The Chicago Afrobeat project lit up the stage at Drom Saturday night when they brought their midwest afroswing to the east village club on the back end of nationwide tour that took them west to California and Colorado before coming to the east coast. The seven-piece ensemble was joined onstage by two dancers from the Muntu Dance Theater of Chicago during the second set at which point the show went from a dope band laying down some beats to a spectacular audio-visual presentation that doesn't come around very often.

The Chicago Afrobeat Project got their start playing parties in the Chicago loft scene and has been touring the country spreading their politically charged Afrobeat message for the last six years. Their sound encompasses a wide range of influences and styles including jazz, funk, rock, afro-cuban, and West African highlife and juju. Perhaps the most prevalent sound in their arsenal is the soulful jazz element supplied by Kevin Ford on Fender Rhodes piano and David Glines on guitar. They both emphasize a light, jazzy style that cuts across the heavy percussion and bass arrangement and provides a perfect backdrop over which the horns glide.

From high school rockers, gypsy jammers and Gospel singers to Chicago funk, Columbian Vallenatto and Boulder folk, the 37th annual Carbondale Mountain Fair has it all when it comes to musical entertainment.

Best yet, it’s all free in Sopris Park starting Friday evening, July 25, and
continuing through Sunday, July 27. Here’s a sampling of the weekend’s offerings.

Lucas School House has scheduled two shows in September that may be of interest of St. Louis area jazz fans. Drummer Stanton Moore (pictured), best known as a founding member of the New Orleans funk/jam band Galactic, will bring his Trio to the venue for a concert on Wednesday, September 3, followed by the Chicago Afrobeat Project on Saturday, September 6.

Moore's recent trio CD Emphasis (on parenthesis), which features guitarist Will Bernard and keyboard player Robert Walter, has received good notices from the New York Times, AllAboutJazz.com, JazzReview.com and other media outlets. Moore has done a number of tour dates with the Trio this year in between gigs with Galactic, and the St. Louis show comes at the end of a string of dates for the group, so they should be well in the groove by the time they get to the Gateway City.

Chicago Afrobeat Project is just that. A mélange of musicians, dancers and more from this Chicago-based, Fela-inspired collective. Although they’ve been under the moniker since 2002, their debut album didn’t drop until 2005. Their second full-length, (A) Move to Silent Unrest was released late last year and is drawing people even closer to the primal appeal of Afrobeat.

Synthesis got a chance to speak with tenor sax player Angelo Garcia while the band was on the road somewhere between Bozeman, Montana, and Boise, Idaho. They had just finished the first show of the tour in Missoula, and checked in with minimal sleep from their new veggie-oil fueled bus.

Ears: ringing.
Shoes: soaked and muddy.
Body: dull ache.

Another Wakarusa is officially in the bag. A few unexpected twists and turns made the experience unforgettable, from sword swallowing and impromptu mud wrestling to superb musicianship and the emotional roller coaster of learning your favorite band may not perform. And with that, "Let's get down to the nitty gritty. Let's get this show on the road!"

Thursday - Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

Welcome to tornado alley.
Wakarusa 2008 by Andrew Wyatt

Summer Camp 2008 set the bar for all other summer festivals, and set it pretty high. This year festival organizers pulled out all the stops. They pieced together an impressive slew of genre-spanning bands that filled the weekend with enough musical highlights to fulfill an average music fans entire summer. It was also a prime example of how the fest has evolved from its humble beginnings into a monster event. All three days were jam-packed with a variety of quality music, and here are just some of the many highlights.

Late Night Thursday

The late night action featured sets from three of the scene's up-and-comers: U-Melt, Family Groove Company and Future Rock. Notable moments came via a nasty funk/disco jam from U-Melt towards the end of their set; a solid front-to-back set from the Chicago-based FGC that showcased the rapping style of bassist-vocalist Janis Wallin; and a wild late night dance-off from Future Rock.

After their stellar Friday performance, I was able to talk to a few members of the Chicago Afrobeat Project, and find out a little more about how the band came about. I spoke with guitarist David Glines, keyboardist Kevin Ford and baritone saxophone player Garrick Smith.

Eric: How did the band arrive at an Afrobeat sound coming from Chicago?

