The renewed popularity of Afrobeat in dance music has been well documented with a number of compilations. Strut Records takes the idea forward with a definitive look at funky Lagos during the 1970s over 3CDs (in slipcases) & 3LPs. The project digs into the Nigerian archives, from established names Fela Kuti (from his early days to his later work with Africa 70), King Sunny Ade and Sir Victor Uwaifo & many unsung heroes. The set comes with a fully edited documentary as the 3rd CD narrated with exclusive interviews with many of the key figures in Lagos at the time from King Sunny Ade and Ebenezer Obey to Ginger Baker, Roy Ayers, Fela and Femi Kuti. From Strut/Studio K7.

The renewed popularity of Afrobeat in dance music has been well documented with a number of compilations. Strut Records takes the idea forward with a definitive look at funky Lagos during the 1970s over 3CDs (in slipcases) & 3LPs. The project digs into the Nigerian archives, from established names Fela Kuti (from his early days to his later work with Africa 70), King Sunny Ade and Sir Victor Uwaifo & many unsung heroes. The set comes with a fully edited documentary as the 3rd CD narrated with exclusive interviews with many of the key figures in Lagos at the time from King Sunny Ade and Ebenezer Obey to Ginger Baker, Roy Ayers, Fela and Femi Kuti. From Strut/Studio K7.

It was the sound of post-independence Nigeria, a time of celebration and wealth but, ultimately, of political oppression. The music reflected the times - a heady mix of traditional rhythms and big band highlife with the new rock, soul and jazz sounds crackling through transistor radios from Europe and the U.S. The rulebook of Nigerian musical heritage was ripped up as SANTANA, THE BEATLES and JAMES BROWN became as relevant to young players as HARUNA ISHOLA, VICTOR OLAIYA and E. T. MENSAH. Led by the towering influence of FELA KUTI, established Nigerian stars and the rawest of college bands alike forged new fusions and began using their music confidently as a vehicle for new variations of traditional parables and social commentary. Back in 2001, the first edition of 'Nigeria 70' on STRUT broke the mould for African compilations, a 3CD powerhouse featuring a wide spectrum of musical styles from across the 1970s and an audio documentary tracing the music's history. For 2007, Strut delve deeper into the Lagos underground for another essential box of West African dynamite. Compiled by leading Afro archivist DUNCAN BROOKER and Strut's QUINTON SCOTT, 'Nigeria 70' comes packaged in a deluxe digipak with 16pg booklet featuring extensive sleeve notes by author JOHN COLLINS.

This collection of Nigerian drum music demonstrates the rich textures of the three-legged sacred Igbin drums which one plays with hands and sticks, the Dundun or pressure drum which plays not only rhythm but melody, and the two-toned Bata drums which are unique to the Yoruba people.

The renewed popularity of Afrobeat in dance music has been well documented with a number of compilations. Strut Records takes the idea forward with a definitive look at funky Lagos during the 1970s over 3CDs (in slipcases) & 3LPs. The project digs into th

2011 collection, the third installment in this series that spotlights the rich history of Nigerian music in the '70s. This colleciton places the spotlight on some of the deeper fusions happening across the country during the 1970s as traditional guitar highlife blended with Jazz and Funk, hypnotic juju grooves became more progressive and young Nigerian bands came through with their own heavy West African take on U.S. Soul, Funk, Disco and Rock. As on the previous Nigeria 70 volumes, all of the featured selec- tions are previously unissued outside of Nigeria.

2011 collection, the third installment in this series that spotlights the rich history of Nigerian music in the '70s. This colleciton places the spotlight on some of the deeper fusions happening across the country during the 1970s as traditional guitar highlife blended with Jazz and Funk, hypnotic juju grooves became more progressive and young Nigerian bands came through with their own heavy West African take on U.S. Soul, Funk, Disco and Rock. As on the previous Nigeria 70 volumes, all of the featured selec- tions are previously unissued outside of Nigeria.

Nicholas Addo-Nettey was born in Accra, Ghana on August 7th, 1954. In the 60 s, the Ghanaian youth were crazy about American soul music, and Nicholas was no exception to therule. James Brown and Otis Redding were his idols and by the age of 18 he started to perform himself. Shortly after, fellow musician Joe King Kologbo invited him to the Mecca of African funk music: Lagos, Nigeria. Nicholas was not only talented but also lucky. Kologbo introduced him to Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the undisputed Godfather of Afrobeat. He was able to convince the master of his skills as a drummer and singer and in 1971 became a full member of Fela´s legendary band Africa 70 as a conga player and background singer.The first record he appeared on was Lady Shakara an international smash hit and one of Fela´s greatest. Nicholaswas at the right place at the right time. In the 70s, stars like James Brown, B.B. King, Ginger Baker, Stevie Wonder and Manu Dibango came to Lagos to visit Fela s Shrine Club to hear this new and incredibly heavy thing called Afrobeat. While playing and recording for Felas ´s Africa 70 (Nicholas appeared on all Fela s releases between 1971 and 1978), Mr. Addo-Nettey always had his own thing going on the side. He released two solo LPs for the Tabansi Label with theMartin Brothers Band from Portharcort, Nigeria: ''Mind Your Own Business'' in 1971 and ''Na Teef Know The Road ofTeef'' in 1973. The second one is a heavy afro-funk, that was recorded with Africa 70 musicians and singers in GingerBaker´s highly equipped Lagos studio, where many of Fela´s albums were recorded as well. Obviously, Fela was not amused at all about these kinds of things, even less when he heard how strong the ''Na Teef...'' album was. He reportedly said: Don t you ever, EVER play it again! And so it was. Despite being a killer record, ''Na Teef...'' remained undercover for more than 30 years. Until now.

