In our Rock Town Hall Basement Bunker Edition, Townsman dbuskirk passed along the following find. I think it’s worth bringing to The Main Stage, as I think is the case with just about all of db’s ruminations. (Hint, hint…) A couple of songs by these artists, including a Fela tune featuring Bowie, follow. Dig.
While surfing around on that thing they call “the internets” I came across this pretty amusing short interview about Lester Bowie‘s experience with Fela Kuti.
This picks up where Bowie flies to Lagos, knowing no one and looking to meet area musicians. A guy tells him to go see Fela.
“Who?” “Well just get in a taxi cab and say, ‘Take me to Fela.’ Everybody knows where Fela is.”
…Fela was asleep. So he took me to a room and said, ‘We’ll get Fela up.’ Fela got up and we talked for a minute. He said, “Ah Lester Bowie, you’re from the Chicago Art Ensemble.” I say, “Yeah that’s right.” And then he tells this guy to bring in a record player. And he tells this other guy, “Bring me my horn.” The record was one that just had a rhythm section, so he figured we’d play along with that. So I just blew. I didn’t know anybody in the town, I was playing my heart out there! So after I play about two [verses], Fela says, ‘”STOP! Stop. Go get his bags. He’s moving in!” [laughter] And I stayed there I think for about six months.
I stayed as an honored guest, so I was treated with the same respect as Fela was treated with. He said, “I’ll show you how to be an African man. You want to be an African bandleader? I’ll show you what it’s about.” And he showed me what it was about! They’d bring us food. Nobody else could eat until we finished. Which I wasn’t used to, but I just played it off like, you know, ‘Cool with me too!’ [laughter] He showed me about all the wives. He had eight wives at that time. At that same time, I was believing I should have more than one wife. At the time I was getting divorced, I was between marriages. I thought the best thing for me to do was have a couple of wives. But after I stayed with Fela for that time, I saw that one was better! [laughs] And I told him, “Fela, you’ve got too many women. You don’t have time to put into practice. You want to get into jazz, it takes time, you know. You’ve got to practice. You can’t just be mediating arguments about who get the clothes or who get to drive this or do that…
Art Ensemble of Chicago, “Hippparippp”
Fela Kuti, “No Agreement”
Lester Bowie, “BBB [duet]”