Studious, meticulous, reconstructive genre projects aren't normally well-springs of funk, but most projects don't have unkillable juju driving them forward. With horns, guitars, keys and a convoy of percussion, the Chicago Afrobeat Project draws together as many as eleven young jazz cats (not counting the dancers) to cut loose the polyrhythmic improvisations pioneered by Fela Ransome Kuti and King Sunny Ade. But as certifiable "heads," they also lean towards the genius skronk of the Art Ensemble of Chicago and electric Miles Davis. And as urban stylists they can follow an MCs flow as well as a mathematical guitar solo into the deepest, most danceable jungles — and emerge with their politics and hipster cool intact.

Nigerian Muse-ic: Crisis of Creativity or Creativity in Crises?

When I was first approached to write an article on Nigerian music for Muse Magazine, I accepted the invitation without hesitation. Truthfully, I was quite excited. Being an ethnomusicologist who had recently returned to Nigeria from the U.S. to do fieldwork in the area of popular music, the prospect of contributing—giving back, as it were, to the society which not only had spawned me, but which had now become the bedrock of my academic research was indeed delightful. Almost immediately, I started to think about a topic to write about. It did not take very long, however, for me to realize something that I had known for a long time; something I should have first considered before my initial gleeful acceptance of the invitation to write. My muse was long estranged.

Benumbed by the fear of that daunting realization: that I was going to fail to deliver, I relapsed into a state of crisis. My muse, you see, is highly unreliable. She disappears for stretches at once, and then, when least expected, reappears. Sometimes her reappearances are fleeting; a hint of an idea, a spark of creativity, followed by long periods of darkness. But at other times the visits are protracted and rapturous. I wished I was experiencing one of those longer reunions. Maybe I was. Slowly, but very clearly, revelation came. It occurred to me that my current creative crisis, the relationship between my capricious muse and I could be a metaphor for the state of affairs of Nigerian music.

If you're on the fence about the Chicago Afrobeat Project's concert at the House of Blues this Friday, consider this: it's just been turned into a benefit for the Kenya Red Cross, which is currently busy aiding people and communities affected by the violence that broke out after the disputed December 30 election.

A duo of guitarist Fareed Haque and tabla player Kalyan Pathak opens; other participants in the jam include breakdancers Anacron and the Brickheadz crew, "live artist" Chadwick painting onstage, and MC Cap D from All Natural. Tickets are $12-$14 and the show's at 9 PM; you have to be at least 18 to get in. As far as I can tell, nobody's going to be raffling off breast implants.

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.

With the unmistakable afrobeat sounds of Fela Kuti as the backbone, Chicago Afrobeat Project follows in the steps of Antibalas and others across the globe in blending the often fiery and contagiously moving genre with a host of modern influences. CAbP is touring in support of the 2007 sophomore release (A) Move to Silent Unrest and appeared at the Miramar as a nine-piece with two African dancers and a painter working a canvas.

While some of the group's performances have featured a rapper or lead vocalist, CAbP had no discernable front man, but instead delivered vocals in chorus style throughout the night and often relied on call and response soloing in place of voice. In "Jekajo," from the group's 2005 self-titled debut, guitarist David Glines was fluently expressive in delivering a flamenco solo amongst bustling rhythms. A slow and decidedly mellow "Global Warming" kept the dance floor moving in a gentle sway and would lead into a fiery run of instrumentals with horns (baritone sax, tenor sax and trombone), percussion (including a talking drum), Rhodes piano, and guitar solos blending seamlessly over the solid roots construct of drummer Marshall Greenhouse and bassist Graham Czach.

CHICAGO AFROBEAT: The most obvious question with this Fela Kuti-inspired ensemble is: How are they different from fellow Afrobeat torchbearers Antibalas? Chicago Afrobeat proves Antibalas’ claim that Afrobeat is a genre unto itself that can be approached in myriad ways.

Lets have a bake sale for the arts!

Well, sort of. Goloka Gallery over in the Front Street lofts is having a benefit this weekend for Stivers High School since their funding was given an deep cut.
It's happening on two days: Friday and Saturday. Given the level of events and some of the guests (including the Chicago Afrobeat Project, which is a suprise) this will probably be pretty crowded. Unfortunalty there is no schedule one can't tell who or what will be on when.

Camp Euphoria favorites Chicago Afrobeat Project will make another local appearance on Saturday at the Yacht Club, 13 S. Linn St. Intertwining American rock influences with Nigerian drum styles, the band looks to spread messages of diversity and unison through its ensemble. Sometimes featuring as many as 15 members, or as few as seven, only the core members will make it to Iowa City this time around.

