His father, the late great Fela Anikulapo Kuti, was the godfather of the politically sharp, seriously funky music genre known as Afrobeat. Seun Anikulapo Kuti is carrying the torch forward, blowing sax and singing as leader of Fela's old band Egypt 80. An album titled simply Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 is set for release June 24. Seun was on the European leg of a world tour getting ready for a show in Paris when I caught up with him via cell phone on Tuesday to talk about his dad, the power of music, and Barack Obama .
The Egypt 80 tour hits North America this week for a series of shows in June and July starting in Los Angeles and working up the coast to Humboldt County where they play Monday, June 23, at the Mateel Community Center. (All concert dates are listed below.)
So you're in Paris with Egypt 80?
Yes. That's my band.
As I understand it, you were a member of Egypt 80 when you were a boy.
Yes, since I was eight. I used to open the shows for my dad. I used to sing every Friday night at the Shrine.
What do you remember about your dad?
There are so many memories. You know I was 14 when he died. I saw him every day. He was a very integral part of my life, so I don't know. He was not the kind of dad who was like a dad, he was more like a friend, you know.
Was he also your musical teacher?
Well, in practical terms yes. He gave me the opportunity to get on stage. But he was not like a music teacher; he didn't have time to be teaching me physically. He helped me with my musical ambitions anyway I wanted. He sent me to the best schools. When I wanted to start singing it was my decision. He told me that and supported my decision. That was the best lesson he could give me at such a young age.
And I assume he was a role model.
That definitely goes without saying.
When he died, did his band, Egypt 80 continue on immediately?
Yes, although it was not my plan to lead the band. I wasn't thinking it was going to be me who would keep the band going. It was something all of us had in common, that we wanted to keep going. It was not easy. Nobody was supporting the band. At that moment I made up my mind and stood up to say I want to keep playing. When we continued it was tough, when we took someone like Fela out of the equation. It was a very hard thing.
I've been listening to this new album that's about to come out in the U.S. It seems like you have brought the Afrobeat movement into the 21st century.
I don't think so. Afrobeat has always been in the 21st century. Afrobeat was about to go global in a big way when Fela died. He was about to do a world tour that would have brought the music worldwide, but he died. We went on without him, but it's a misconception when they say Afrobeat sounds like old music, that it needs to be changed, to be fused with new music. They said we had to add some funk and some soul to make it new. I don't believe that. Afrobeat is evergreen, the albums are classics. One of the rules of Afrobeat is that every song has to have an everlasting meaning to it. I believe Afrobeat has always been in the future. The world is just now catching up to it.
Is it still the music you hear on the street in Nigeria?
Of course, it is the music of the masses too for all times. It does not always get the support given to the bubblegum music that we have everywhere now.
Like your father you are speaking out against the corrupt leadership of tour country. That's what got your father in trouble with the government. Have you faced the same kind of resistance from the authorities?
Of course, of course. It goes without saying in Africa. It's been the same for years. I understood from a young age that Afrobeat was more than just a genre, it was a movement, you know. So I decided to leave behind my education in Liverpool to join the movement, and that's what I did. Now I fight with the movement. And I know the consequences.
You've said there's a change: instead of get up and fight, the people must get up and think . What do you mean by that?
We are not lacking for fighting in Africa. There are wars everywhere at the moment. What we are lacking in Africa is the right ideology. The mentality behind this fighting, the revolutionaries want a bloody fight. What I want is to correct injustice. We have to fight with our minds.
We don't here much in America about what's really going on in Africa. What we know about Nigeria is that it's a source for oil and there are disputes around oil over there. Is that what you are talking about in your song "Na Oil"? Is that about oil?
Not only. It's a parable really, about the importance of human life. In my language is says, "Na oyeli ide carry," which means, it's oil that I'm carrying on my head. It's red oil, palm oil. It's also what we call crude oil, but [traditionally] it is palm oil. It's an old traditional saying. It's about our rulers who only wan to get rich. I call them rulers, not leaders, because they do not lead us, they rule us. There's a big difference. For them their Swiss bank account is more important than our lives. So we speak to them in the song sarcastically, asking hem to respect our lives in Africa.
So as the price of oil goes higher and higher, it's only the rulers who proper.
It's always been that way in Nigeria. Ninety percent of the resources are owned by one percent of the population. Those who own the resources have actually stolen them from the people. The world ignores that fact and continues to do business with them.
