FEMI KUTI & THE POSITIVE FORCE

FEMI KUTI, Lead Vocals, Sax and Keyboards
OPEYEMI AWOMOLO, Guitar
DANIEL BANKOLE, Saxophone
DOTUN BANKOLE, Baritone Saxophone
OLUSOLA ALOBALURAN, Trumpet
SEYE ADEWUNMI, Trumpet
TIWALADE OGUNLOWO, Trombone
OLUWASEUN AJAYI, Keyboards
ADEMOLA ADEGBOLA, Bass
ADEBOWALE OLOKO-OBI, Drums
ABIODUN OGUNDARI, Bongos
BOSEDE AJILA, Dancer and Backup Vocals
KATE UDI, Dancer and Backup Vocals
ANTHONIA BERNARDS, Dancer and Backup Vocals

Intermission

KING SUNNY ADE & HIS AFRICAN BEATS

KING SUNDAY ADENIYI ADEGEYE, Lead Vocals and Guitar
TEMITAYO OLATUNBOSUN ADEBANJO, Chorus
ENIOLA ADEBAYO, Chorus
JOSEPH OJO OGUNLADE, Chorus
KEHINDE ADEYEMO, Chorus and Dancer
TAIWO ADEYEMO, Chorus and Dancer
SEGUN KALAJAIYE, Guitar
ADEMOLA AZEEZ, Sakara
OLATUNJI KEHINDE, Shekere
OLUSHINA ABIODUN OMOROGA, Omele
CHARLES BAMIDELE ADESANMI, Keyboard
SAMUEL OLUWATOYIN OYETOLA, Bass
TAIWO SOGO OGUNJIMI, Set Drum
NOJEEM ALANI AYANGOKE, Talking Drum
MATTHEW ORIMOGUNJE, Percussion

FEMI KUTI
Whilst always respecting his musical heritage, Femi Kuti has refined a sound combining an Afrobeat with soul-jazz nuances that has been uniquely his own for more than 20 years. His route has always been original, from his signing with Motown in the early 1990s to his ground-breaking 2001 album Fight to Win, on which he joined rappers Mos Def and Common and funk master James Poyser. These rich experiences only served to reinforce his ultimate conviction: his music is never more intense than when it is performed in the hot-house atmosphere of the Shrine—his Lagos nightclub. The Shrine is a meeting point for popular dissenters and a center for celebrating the convergence of cutting-edge African music and dance. It is a place that disturbs the country’s politicians and authorities, and the state’s militia make regular punitive visits carrying knives and baseball bats. Nigerian media continue to ignore these attacks, but Kuti exposed this reality on his 2004 DVD Live at the Shrine. Three years later he took on another challenge: to recreate in the studio the magic and burning energy of a Femi Kuti concert. The resulting album, Day by Day, offers a more focused Afrobeat than ever before. From the ghettos of Lagos to the palaces of corrupt politicians, Day by Day takes us through the winding roads of African paradox, such as why such so rich a continent is inhabited by the world’s poorest people. Kuti is joined on the album by his group, Positive Force, and guitarist Keziah Jones. Kuti’s young son, Madé, also participated in all the tracks on the album, to be released November 18. Tonight marks Femi Kuti’s Ravinia Festival debut.

KING SUNNY ADE
Known as “the King of Juju Music,” King Sunny Ade, a singer, composer and guitarist, has succeeded over the years in taking his Nigerian social music to international heights. Ade came onto the scene in 1966, following his induction as a samba player into a group led by Baba Sala (also known as Moses Olaiya). With his own 10-piece band, the Green Spots, Ade made his first recording in 1967. He blazed into prominence with a hit single in praise of Stationery Stores football club, the sales of which earned him a gold disc. The late ’60s found Ade searching for a credible sound identity, but it wasn’t until the ’70s that he really got himself together, trying to perfect a sense of direction within the juju format. Ade adopted a new cultural dimension after he encountered Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s Afrobeat. Fela Kuti’s famous exponent of the tenor guitar, Sony Ohiri, joined Ade’s band, which had metamorphosed from the Green Spots to African Beats. The 1980s experienced a consolidation in Ade’s orchestral arrangements, which now took preeminence over every other element. He often topped the Nigerian social music chart with such hit albums as Afefe yeye, Check E, Searching for my Love and Juju Music. When Ade signed with Island Records in 1982 as a result of the international attention he was attracting, he became the biggest phenomenon in Nigerian music. With the release of the album Juju Music, Ade was launched into the Western pop scene. He was presented as a Yoruba prince and is referred to as king. Tonight marks King Sunny Ade’s Ravinia Festival debut.