Comments (1) Best Worldbeat Dance Night - 2009

Last Tuesday of the month at the Elbo Room

So, you've heard of Fela Kuti, one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, right? The Nigerian political activist and father of Afrobeat (an infusion of jazz, funk, and psychedelic rock) died in '97, but his legend lives on at the Elbo Room every last Tuesday of the month, when Afrobeat admirers gather and gyrate to Baba Ken and the Afro-Groove Connexion. The ten-man band includes, of course, guitar and bass player Baba Ken, who formerly jammed with well-known Afrobeatist King Sunny Ade, and guitarist Soji Odukogbe, who used to play with Fela. The frontmen wear festive garb and enormous smiles, and their multidimensional sonic rhythms make it almost impossible not to get up and shake something. To groove to this quality of Afrobeat, you have two options: Fly to Nigeria, or cough up the $8 cover charge.