View allAll Photos Tagged HighLife
Fela Kuti's music was characterised by fine woven endless grooves and tight impact orchestration. Closer to the melodic explorations of Coltane's "A Love Supreme" than a pop or rock song, and heavily pinned to percussionist Tony Allen's explorations of infectious dance rhythms. Tony Allen worked with Fela around 1964-1981 and is arguably the real father of the 'modern' Afrobeat musical movement. Fela's songs typically stretched out to fill the side of a long playing record - as natural as water fills a earthen bowl. This moving lens test takes a short segment of the track "ITT part 2": a little like watching a part of the song pass by as a passenger in a car might turn a head to a horizon. The backing group were Africa 70. The importance of interlocking rhythm-centric composition can be seen by the way it could be quite unpretentious to have two bassist or two large baritone saxes in Fela's Africa 70 lineup: always very tight coordination meeting with freestyle and weave.
It's a point to consider, but Otis Redding, The Specials (with Rico Rodriguez), Sufjan Stevens and Fela Kuti (Afrika Shrine) may all seem to be at different corners of a square, but all had sonic and dynamic large groups with brass in addition to keyboard, drums and guitar; and all must be on top ten lists for greatest live concerts of all time. Here the word 'cooking' has real meaning: infectious, dynamic and insightful transformations from bright ingredients.
'Felabration' is celebrated for a week each year around his birthday on 15 October - so a week after this post...
The transformations that Fela Kuti and Tony Allen made to elements from traditional African music might be measured up against the phase changes Jimi Hendrix made to the blues, or Bob Dylan to songster traditions. Transformations like expanding universes made from the inside out with authority and empathy and pleasure for the journey.
The lens test was filmed just after the source of the River Lez
using a Jupiter 9 - here with an emphasis on ghosting and flare.
An extract from "ITT part 2" by Fela Kuti
Knitting factory records
ASIN: B01K49VSC0
Also available as:
ASIN: B00004WQ9P
ASIN: B01K8KF3D0
AJM 7.10.19
Press play and then 'L' and even f11. Escape and f11 a second time to return.
Winter days are short, but we wanted to do a few fun activities before night settled in. At sunset, we took a balloon cruise with breathtaking panorama of the whole resort. It was a bit scarry, but the incredible views were well worth it.
A busy month but we hit 300 so it's all downhill from here. Couple three shots that I really like.
1. The Highlife Lounge, 2. Soup of the Day, 3. Neil Armstrong, 4. Sunday Silhouette, 5. Hey Chicago What do You Say?, 6. Curly Mae, 7. Rows, 8. Lights and Wires, 9. A Taste of Heaven, 10. Market Vendor, 11. Sunday Macro, 12. We Are Spooky, 13. Cat Fight, 14. Autumn, 15. Exhibit, 16. Steps and Shadows, 17. Which Way, 18. Pumpkin, 19. Alpine Tap, 20. Pin High, 21. Coffee, 22. Mendota Crew, 23. Mendota Dock, 24. The Boathouse, 25. Capitol Morning, 26. Skull on a Spike, 27. The Last Rose, 28. Santa's Prefab, 29. Bridge Reflection, 30. Leap of Faith, 31. Swan Song
The ‘city within a city’ that its 1960s designers aimed to achieve is evident here, with the towers of the City of London’s financial district lying beyond. All was very quiet on this Sunday morning.
Chuck liked to be spanked. Not too hard. Just enough to feel a little sting!
Tacoma, Washington 2017