EVENTS TO TAKE PLACE IN MORE THAN 15 CITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY THROUGHOUT OCTOBER

Knitting Factory Records, in association with New York-based music and lifestyle marketing company Giant Step, is excited to announce that over 15 official “Felabrations” have been confirmed to take place in more than 15 cities across the country throughout the month of October. The events have been created to celebrate the re-mastering and reissue of the entirety of the legendary Fela Kuti catalogue, beginning on October 27 with the CD and CD-Deluxe with DVD release of the compilation The Best Of The Black President, as well as the musical FELA! beginning previews at the Eu gene O’Neill Theatre on Broadway on October 19 and the musician’s birthday. Fela would have been 71 on October 15. The original Felabrations date back to the early 1970s when Fela and his band took over the courtyard of the Empire Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria, and performed several nights a week to thousands of worshipping fans. “The Shrine,” as the courtyard came to be known, became a very popular nightspot and the audience was made up of everyone from the youths of Lagos to professors, civil servants, government officials and even soldiers. And of course, the Shrine was a center for much more than music. To quote Michael E. Veal in his book, Fela: The Life and Times of an African Musical Icon, “more than a mere entertainment club, Fela considered it an actual shrine to his ideological heroes – a space in which his politcal inclinations fused with musical incantations to assume spiritual dimensions.” Now, Felabration is an annual festival dedicated to the promotion of Afrobeat and African culture and to the preservation of Fela’s legend and artistry.

The Felabrations will bring together some of the best DJs, musicians, and promoters working today to celebrate the life, music, and birthday of Fela. With the support of esteemed DJs such as Rich Medina, DJ Spinna, Ron Trent, DJ Nu-Mark, DJ Day, Jeremy Sole, DJ Kemit, J-Justice, Adam Gibbons, DJ Sun, Chicken George and Frank Gossner, as well as artists such as Roy Ayers, WUNMI, Ikebe Shakdown, Baba Ola Jagun, Amon, and many more, these events will bring together the diverse communities and tastemakers across the country who are instrumental in keeping Fela’s music alive. “We are honored to once again be involved with the music and legacy of Fela Kuti,” says Giant Step’s CEO and Co-founder, Maurice Bernstein. “The Felabrations, the re-launch of his music and the soon-to-open Broadway show will help solidify his legendary status alongside Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson.”
Read the rest of this entry »