Bukky Leo and Black Egypt thrilled a sell-out Pizza Express audience with their celebration of Fela Kuti’s music.
There is much to celebrate when featuring Fela’s work, the Nigerian was the pioneer of Afrobeat. His music has influenced several modern day artists. Bukky Leo was the lead vocalist and played tenor sax. Black Egypt featured trombone, baritone sax, guitar, keyboard, drums, bass and two dancers / backing vocalists.
The first set lasted fifty minutes. It opened with a brief instrumental followed by three lengthy songs which followed a similar pattern, all lasting about fifteen minutes. The up-tempo Afrobeat was laid down by bass and drums with the strong melodies featuring brass with guitar and keys. All three songs (Gentlemen, Opposite People and Confusion) opened with a five minute plus instrumental intro which the backing vocalists energetically danced to, the vocals then started, but featured more instrumental breaks. The brass players, keyboard player and guitarist all had solo opportunities and they all played exceptionally well. The dancers / backing vocalists were very good and demonstrated their versatility.
The second set featured five more songs and lasted an hour. The songs were slightly shorter,but most followed the same pattern and all were up-tempo featuring the strong Afrobeat rhythms. They all had me moving in my seat and ‘Water No Get Enemy’ had me singing along too. The songs were all Fela’s originals apart from Bukky’s own song ‘His Majesty’ dedicated to Fela Ransome-Kuti.
This was a very enjoyable show and I would certainly return to see another featuring Fela’s music.
Johns London Music Reviews 