Femi Kuti - Caught In The Act of Creation

I was fortunate last night to witness an act of musical creation, on hand while Femi Kuti composed a new tune and he and his musicians worked out the arrangement and backing parts live on stage. 

I came to the New Africa Shrine at about 7:30 pm to watch Femi and band rehearse. Previous Thursday night rehearsals have been more of an informal show than a working session, but last night was different. I arrived to hear Femi working out a line on keys and his horn players rushing to match the line and scribble notes on paper. I knew something was up because the band plays without scores and it was the first time I had seen anything being written down. 

Femi's keyboard line was a 4-bar ascending figure over a bass vamp, quite simple in itself but built into a compelling whole through repetition, layering, and dynamics. The band worked on it for about an hour and a half, saxes, trumpets, and rhythm section each figuring out their parts while Femi directed. The lion's share of time was spent on the bass line and bass/drum coordination. With parts sketched out, Femi walked out into the audience to listen intently from the dance floor and the mixing booth. 

Femi played keyboards almost exclusively last night although I did see him he pick up his tenor for the first time since I've been in Lagos. He blew it for a short while, facing the band rather than the microphone as if he was figuring out how to approach his solo on the new tune. 

After working out the arrangement to his satisfaction, Femi took a short break at around 9:00 pm. When the band came back, they performed the new tune for the first time. It sounded as if it could have already been in the book for a year. The process of musical creation is fascinating and it was a privilege to be present at the premier performance of this piece of music, which we may find in Femi's regular repertoire in the near future. Here is an audio snippet.