"It's tough to organize a huge band," drummer Marshall Greenhouse said. "We don't have 100 percent commitment from every member, which is a good thing. It gives our band huge variety."

If the middle name of the Chicago Afrobeat Project sounds unfamiliar to its potential audiences, don’t worry.

It was that way to some of its players at one time as well.

“When the band first started, I had only heard five African songs in my life,” said Marshall Greenhouse, one of the band’s percussionists. “Now, I’ve heard hundreds.”

The Chicago Afrobeat Project could not have a more plainly descriptive name, yet the band's new CD transcends the ordinary. The group, which returns to the Quad Cities with a show on Friday at the Redstone Room, does its fair share of aimless jamming - all pleasant - but on several occasions it reaches highs that lift up the whole endeavor.

Listening to the first track of its new album, (A) Move to Silent Unrest, creates worry that the band's musical imagination is as pedestrian as its name. While competent and enjoyable, "BSCG2" is defined by incessant tap-tap woodblock percussion - an annoyance throughout the first half of the record. And nothing about the track gets beyond a standard-issue fusion of instrumental funk, jazz, and world music.

Sometimes the hardest part of holding together a band as large as Chicago Afrobeat Project is finding people to play with. The Chicago-based seven- to 14-piece ensemble isn't near making Phish money, and each member's paycheck from gigs gets smaller with each additional member.

It's a problem guitarist David Glines worries about, but only from a musician's standpoint. When the Afrobeat veterans are able to add more members for a show – he guessed that between seven and 10 would make the trip for the Dec. 13 show at Bell's Brewery in Kalamazoo – the strength of the performance grows inversely with the size of their paychecks.

My editor contacted me at the last minute to write a little blurbish story about the Chicago Afrobeat Project, who is currently maintaining a once-monthly residency at the DeKalb club Otto's.

I interviewed the group's drummer, Marshall Greenhouse, which was fun. He gave me the scoop on how the band manages (or mismanages) its budget, and the band's hopes for the future. For the most part I left these juicy details out of the article.

Chicago Afrobeat Project comes to DeKalb tonight hoping to fill Otto’s Niteclub with infectiously kinetic dance music and – hopefully – lots of college kids.

“We’re definitely expecting a way better turn out than the last two shows,” said drummer Marshall Greenhouse.

The show continues the group’s “First Beat Wednesdays” series at Otto’s, where they will play on the first Wednesday of every month. The group recently released a new record entitled “(A) Move to Silent Unrest,” and maintains a consistently packed performing schedule, playing scores of Chicago-area shows while also touring throughout the rest of the country.

Afrobeat is made to be experienced live. The large bands, spontaneous energy, and multitude of musical influences (fusing funk, R&B, and traditional African sound) are ideal for a concert experience.

First coming to prominence with dynamic bandleader Fela Kuti during the political and social turmoil of the 1960s, Afrobeat is energized by participation and action, and best appreciated by a live (and preferably dancing) audience.

Dave Glines knew he wanted to play afrobeat.

The guitarist and founding member of Chicago Afrobeat Project first found the polyrhythmic blend of traditional African drumming and vocal harmonies, improvised jazz soloing and the blistering high energy of American funk while listening to the pioneer of the musical style - Fela Kuti.

The mix of styles and furious energy spoke to him, and he said from that day forth he would play a style that simultaneously pays homage to the past while forging forward into new territories of musical creation.

The Chicago Afrobeat Project is dedicated to breathing new life into a style of music that incorporates funk, rock, jazz, Afro-Cuban, high life and juju music into a single entity that gets the people out of their chairs and onto the dance floor. Call-and-response percussion songs showcase the complexity of the music and are prominently featured on the band’s newest album, (A) Move to Silent Unrest. The Zoo Bar is the perfect place to check out a band that has graced the stages of the Wakarusa, Bele Chere and Chicago World Music Festivals.

When the Chicago Afrobeat Project took the Rathskeller stage on Oct. 9 to play some blistering free-form jazz, eight members were present: two guitarists, two percussionists, two saxophonists, a keyboardist, and a painter. As the rest of the band played its set, an artist stayed busy at an easel, creating an abstract piece as vibrant as the music on stage.

