On the way back from the Zoo Tuesday, we debated whom we liked better at the delightful concert: King Sunny Ade or Femi Kuti.

My friend Ed voted for Kuti because his music was more complex. His wife Rachel opted for Ade because his groove was more satisfying. (Their son has a degree in ethnomusicology from UCLA.)

Multi-instrumentalist/singer Kuti, 47,  and his band came across like Africa’s answer to James Brown with more jazz pretensions and plenty of politics (sung in English, at times). While his music was more challenging, his band was not as rehearsed, crisp or tight as Ade’s, and his singing not as soothing.

Loved it when he was singing about why African men and woman can’t succeed: “because we like to drink beer too much.”

Ade’s ensemble was sort of like a percussion-heavy African answer to the Grateful Dead only a lot tighter. Ade, 62, was a smooth, soulful singer (with Pips-like backup vocalists and two booty shaking female dancers) as his many percussionists played mesmerizing rhythms that kept the crowd dancing. So many of these dancers had a camera in their hands that it almost looked like a new dance style; but they were merely happy to see and document these two Nigerian heroes. Good times.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 at 12:14 am and is filed under Concerts, Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.