This article originally appeared on Metroland Online.
Club Helsinki, Saturday
Chicago world-music collective the Chicago Afrobeat Project bill themselves as “traditional Afrobeat meets ’70s funk,” celebrating the genres of music that became super popular in both Nigeria and in the United States in the ’60s and ’70s. The ever-morphing seven-to-14-piece lineup comprises a percussion section, guitars, keys, bass, and at some shows, even African dancers. Their self-titled debut disc was released last year to rave reviews; The Chicago Reader said, “In its tightly wound grooves, the group displays strong jazz sensibility a la electric Miles Davis.” This activist band lend their talents to events like World AIDS Day, when they recently played in tribute to Afrobeat founder Fela Kuti to benefit the foundation Journalists Against AIDS Nigeria. (Dec. 2, 9 PM, $10, 284 Main St., Great Barrington, Mass., 413-528-3394).