I guess Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti had a son named Femi who became a famous musician in his own right. This is his debut, and I'm hoping the 73 minute runtime will feature something other than endless jam sessions. That's what his father's albums have offered thus far. I really want something new and interesting.
Femi Kuti's band has a good funky sound. I appreciate that his songs have extensive lyrics, mainly because Fela Kuti's album were very sparse lyrically. Not that I think lyrics are all that important anyway, but when your instrumentals are so repetitive, which Afrobeat tends to be, it really helps keeps things interesting. Femi's music also has more of a jazzy feel to me, mostly because the saxophone is much more upfront than the other horns, and the keyboards just have a more late-night jazz club nature. Other than that I doubt I could tell the difference between Fela and Femi's styles. Femi's songs tend to be much shorter, which I appreciate. But for the most part Femi starts a 2-chord 4-bar groove that repeats for about 6 minutes while some of his band improvises over top and he sings a bit. If you like groove music I imagine you'll love Femi Kuti's Femi Kuti. If like me you find groove music boring you'll probably be bored. 2 stars.
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