved his performance--the dancing, the stripping down to his bareback from a business shirt, the preaching about politics, revolution and government. he opened the first set with fela's zombie before launching into songs from his album. preached about marijuana, sex, and politics--'what is the u.s. doing in libya? it's because of the economy. they know libya doesn't have the corporations to rebuild the country after they're done bombing. just wait, the contracts are coming.'--to a rapt crowd of fans.
i danced all the way to the end of the second set before jet lag hit me, leaving still hungry for lagos, tho temporarily sated. on the subway ride home, i thot about my fascination with seun. it stems from the fact that we're roughly the same age. and in the past four years, he has made a significant transition that is largely governed by age: he doesn't give a damn what anybody else thinks anymore. he is making music his way, performing his way, living his way. he isn't shy anymore; he is liberated. i saw so much of fela in him--in a way that both awed and worried me.
all of this to say. i am looking forward to seeing seun in another four years, to seeing him sell a lot of records. a free black man is a dangerous and powerful thing.
read my african magazine review from four years ago here. --AL.
went to see femi kuti @ the new afrika shrine on valentine's weekend. the band, including femi's son, played a good hour before he joined them on stage, at which point his son promptly left and they all got really serious.
it'd been ages since the last time i saw him perform, and he seemed so much older and sterner than i remembered. they say jazz musicians' brains are a lot like those of mathematicians, with intricate and complex neural pathways corresponding to the many keys and chord progressions they have to memorize. looking at him perform, the frenzied way he conducted and paced on stage, i could only imagine what must be going on in that mind of his.
here's a little clip of the performance. enjoy! --AL.
it'd been ages since the last time i saw him perform, and he seemed so much older and sterner than i remembered. they say jazz musicians' brains are a lot like those of mathematicians, with intricate and complex neural pathways corresponding to the many keys and chord progressions they have to memorize. looking at him perform, the frenzied way he conducted and paced on stage, i could only imagine what must be going on in that mind of his.
here's a little clip of the performance. enjoy! --AL.
i love nina simone for all that she was and still is--the artist and artistry, the politics and her tortured soul. this is one of my all time favorite recordings of hers. i watch and remember back to when i studied classical piano, as a little girl, longing to feel the keys under my fingers again. i watch and marvel at the incredible talent of this woman. i watch and wonder whether such genius eventually drives one mad, wish she could have found a way out of the blackness to the joy she gave to so many. a friend of mine was developing a play around nina's life and found it difficult to process the rage and disillusionment that drove her away from the u.s. to europe, estranged her from her family. i think artists are difficult people to love; their lives depend on having an intimate relationship with their work, on offering perfect strangers the most benevolent gifts of generosity and love. in my experience, i know i'm doing it right when everything else in my life goes to absolute shit.
it is a child's wish to hit pause, rewind, and do it over again--to make things right in life, in love, in art. but perhaps, if she could do it again, nina wouldn't do anything differently and it is only we who suffer without her. at least i can watch this moment of beauty and love, again and again, to lessen the pain of losing her. --AL.
"This song was popular all over France with Chanel No. 5 parfum--unfortunately, of which, I have none, and not the money either--and in England. It's from our first album, the very first album we made in this world, which is at least 25-years-old. I only wish I could have been as wise then as I have become now. I have suffered. But there's a Bösendorfer [piano] here, so we'll see what happens." --Nina Simone
Update: This post got some love over at the neo*griot blog for writers. Check it out here.
les nubians announced their latest, limited release album, nu revolution, on sale this month. super excited! i absolutely love them. and not just because celia and i (above, left) kinda look alike.
when i saw les nubians perform at the africa aspire ball, during obama's inauguration, watching celia was like staring at my own face--a fact later confirmed by a photographer friend of mine, who covered a different performance and independently came to the same conclusion.
but enough about me. celia sometimes performs solo in nyc under the name blue nefertiti, but i'm glad to see the sister duo back from the studio with what should be another stunner. hear a sample of the title track here. --AL.
listening to asa's latest album, beautiful imperfection, in this sweltering delirium. it's been uncommonly hot the past couple of days, and I've just learned our nepa issues are actually due to a blown transformer that will likely not be fixed anytime soon. but back to the subject of this blog.
asa came into terra kulture a few weeks back when i was in lagos and got swarmed with well-meaning patrons eager to tell how proud they were of her success. before that i caught her central park summerstage performance in new york last summer. it was nicer to see her on home turf, enjoying some dodo. check out her album here.