"That's Chadwick, and he's been with us (on tour) a bunch of times," Garrick Smith, who plays baritone saxophone for the Project, said. "It's great how he's doing it live and going with the emotion of the music. It's really fun to watch."

Highline Ballroom
10.12.07 | 7:30 pm / Doors open at 6 pm
New York, NY, United States
BQP is excited to announce that we're playing at the Highline Ballroom. We're sharing the stage with two other great ensembles: The Budos Band (www.thebudos.com) and Chicago Afrobeat Project (www.chicagoafrobeatproject.com). Come see us at Highline!

Tickets $12.00 in advance
$15.00 at door.

Which do you think is the harder path to take on your way to musical superstardom: diving into the oceanic genres such as pop or rock or rap and trying to distinguish yourself within seas of competitors and ambiguities or taking on a niche genre where there are not only a limited number of fans, but a singular name or personality who pretty much perfected the style at its creation? Well by just reading the name of the Chicago Afrobeat Project, there is no question to which road they decided to follow. And it’s a ballsy road at that; afrobeat is not only a niche genre that practically defines the term, a distinct style of music with clearly defined rules and structure, but is overshadowed by an epic, unmistakable personality, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. Granted that over the forty years of the style’s existence, there have been a good number of quality imitators and descendents, it is and will always be completely and utterly impossible to out afrobeat the Nigerian superstar; his name is simply synonymous with it. The Chicago Afrobeat Project have quite the daunting task in front of them if they want to be recognized outside of just the typical confines of the niche genre, and with their sophomore outing, (A) Move to Silent Unrest, they are certainly making a case for attention.

Afrobeat is working its way closer into the mainstream every year, and 2007 is no exception having seen so many releases. CAbP keep a bright spotlight on their influences while dancing around a lot of obscure genres. Jeff Parker from Tortoise is noted as working with the band frequently, but since they're from Chicago, it's pretty much a given that a Tortoise member is somehow involved. Silly me, thinking that the similarities were a coincidence. Most of the songs have long runtimes, but they transition so much that you'll never feel worn out. (A) Move to Silent Unrest is simply the best orchestrated Afrobeat album of the year.

Co-owner Steve Manley may not look a day over 30, but B-Side Records on State Street celebrates its 25th anniversary this month. To commemorate the event, the B-Side family will have a bash at the High Noon Saloon on Tuesday, Oct. 16, from 5 to 8 p.m. Musical guests include MaeRae and the Runners Up. The public is welcome. MP3s are not.

The Chicago Afrobeat Project has planned a series of shows in Madison through the end of 2007. A staple of the Chicago live music scene, the Project fuses African rhythms with rock and experimental jazz. The group will perform the first Thursday of each month at Café Montmartre through December.

Chicago Afrobeat Project – A Move to Silent Unrest (world)

Afrobeat is a Nigerian style of jazz-heavy dance music, and Chicago Afrobeat Project brings these deep groves to life stateside. Low saxes and Hammond organ drive a cool, jammy, cosmopolitan sound.

Chicago Afrobeat Project CD release
Fun and funky afrobeat from this Antibalas-like collective, celebrating the release of their second album (A) Move to Silent Unrest.
8pm $12 adv/$15 day of show
Sponsored by 90.3 and 106.7 FM KFAI

Sat 10/6

Chicago Afrobeat Project has been touring the country for the past five years playing festivals and clubs from coast to coast. Throughout the journey the band has really built a stong following and found a home away from home in Madison, which made it an obvious choice of cities to expand the First Beat series to. On the first Thursday of every month for the rest of the year the band will perform two long sets at Cafe Montmartre.

Several years ago Chicago Afrobeat Project began playing the first Saturday of every month at the Note in Wicker Park. The shows started late and lasted until 5AM. A few shows in, the series became known as "First Beat." It has since moved to the Kinetic Playground in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood. Due to its great success the band decided to expand First Beat beyond Chicago and into other cities. Every first Wednesday they play at Otto's in DeKalb and beginning October First Beat comes to Madison. Cafe Momo, as its referred to, was the club that hosted Chicago Afrobeat Project's first Madison show many years back.

Afrobeat is a sound that is regaining popularity around the world, with the help of one group in particular-Chicago Afrobeat Project-working to bring this musical genre out of obscurity.

