Daily Iowan: “Chicago Afrobeat Project brings concoction of sound”

The Chicago Afrobeat Project describes its sound as a sort of concoction of flavors. Take Ben & Jerry’s ice cream for example. The group members said their genre is like a juxtaposition of Rocky Road and French Toast with a hint of mint.

“It’s a sound that people will latch onto,” said keyboardist Kevin Ford. “It is dance music that Chicago [and other cities] embrace pretty readily.”

The Chicago-based group’s sound can be understood better in an abstract way, he said, because genre titles become blurred as music evolves and styles intertwine. Trying to describe music has become a challenge for bands similar to his, he said, because of the many influences that come together to produce something innovative.

The Afrobeat Project will perform at 9 p.m. on Saturday at the Yacht Club, 13 S. Linn St. Admission is $10.

Traditional afrobeat was brought to the United States from Nigeria by the legendary Fela Kuti, who is a unanimous favorite artist and big influence among members of the group. Garrick Smith, who plays baritone saxophone, said it is a danceable, hypnotic mix of traditional African with James Brown funk.

Kuti is the “father of afrobeat,” and he coined the term and propagated the sound with the help of his sons, Ford said.

The seven musicians who will play at Yacht club play a variety of instruments that contribute to the dance energy of the crowd. The group is made up of Angelo Garcia on saxophone, Squairblaq on vocals, Smith, David Glines on guitar, Ford, Geoff Shell on bass, and Ricardo Gonzales on drums. The group travels with anywhere from seven to 15 guys at a time, depending on the musicians’ availability and the venue.

Rotating the members such as drummers and bass players for different performances demonstrates why the band calls itself a “project.”

“We are trying to work with a bunch of different people,” Smith said. “It is an ever-growing entity as far as the music goes, adding special guests, working with other groups.”

The group formed in 2002, and the members said they got into the afrobeat scene as it took off in the early 2000s. Afrobeat groups that have a following of fans on tour might be scarce, but the afrobeat influence is seeping into other genres such an indie rock. Take Vampire Weekend for example.

“It is a trend that’s been growing in larger-market cities,” Squairblaq said.

While a lot of musicians stick to an original interpretation of afrobeat, what makes the Chicago Afrobeat Project stand out is its ability to take different elements from many genres and interject it into the original afrobeat sound.

“We don’t allow ourselves to be confined by what is the convention of the music,” Squairblaq said.

The band tours all over the nation at venues ranging from nightclubs to lofts to festivals, colleges, and large venues.

Squairblaq said he wants to encourage music lovers who have never heard of afrobeat to come out to the show. He said that even if people don’t know a lot about music or afrobeat, the style will make listeners want to dance.

“[Everyone] comes out to dance and have a good time,” he said.

Chicago Reader: “Femi Kuti Reconfronts the “Attitude of Lagos” with Chicago Afrobeat Project’s Kevin Ford”

This article originally appeared in the Chicago Reader.

For the first in our series of artists interviewing artists, Chicago Afrobeat Project keyboardist Kevin Ford spoke with Femi Kuti, eldest son of legendary Afrobeat pioneer and Nigerian human-rights activist Fela Kuti, about his new album, his doubts about democracy, and his efforts to protect his father’s legacy while carrying it forward. Femi Kuti plays with his band the Positive Force on April 30 at Metro.

Kevin Ford: Compared to your other albums, I’d say the messages on Africa for Africa are the most direct. I’m wondering if recording at Decca studio [in Lagos, Nigeria] affected the sound?

Femi Kuti: When we record in Lagos it’s like being on the battlefield. The electricity cuts off. There is no central AC, and we are sweating like dogs. All the things we are singing about, we are confronted with them in the studio. When we record in France, we are very comfortable. In Paris, it’s very difficult to [express] yourself when you are singing about problems and you can’t really identify with those problems.

I think it comes through in the album. It sounds to me like you have even more power behind your messages.

I planned to do the songs that way. But probably the emotion you are hearing comes from the fact that I was reconfronted with the attitude of Lagos.

There were some things brought up in the album that kind of hint at a united Africa. Do you think there could be a pan-African union, kind of like the European Union?

That was Kwame Nkrumah’s [the nationalist leader who liberated the new nation of Ghana from British rule] dream. And I think we’re still a very long way from that because the leaders in Africa are very greedy. I don’t see any African country doing anything for its people. So I think it’ll probably take another 50 to 100 years for us to reach there. The fact is we have to keep on fighting. We have to remember that so many people have lost their lives fighting. If there wasn’t a Kwame Nkrumah, my father, Malcom X, Marcus Garvey, or Mandela, people like me will be naive to the history of Africa. It’s very important that I play my part so that the children can always have a platform to continue the struggle.

You’ve talked in the past about democracy—that you have your doubts about democracy as a system.

Yeah, it’s a game, like you see with the Democrats and the Republicans in America. The Republicans always want to gain power so they will always do everything to sabotage the Democratic government, and vice versa. So what kind of system of government is that, when it is broken down before it started? Even if the government in power is doing good things, the opposition always tries to find an excuse to bring it down, so that government never functions like it should.

The U.S. and Nigeria are obviously different places, but Afrobeat music is very strong in the U.S., even though we don’t have the same politics.

It’s becoming global. I don’t think we need to overcome the fact that it’s from Nigeria.

Do you feel like in Lagos there is more pressure to stick to the roots, to the “true” Afrobeat?

Africans just like dancing; so as long as you do a good song, they are very flexible. They can be critical as well. They think that you are using Afrobeat. They use my father to judge you and say this doesn’t sound like him. It doesn’t mean they don’t accept it, but they can be very critical.

A lot of people call it underground music in America.

It’s not underground. They made a mistake. I don’t know why everybody’s always saying “underground.” My father said “on the ground.”

Next week: Experimental noise musicians Jon Cates and Jake Elliott of Dorkbot interview Captured! by Robots.