You say you came back to Egypt 80 to rejoin the Afrobeat movement. Do you think a musical movement can change things like the oil problem?
Music is a very powerful weapon. It has the power to do incredible things. So yes, of course. One thing I learned from my father is that music does not stay in one place. It goes all around the world, but you have to dedicate your whole life to that. But music gives you back in turn, it gives you long life, it gives you grace. Music has the power to change people's minds, to change the course of mankind.
It can get people to get up and think, as you say.
Yes, of course. Because people listen to music all the time. That's why I don't think it's a coincidence that only bubblegum music is what is hyped everywhere in the world.
Because the rulers don't want people thinking...
Exactly. Of course there are a lot of conscious bands out there and many musicians who are activists. In the '60s and '70s you had Jimi Hendrix and many others. People were listening to people like Malcolm X and they were listening to intelligent music. And you know intelligent music actually makes people intelligent. The rulers couldn't handle that.
So instead they gave us bubblegum so we'd stop thinking for ourselves.
Exactly. Trust me, I don't mean to insult any artists. I listen to nice music myself. But you must remember, music has power.
I have one more question for you. I heard that you had trouble with your visas and immigration on a previous trip to America, and a Senator from Illinois helped you out. Senator Obama...
He's not Senator Obama, he's President-to-be Obama, future President of the United States.
What does that mean from the point of view of someone who lives in Africa?
You know, this is the first real hope for Africa, the first in a long time, in terms of political leadership. We'll have to judge history by what he does. He owes the black race and I'm sure he understands that because he's an intelligent guy. He owes Africa, and a lot is expected. Being an African, he knows that Africa needs to be free. He knows what needs to be done. He knows the influences that need to be curbed. We hope for the best.
Same over here. I don't want to keep you much longer, but I have to tell you, your music is great and I think what you are doing is very important.
Thank you. And we will see you soon.
Seun Kuti & Fela's Egypt 80 on tour:
6/20/2008 Los Angeles, CA - Grand Performances
6/21/2008 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre
6/22/2008 San Francisco, CA - Stern Grove
6/23/2009 Redway, CA - Mateel Community Center
6/25/2008 Vancouver, BC (?) - International Jazz Festival
6/27/2008 Victoria, BC - Jazz Festival
6/28/2008 Seattle, WA - The Moore
6/30/2008 Chicago, IL - House of Blues
7/2/2008 Toronto, ON - Harbourfront
7/3/2008 London, ON - Sunfest
7/4/2008 Detroit, MI - Comercia Festival
7/5/2008 Philadelphia, PA - World Café
7/6/2008 New York, NY - Central Park Summer Stage
7/7/2008 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
7/8/2008 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
7/10/2008 Ottawa Bluest Fest - Ottawa, ON
7/11/2008 Quebec D'ete - Quebec QC
7/12/2008 Winnipeg, Folk Festival - Winnipeg MB
7/13/2008 Nuits D'Afrique - Quebec City, QC
The runaway hit T-shirt of late June 2008 has been updated!
Now, on the back side, you get the full text of the eye-popping piece of reporting that confirmed the great Arcata DEA raids of late June 2008. Relive the memories every time you do laundry. Three bucks extra, but well worth it.
Detail below. Click through to purchase.
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5:16 p.m.: They're getting ready to hold a press conference over there in Blue Lake -- if you zip over to northcoastjournal.com you can catch it. Tim Robbins and his gang will be there.
5:40 p.m.: It's over now. Check back at northcoastjournal.com at 7:30 p.m. for the Award of Hope presentation , and afterwards for the Joyce Hough Band.
Click past the jump for photos from the StreamGuys crew...
The Actors' Gang enters:
Actors' Gang, Dell'Arte and the founders of the Prize of Hope:
The press, rising to the occasion:
The Joyce Hough Band doing the soundcheck on the stage of Korbel IV: The Accident :
For the record: No, there weren't 50 black SUVs parked at the Red Lion yesterday morning. No, there weren't nine DEA helicopters armed with infrared detectors at Eureka-Arcata airport. No, DEA agents did not storm the pot doc's place off Giuntoli to pull paperwork.
Thanks for the phonecalls, though!
The week that Humboldt County's paranoia meter went from red to ultra-infra-red is now over, alas. It was a lot of fun while it lasted. And to remember the good times, why not purchase this commemorative shirt ? It pays tribute to the Humboldt Herald blog , which kept us up to date with all the advance info -- precisely how many DEA agents were coming, where they were staying, how many grow houses they would be targeting, how the agency pinpointed those homes. Also: The fact that " Up to 60 FBI agents may have recently rented houses in Eureka ." Hey, they may have ! Or maybe not!
