SOUNDTRACK: ANTIBALAS-Tiny Desk Concert #243 (October 4, 2012).
Antibalas (Spanish for “bulletproof”) is a Brooklyn ensemble. Eleven members turned up for the Tiny Desk. And they are quite the ensemble. There are trumpets, saxophones, two guitars, a bass and a ton of percussion. There’s a percussionist/keyboardist wearing a lucha libre mask (!) and the lead singer (singing in English and some other language) has what looks like tribal paint on his face. (He also plays conga and cowbell).
The blurb states:
There just aren’t many bands like Antibalas. These are jazz players making dance music: Their music is big and fun, and their guiding spirit is Fela Kuti, the brilliant big-band leader and Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer. Afrobeat is a musical style featuring nearly endless songs, mixing funk and jazz, grooves and riffs, with the rhythm carried by not only the drums, but everyone. Everyone — horn players, bass players, guitarists — plays rhythm in Afrobeat music.
It’s one thing for a big group to make a big sound — and, sure, Antibalas does that — but what stands out is the subtlety of this ensemble; the way the horns weave in and out of each other, sometimes complementing and at other times inspiring and creating musical conversation between players. That extends to all the players, from vocals to guitar. When you start to listen to that conversation and you hear that build in a rhythm, it’s so powerful, so full of joy. If they come to your town, drop what you’re doing and go see them. Wear dancing shoes.
They play two songs, but they are long and full of rhythm. “Dirty Money” runs just under 6 minutes. I really like the way the horns seems to echo and answer each other during the slow sections. While the whole band sings the backing voices. And when the masked guy switches from percussion to keyboards, it’s got a groovy 70s sound coming out of that machine. All of it is anchored by the bass, keeping a steady rhythm. One of the trumpeters switches to trombone for a solo as well.
“Him Belly Go No Sweet” has an even funkier feel–lots of percussion and staccato horns slowly working with each other to create a big sound. Even though there’s plenty if music in this song it’s impressive how much they use silences—things are never quiet (there’s always a bass line or percussion) but for such a big outfit they can really get things to quiet own. The end half of the song sees the band singing “go up go down” while the lead singer seems to improvise a whole bunch of stuff.
It is, indeed, hard not to dance to this.
[READ: July 10, 2016] “Baptizing the Gun”
This was a very dark story and, if nothing else, it made me never want to go to Lagos, Nigeria.
The story is told in first person by a priest. He is not wearing his collar and is driving a borrowed VW Beetle through the traffic of Lagos.
As the story opens, a woman is screaming because a thief just pulled an earring out of her ear–tearing her earlobe. He is caught and, astonishingly, “ringed with tires, doused in petrol, and set ablaze.” Even though there is barely any fuel to be had “there’s always enough for the thief.”
The priest believes his trip was a success and many parishes have promised his parish in the Niger Delta money and materials.
But on his way back (at 18:03) the car dies in traffic. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 