This article originally appeared on Express Milwaukee.
All Afrobeat bands owe some debt to genre pioneer Fela Kuti, but the Chicago Afrobeat Project is particularly beholden to his legacy. The group’s latest collection, Move to Silent Unrest, even features cover art painted by G. Lemi, the artist who designed many of Kuti’s albums. This isn’t to say that the Chicago Afrobeat Project are strict traditionalists, though. Even more than most Afrobeat acts, the ensemble has a kitchen-sink mentality, drawing from the deep, bassy sounds of Chicago house music in addition to the percussive funk and African influences that characterize their namesake genre. They headline an 8 p.m. show tonight at the Miramar Theatre.