This is the must-have shirt of June 2008. Detail below. Click through to purchase.
UPDATED: See here .
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Reminder: If you can't make it out to Blue Lake for the kick-off of the Mad River Festival tonight, you can catch some of the opening events over at the mothership: northcoastjournal.com . Starting at 7:30 p.m., actor Tim Robbins and his Actors' Gang troupe will be awarded the "Prize of Hope" -- an event, we understand, that will involve some speechifying. Then, shortly afterwards, the Joyce Hough Band will rock the party. Both events will be piped into your living room live, courtesy Dell'Arte, StreamGuys and the North Coast Journal .
If you'd like, you can click on over to the North Coast Journal now and watch some entertaining pre-event video, including a longer documentary-style piece involving Dell'Arte and some Oregon hippies. I may be paranoid (or swollen-headed), but I suspect I'm the inspiration for the deranged sea captain in the first clip. I called Dell'Arte "world-class" in a column a year or so ago, and the Blue Lakers quickly ganked the quote for their promotional material.
And it's true.
Last week some desperate Willie fan posted a request on Craigslist offering double the face value for tickets to see the country star. If they succeeded, they may be kicking themselves today. As noted in this week's Hum, People Productions and Tom Dimmick went before the Humboldt County Planning Commission this week asking to adapt their use permit for the Ranch to allow for one additional concert per year. The commission said OK, which gives the green light for moving the sold-out Aug. 31 Willie Nelson show from Benbow to a larger venue.
Here's the official press release:
People Productions and the Dimmick Ranch are excited to bring "Willie Nelson" to Humboldt County for an exclusive North Coast performance, Sunday August 31st at the Dimmick Ranch in Piercy, California. The new site for the concert offers more on-site parking, a larger concert bowl with seating, 180° view of the stage plus a 360 of the exceptional scenery.
In a business built on changes in cultural fashion, Willie Nelson seems very much the same as he was when he rose to national prominence in the mid-1970s -- still the same sinewy, off-the-beat, jazz-inflected voice, the same benign countenance and the same hippie/thrift-shop costuming. The mileposts along his way tell a lot: He first charted in 1962 (with "Willingly"), had his first No. 1 in 1975 ("Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain"), scored 19 more No. 1's and 120 hits – many pop crossovers – over the next 14 years and then returned triumphantly to the top again in 2003 via his duet with Toby Keith, "Beer for My Horses."
Tickets are $75 in advance and are on sale now at all the usual local outlets as well as available online at www.peopleproductions.net. Gate opens at 2 p.m. for food, drinks arts, crafts and great country music.
Sock! Wham! Pow!
This week's "Town Dandy" column -- it'll go live here at the stroke of midnight -- contains some musings and ruminations about Heraldo, proprietor of the popular Humboldt Herald blog. It also identifies Scott Greacen, executive director of the Environmental Protection Information Center, as member of that elite circle who know the undercover blogger's true identity. Greacen has some interesting non-answers about Heraldo's ties (or non-ties) to the organization he heads.
What may not be immediately apparent from the column is that it was prompted, entirely and pettily, by Heraldo's refusal to give the Journal an early exclusive on his/her alleged coming-out party this September.
Now, for the first time, the Journal is publishing a rare, behind-the-scenes look at a powerful gossip columnist at the height of his powers, using all the tools in his formidable arsenal to wrestle a recalcitrant subject to the ground. That the exercise was ultimately a failure -- or a draw, perhaps -- matters little in the end. They'll be teaching this text in the J-schools next year.
Brew up some popcorn and follow along. Then pick a winner -- the irresistible force or the immovable object?
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from Hank Sims
to Humboldt Herald
date Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 7:58 PM
Coming out of the closet?
You owe me, you know.
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from Humboldt Herald
to Hank Sims
date Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 8:58 PM
You lost me.
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from Hank Sims
to Humboldt Herald
date Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 9:01 PM
http://eurekastandard.blogspot.com/2008/06/new-bloggers-picnic-date-sunday-sept.html
True?
You owe me.
-----
from Humboldt Herald
to Hank Sims
date Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 9:06 PM
You'll have to wait and see.
But remind me of the circumstances of how it came to be that I owe you.
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from Hank Sims
to Humboldt Herald
date Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 9:09 PM
Because I could have screamed "EPIC" from the rooftop months ago.
