The Listening Guide
🎶 The listening guide: five albums, released during the past twelve months*, chosen around a weekly theme 🎶
Following the recent release of Made and Femi Kuti’s brilliant double album ‘Legacy +’, we dedicate this week’s theme to the legacy of Fela Kuti. *Slightly extending our usual 12-month time frame, we include the outstanding eponymous debut from London’s KOKOROKO, Butcher Brown’s inspired tribute to Fela, Antibalas’ latest LP ‘Fu Chronicles’, and a belting direct-to-disc record from Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 – the band set up by Seun’s father. In addition to our five picks, we recommend the recent EP from Belgian trio Don Kapot, two thirds of whom played with guitarist Oghene Kologbo of Africa 70, influencing their sound. You can support each artist via Bandcamp, and find out more about Fela’s legacy in the ‘legacy’ section of the late artist’s site.
Made Kuti/Femi Kuti – Legacy +
Butcher Brown – AfroKuti: A Tribute To Fela
Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 – Night Dreamer Direct​-​To​-​Disc Sessions
Album of the Week
Irene Reig’s new album Mira is our NQ Jazz album of the week. A trio album (Reig on alto sax, Pau Sala on bass, Joan Casares on drums) with a guest appearance from pianist Joan Monné, it was originally conceived as a live album, but ended up being recorded without an audience at Barcelona’s Milano Jazz Club. It retains that exciting live performance energy, however, with eight of Reig’s brilliant compositions. The album is released via artist-led label The Changes, and you can support it on Bandcamp!
Classic Album
This week’s NQ Jazz classic album comes from pianist Linda Hill. A member of Horace Tapscott’s Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra in the mid-to-late seventies, Lullaby For Linda was released forty years ago and remains her only LP. It contains four blistering tracks that incorporate free jazz, soulful hard bop, and have a truly communal feel in their performance and recording. Check out the album digitally on Bandcamp and vinyl fans can pick up a high quality reissue from the UK-based Pure Pleasure label.