"Afrobeat is based on many different musical genres," said Kevin Ford, the band's keyboardist. "It's based on funk, rock, jazz, Afro-Cuban and a whole lot of other genres."

Afrobeat music does not stand still. Like their funky African forefathers, the Chicago Afrobeat Project (CAbP) will keep the crowds moving.

The band mixes polyrhythmic, infectious grooves with political awareness and even hints of hip hop with their horns. The group will be strutting their stuff at the Cedar Cultural Center on Friday, October 5th at 8:00 pm in Minneapolis.

Chicago Afrobeat Project performed at the High Noon Saloon this past Thursday (9.13.07). The show was sparsely attended - maybe because it was the start of the weekend long Madison World Music Festival or the frigid wind and cold rain - but that did not stop the 7 person band from dishing out an infectious blend of jazz, soul and funky grooves. The band is planning to release their debut studio album in October so keep an eye out for it. MMR will also be reviewing the album to keep you (and your ears) well informed! In case you missed the band this time around, CAbP plans to become a regular fixture in town and will be playing the first Thursday of every month at Cafe Montmartre.

While double-checking links and content in my post above I came across a blog by a development worker in Liberia named Kevin. In my additional resources links below there is a TIME.com article by Johnny Dywer titled Postcard from Robertsport: Tell Charles Taylor We’re Surfing. The piece is about the great surfing to be found at Robertsport, Liberia and how some of the local youth are trying to get involved in the sport despite their problems with poverty and lack of materials to build high-quality professional surfboards. Note in the TIME.com article how the surfers from the various NGO's and UN staffers treated the locals during Dywer's visit to the area.

My Liberian friend Steve and I have discussed Robertsport ever since I had read that June 2007 article at TIME, as I have been fascinated with how beautiful it must along that coastline and the commercial development potential for the area. Robertsport for me exemplifies the outstanding tourism potential for both Liberia and Sierra Leone along the Atlantic Coast, home to some of the finest tropical sandy beaches and most beautiful coastlines to be found anywhere on the planet.

Recipe for Afrobeat: Get the biggest mixing pot you can find and throw in Yoruba music, jazz, Highlife, funk, polyrhythmic percussion, political rhymes. Stir and bring it a roiling boil.

Afrobeat’s best-known artist may have been the Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, but Afrobeat bands are popping up all over the U.S., giving props and respect to the genre decades later. Two of them will perform in the area this week: Albino and Chicago Afrobeat Project.

The musical legacy left by Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti after his 1997 death is so dense and fruitful that his style continues to germinate around the world. The mere existence of the Chicago Afrobeat Project is proof of this. The group came together in 2002, and since then has embraced a two-fold aim: to make people dance (which isn't hard, given infectious polyrhythms and blistering horn interplay) and to spread the word about Fela and the music he created. But while the CAbP certainly pays tribute to Afrobeat's founding father, it isn't a tribute act: The band writes its own songs based around funky keyboards, charging horn lines and talking drums, thus keeping the music vibrant and vital.

For a type of music that originated in Nigeria, Africa, Afro-beat has come a long way to have reached the Chicago, Ill., area. Now the jive is heading south, as the Chicago Afrobeat Project comes back to Athens' own Georgia Theatre.

Drummer Marshall Greenhouse said the tour would start in Athens due to the good experience they had playing here last summer.

Do you like jazz, blues, samba, rock, house or reggae? If so, head on over to the Hi-Tone this Sunday for a show by the Chicago Afrobeat Project. They hale from, yes….Chicago, where I’ve seen them a few times and they put on a great show. The band is made up of about 10 members including a few drummers, full horn section, guitars, bass, and, on occasion, traditional African dancers.

Not convinced yet? Here’s video from a performance last month. Get down there and support these guys!! Hi Tone, Sunday, 10:30.

WAER is proud to offer you the exciting weekly program, Top of the World, which airs Sundays at 10 p.m. The program is hosted by Mark Bostick and Connie Wailer. The show features an eclectic mix of world beat, reggae and accessible, danceable music from all over the world.

Don't miss this great mix of today's music.