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from Humboldt Herald
to Hank Sims
date Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 9:11 PM
You would have had a choir around you. That theory gets regular play, though I admit there's been a lull.
Does this mean your money's on Scott?
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from Hank Sims
to Humboldt Herald
date Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 9:14 PM
Coy, eh?
Still have my notes right here, as it happens...
"As it was, I just asked Greacen if he knew the blogger's real identity. And he said that he did. Who is it? 'That's your problem.' How does he know? 'Someone who shouldn't have told me, told me.'"
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from Humboldt Herald
to Hank Sims
date Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 9:15 PM
What does it tell you?
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from Hank Sims
to Humboldt Herald
date Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 9:18 PM
It tells me that I could make life reasonably miserable for Scott if I were so inclined. Put the onus on him!
"Want to know who Heraldo is? Ask Scott!"
Something he shouldn't have told me, he told me.
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from Humboldt Herald
to Hank Sims
date Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 9:20 PM
Fair enough. Nice of you not to torture him.
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from Hank Sims
to Humboldt Herald
date Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 9:21 PM
Yes. And so, to complete the circle, here ... you owe me.
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from Humboldt Herald
to Hank Sims
date Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 9:21 PM
Or maybe he does.
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from Hank Sims
to Humboldt Herald
date Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 9:22 PM
No, you do. You're the one who put him in the mess.
-----
from Humboldt Herald
to Hank Sims
date Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 9:23 PM
I swear I'm innocent.
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from Hank Sims
to Humboldt Herald
date Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 9:24 PM
He'd see it that way, would he?
-----
from Humboldt Herald
to Hank Sims
date Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 9:24 PM
I don't know why he wouldn't, but then again, I'm not him.
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from Hank Sims
to Humboldt Herald
date Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 9:25 PM
Okay. I was looking for something to write about next week anyway.
-----
from Humboldt Herald
to Hank Sims
date Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 9:26 PM
Ha! So this means I don't owe you?
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from Hank Sims
to Humboldt Herald
date Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 9:26 PM
Exactly. As of next Thursday, your obligations will be cleared.
-----
from Humboldt Herald
to Hank Sims
date Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 9:28 PM
How freeing it will feel to no longer be held in your debt.
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from Hank Sims
to Humboldt Herald
date Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 9:39 PM
Cool. If you, erm, just happen to see Scott
, tell him I'll give him a call later this week.
Tis the season for dredge miners to dust off their campers and mosey into the mountains for river gold.
Tis also budget season, and the Karuk Tribe and California Trout have asked Gov. Schwarzenegger to endorse a provision that the state legislature added to the 2008 Budget Bill that would place a moratorium on suction dredge mining. The groups say the moratorium will protect fish -- like the endangered coho -- in the Klamath and other rivers. Dredging, they say, kicks up toxic mercury that settled into riverbeds after gold smelting at mines in the 1800s, among other bad things.
"The groups’ call to limit the recreational mining technique comes as California faces the worst fisheries collapse in history," says the news release .
The miners, meanwhile, are on it. On the New 49er’s members forum , they’ve outlined an action plan that includes pumping up their deflated war chest to fund "an aggressive lobbying offensive." As part of that, they’re holding a drawing: "Our girls in the office will print your tickets as we receive contributions ," writes Dave Mack.
But, he admonishes, "this is more important than winning prizes. It is about defending our right to continue prospecting for gold in California."
We wrote about this last August.
The news hit the SoHum blogosphere over the weekend. This press release (and advert for Reggae Rising) from People Productions makes it as official as it gets:
The Dimmick Ranch and People Productions, Tom Dimmick and Carol Bruno, are pleased to announce that they reached a negotiated settlement with the Mateel Community Center on Friday June 13th, ending the long running dispute between the parties."I feel a sense of relief that I hope the rest of our community is feeling to finally have this dispute resolved and behind us" said Tom Dimmick. "All of us here at the Dimmick Ranch are really looking forward to making Reggae Rising 2008 the best festival yet!"
"It's been a long hard road for everyone" added Carol Bruno, "and we’re looking forward to continuing to serve our community."
At this point, the terms of the settlement are not yet public but we expect to have an announcement soon.
We hope you will join us at this years’ Reggae Rising Music Festival to celebrate the joy of music and community.
An unimpeachable source tells us that Times-Standard Editor Rich Somerville was found dead at his Trinidad home yesterday evening.
More details as they become available.