Monday, January 12, 2009

BBC-dokumentar: In Search Of Fela Kuti



Mens dere alle venter i spenning på Klubb Kannibals radiodokumentar "Arven etter Fela", kan dere kose dere med BBCs fire år gamle, og meget gode radiodokumentar "In Search of Fela Kuti". Dokumentaren er unnfanget av Max Reinhardt og Rita Ray, DJ- og klubbpartnere i London-klubben The Shrine. Klubben startet opp i 1997 og er i dag videreført som Shrine Synchro System, nærmest for et storband å regne. Rita Ray er i tillegg blant intervjuobjektene i vår egen dokumentar, med en stor kjærlighet for og stor kompetanse i Fela Anikulapo-Kutis liv, musikk og den mangslungne arven han har etterlatt seg verden over. Ikke mer å si om dokuen enn at BBC kan sakene sine!

Fra hjemmesida til dokumentaren:

Fela "Anikulapo" Kuti was a Nigerian singer, bandleader, composer and multi-instrumentalist who pioneered one of Africa’s most successful and influential musical styles, "Afro-Beat", which combined elements of West African highlife music with American jazz and funk. Seven years on from his death, the world is starting to recognise the work of Fela Kuti as one of the most significant bodies of 20th-Century popular music. The sheer power of his music, the scathing dialectic of his lyrics, his controversial lifestyle and consequent iconic status have all nurtured a rich legacy. But who was he? What was his impact, before and after his death, in African politics and music? Was he a revolutionary prophet and voice of the people or a just an outspoken rock star, a patriarchal hedonist who famously married 27 women in one ceremony?

Max Reinhardt and Rita Ray are passionate about Fela Kuti and founded the Shrine club night in London, a tribute to Fela Kuti's own club in Lagos, where his music was created and performed. They travel to Nigeria, to the busy port city of Lagos and visit the site of the old Shrine nightclub, the New Afrika Shrine now run by his son Femi, the house and commune which he named the "Kalakuta Republic", and his birthplace in nearby Abeokuta. They talk to family members including his cousin Yemisi Ransome-Kuti and sister Dolupo Ransome-Kuti, one of his widows Fehintolla Anikulapo Kuti, his friend and PR manager JK Braimah, his biographer Michael Veal, journalist Vivien Goldman, and surviving key bandmembers including drummer Tony Allen and keyboard player Dele Sosimi.


Link til dokumentaren

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