Our Favorite World Music Albums of 2006

Describing most world music is like trying to explain the difference between indigo and violet to a blind man. Not so the Chicago Afrobeat Project, who were born out of loft parties in downtown Chicago in 2002. Their unique array of multiple bassists, saxophonists, drummers and assorted dancers (subject to availability) traces roots down to Nigerian Afrobeat firebrand Fela Kuti, Afro-French funk cyclone Max B. and the Nubian joy supreme of Ali Hassan Kuban with relentlessly quantum and upbeat rhythms woven into a vast quilt of jazz-funk-folk history. They mesh tonight with Rhythm Roots All-Stars, a kindred 10-tet whose Sunday jams at Temple Bar have featured Davey Chegwidden, Pancho Tomaselli, Double G, Woody Aplanalp, Aloe Blacc and others since 1999. Prepare yourself for a musical shout second only to Conrad Bain’s in intensity and passion. (David Cotner)

We knew we were in for a treat this weekend when we saw three different drum stations crammed on the small stage area of World Cafe Live Upstairs. A pair of conga drums were sandwiched between a snare drum set and a regular drum kit. One by one, the artists from Chicago Afrobeat Project (CAbP) strolled out onto the stage. There were indeed three different percussionists, two saxophone players, an organist, a guitarist, and a five-string bassist.

Yowsa.

On Monday December 04, 2006 Chicago Afrobeat Project will make its second appearance to New York City. This time at SOBs. Chicago Afrobeat Project has been creating their own unique blend of afrobeat with a 'Chicago' twist for four years now. This east coast tour is in support of debut ablum self titled album which has spent the past 13 weeks in the CMJ New World Charts. The evening will begin at 8:00 with Juan Carlos Formell and SON RADICAL as part of the Day of Chango Celebration and Chicago Afrobeat Project will hit the stage at 10:00 PM.

IN ALL POPULAR MUSIC, the road to suck is paved with good intentions. This is especially true of world music: The very name is anemic, roping in supposedly pure sounds as disparate as Celtic reels and Chinese pentatonic-scale caterwauling. All the more reason, then, to celebrate the stateside Afrobeat underground that's been steadily building for a few years now. And the one single sound that jangled my nerves all year: an electrified likembe.

The band is Konono No. 1, part of a scene identified by the Belgian Crammed Discs label as "Congotronics," a distant cousin of Afrobeat, political music first inspired by the Nigerian Fela Kuti, whose sax flirted with Coltrane while his band hustled like James Brown's; check out Brooklyn's Antibalas orchestra or Chicago's Afrobeat Project. Like Afrobeat, Congotronics synthesizes African and Western sensibilities and doesn't aspire to any kind of purity. Konono's show features a conga player, a kid with a snare drum and the top half of a high-hat cymbal, a codger playing three cowbells pounded into different timbres, and those likembes--aka thumb pianos, usually a calabash gourd or, in this case, a wood box fitted with thin strips of metal to form keys--plugged into guitar amps.

The Chicago Afrobeat Project, which released its self-titled debut in late 2005, has constructed its lineup with the same measured pace it brings to its polyrhythmic tunes.

The group's songs are musical snowballs, opening as minimalist skeletons--a buoyant bass line or a lone, repeated guitar chord--before picking up keyboards, horns and various percussive elements. Gathering momentum. the songs thunder to a hip-shaking climax.

Chicago Afrobeat Project doors open at 8 tonight at Little Brother?s , 1100 N . High St . ( 614- 421-2025 )

Boasting full percussion and horn sections, keyboards, guitar, bass and African dancers, the Chicago Afrobeat Project is a dynamic collective of musicians determined to bring the sound of Lagos, Nigeria, to Western ears.

Carrying the torch for Afrobeat genre founder Fela Kuti, Chicago Afrobeat Project fuse jazz with African tribal music. Primarily instrumental, this nine-member group are best known for blowing people’s minds with their live show. Along with the ensemble and solo works of drums, keys, horns, and guitars you’ll hear traditional African instruments such as the kora. The group is donating part of the proceeds from the sale of this seven-song CD to JAAIDS (Journalists Against AIDS Nigeria), which is just as cool as their music.

We're joined by Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner, who argues that the U.S. government is not prepared to protect citizens from disasters. Then, we bring you the personal story of one soldier's time in Iraq and the experiences that caused him to change his opinion of the war. And, Chicago Public Radio's Lucia Mauro talks with a man whose roots in Vietnam shape the dances he choreographs.

