The long-awaited fifth instalment of vinyl reissues from the Fela Kuti catalogue, Vinyl Box #5 (co-curated by Fela's son, multi-instrumentalist and Afrobeat ambassador, Femi Kuti, and Chris Martin of rock band Coldplay), will be released on 10 December on Partisan Records. This eagerly-anticipated fifth instalment (box #4 was released back in 2017) follows previous box sets, which were curated by fans Erykah Badu, Brian Eno, Ginger Baker, and Questlove.
Kuti (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti in 1938), the biggest music star Africa has ever produced, made music from the late 1950s until his death in 1998. Influenced by, an an influence on, jazz, he also embraced and influenced other genres, touching including pop, funk, hip-hop, rock, and beyond. The last decade or so has seen his elevation to the status of icon, and has seen a broad resurgence in his popularity, along with a critical reevaluation of his life, music, and influence.
This latest volume includes the albums Why Black Man Dey Suffer, Noise for Vendor Mouth, Kalakuta Show, Excuse O, Ikoyi Blindness, Original Sufferhead, and Overtake Don Overtake Overtake.
The artwork for each album has been meticulously recreated from the original vinyl pressings, alongside vintage vinyl label artwork. The box set is limited to 4,000 copies worldwide.
The set also contains a 20-page full-colour booklet featuring: introductions by Chris Martin and Femi Kuti, seven in-depth commentaries on each album by veteran music journalist and Afrobeat historian, Chris May; song lyrics; never before published photos of Fela Kuti; and stills taken from the 1982 Fela documentary Music Is The Weapon. There's also a 16x24” poster designed by Nigerian artist Lemi Ghariokwu, the creative force behind 29 of Fela‘s album covers.
This year, Partisan Records (home to Fela’s catalog) launched a scholarship program at the famed Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London (Fela’s alma mater, back when it was known simply as Trinity College of Music).
Further details on the scholarship can be found https://felakuti.com/legacy/scholarship" rel="nofollow - here .
To order, and for more on Fela Kuti, visit: https://felakuti.com/" rel="nofollow - https://felakuti.com
from www.jazzwise.com