Plus, we talk to Sadhu Johnston, Commissioner of the City of Chicago Department of Environment, about what the city is doing to help residents deal with the high cost of heat, and the Chicago Tribune's Michael Hawthorne tells us why high electricity costs may be bad news for the Great Lakes. Plus, we find out why some environmentalists are opposed to dredging the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Chicago Afrobeat Project: 9 p.m., Jan. 20, Hangar 9, Carbondale. A unique combination of rock, jazz and funk mixed with African drum beats. Cover charge: $4-$5. For more information, call (618) 549-0511.

The Chicago Afrobeat Project, a nine-member 70s funk- and jazz-infused ensemble, has developed a sound combining rock, jazz, funk and African percussion into a unique percussion-heavy sound that draws audiences from all walks of life -- and gets them dancing.
Political activist Fela Kuti created the urban, contemporary sound of Afrobeat that was influenced by artists such as James Brown and Parliament. According to project member and trombone player Mark Thomson, Afrobeat is a "mix of American funk music and jazz originally developed in Africa, but it has more percussion."

Spend the night as a globetrotter as A View of the World takes guests progressively around the world in a musical, dining, and cultural event. The Chicago Afrobeat Project will be playing jazz-infused afrobeat music all night long, as well as various DJs. Also check out an Asian inspired fashion show, gallery strolls, and appetizers from each hemisphere. One free drink included with ticket, cash bars also available. Only 1,000 tickets available in advance. $35.

As a general rule, it's always a good idea to avoid bands that include the word "Project" in their name. (That goes double if the other words in the name are "Alan Parsons.") Calling your band a "project" implies a certain clinical bloodlessness, a form of studious inquiry that's antithetical to good old-fashioned rocking. (Again, see also: Alan Parsons Project.) But the first rule of rule-making is that there are always exceptions, and the Chicago Afrobeat Project is one glorious exception. A multi-racial collective that expands and contracts between half a dozen members and three times that many, the Chicago Afrobeat Project takes the 1970's sound of Fela Kuti, King Sunny Ade, and Thomas Mapfumo as their philosophical starting point. Rather than aiming for an academic re-creation of vintage Afrobeat (or worse, mainstream dance pop that's "influenced" by Afrobeat), however, the group incorporates modern jazz, Tortoise-style post-rock, big band Latin funk, and other influences into the core Afrobeat style. As a famously polyglot style to begin with -- Fela and King Sunny Ade themselves claimed influences ranging from James Brown to Hank Williams -- Afrobeat can expand to hold all these and more, but the rippling highlife guitar and call-and-response vocals of a song like "Jekajo" remain incontrovertibly the real thing. These seven gloriously danceable tracks, powered by honking sax sections, funky electric piano solos, and hypnotic percussion grooves, may not be as swaggeringly powerful as Fela Kuti, as beneficient as King Sunny Ade, or as righteously defiant as Thomas Mapfumo at their respective peaks, but they're highly recommended both for fans and newcomers to the style alike.

Active since 2002, last year this local combo released its self-titled debut album, which displayed plenty of chops and energy if not much originality—but then again, not many Afrobeat bands ever evolve too far beyond the naked worship of Fela Kuti, who pioneered the relentlessly funky style in Nigeria in the late 60s. Several notable Chicagoans—including kora player Morikeba Kouyate and guitarist Fareed Haque (see above)—make cameo appearances that briefly soften the complexion of the music, but for the most part the band cooks hard, slotting economical solos into its taut ensemble grooves.

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).

Four years ago in a third-story loft on Lake Street in downtown Chicago, some musicians experimenting with afrobeat and Chicago’s own diverse music formed Chicago Afrobeat Project. The afrobeat genre, created by Nigerian musician and political activist Fela Kuti, lends very well to cross-genre experimentation as it mixes American funk and jazz with West African juju and highlife music. Ranging from 7 to 11 band members (and still possibly growing), CAbP is known for their long, jammy songs featuring solos from their horn section, keyboardist, percussionists, bassist, and guitarist. Maintaining an afrobeat vibe throughout, but drawing influence from many different types of music (including hip-hop, rock, and Chicago house), CAbP’s main intention is to make their listeners move. In concert, they are sometimes joined by African dancers from Chicago’s Muntu Dance Theatre. Although they are not as overtly political as Kuti was, they show their support for social action by donating a percentage of the sales of their new record (scheduled for release in 2007) to an organization that helps fight AIDS in Africa. (Appearing at Kinetic Playground on Jan. 6) --text: Ariel Sundel