Nicholas Addo-Nettey was born in Accra, Ghana on August 7th, 1954. In the 60's, the Ghanaian youth were crazy about American soul music, and Nicholas was no exception to the rule. James Brown and Otis Redding were his idols and by the age of 18 he started to perform himself. Shortly after, fellow musician Joe King Kologbo invited him to the Mecca of African funk music: Lagos, Nigeria. Nicholas was not only talented but also lucky. Kologbo introduced him to Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the undisputed Godfather of Afrobeat. He was able to convince the master of his skills as a drummer and singer and in 1971 became a full member of Fela's legendary band Africa 70 as a conga player and background singer. The 1st record he appeared on was Lady Shakara - an international smash hit and one of Fela's greatest. Nicholas was at the right place at the right time. In the 70s, stars like James Brown, B.B. King, Ginger Baker, Stevie Wonder and Manu Dibango came to Lagos to visit Fela's Shrine club to hear this new and incredibly heavy thing called Afrobeat.While playing and recording for Felas 's Africa 70 (Nicholas appeared on all Fela's releases between 1971 and 1978), Mr. Addo-Nettey always had his own thing going on the side. He released two solo LPs for the Tabansi Label with the Martin Brothers Band from Portharcort, Nigeria: "Mind Your Own Business" in 1971 and "Na Teef Know The Road of Teef" in 1973. The second one is a heavy afro-funk, that was recorded with Africa 70 musicians and singers in Ginger Baker's highly equipped Lagos studio, where many of Fela's albums were recorded as well. Obviously, Fela was not amused at all about these kinds of things, even less when he heard how strong the "Na Teef." album was. He reportedly said: "Don't you ever, EVER play it again!" And so it was. Despite being a killer record, "Na Teef." remained undercover for more than 30 years.

Nicholas Addo-Nettey was born in Accra, Ghana on August 7th, 1954. In the 60's, the Ghanaian youth were crazy about American soul music, and Nicholas was no exception to the rule. James Brown and Otis Redding were his idols and by the age of 18 he started to perform himself. Shortly after, fellow musician Joe King Kologbo invited him to the Mecca of African funk music: Lagos, Nigeria. Nicholas was not only talented but also lucky. Kologbo introduced him to Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the undisputed Godfather of Afrobeat. He was able to convince the master of his skills as a drummer and singer and in 1971 became a full member of Fela's legendary band Africa 70 as a conga player and background singer. The 1st record he appeared on was Lady Shakara - an international smash hit and one of Fela's greatest. Nicholas was at the right place at the right time. In the 70s, stars like James Brown, B.B. King, Ginger Baker, Stevie Wonder and Manu Dibango came to Lagos to visit Fela's Shrine club to hear this new and incredibly heavy thing called Afrobeat.While playing and recording for Felas 's Africa 70 (Nicholas appeared on all Fela's releases between 1971 and 1978), Mr. Addo-Nettey always had his own thing going on the side. He released two solo LPs for the Tabansi Label with the Martin Brothers Band from Portharcort, Nigeria: "Mind Your Own Business" in 1971 and "Na Teef Know The Road of Teef" in 1973. The second one is a heavy afro-funk, that was recorded with Africa 70 musicians and singers in Ginger Baker's highly equipped Lagos studio, where many of Fela's albums were recorded as well. Obviously, Fela was not amused at all about these kinds of things, even less when he heard how strong the "Na Teef." album was. He reportedly said: "Don't you ever, EVER play it again!" And so it was. Despite being a killer record, "Na Teef." remained undercover for more than 30 years.

Nicholas Addo-Nettey was born in Accra, Ghana on August 7th, 1954. In the 60 s, the Ghanaian youth were crazy about American soul music, and Nicholas was no exception to therule. James Brown and Otis Redding were his idols and by the age of 18 he started to perform himself. Shortly after, fellow musician Joe King Kologbo invited him to the Mecca of African funk music: Lagos, Nigeria. Nicholas was not only talented but also lucky. Kologbo introduced him to Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the undisputed Godfather of Afrobeat. He was able to convince the master of his skills as a drummer and singer and in 1971 became a full member of Fela´s legendary band Africa 70 as a conga player and background singer.The first record he appeared on was Lady Shakara an international smash hit and one of Fela´s greatest. Nicholaswas at the right place at the right time. In the 70s, stars like James Brown, B.B. King, Ginger Baker, Stevie Wonder and Manu Dibango came to Lagos to visit Fela s Shrine Club to hear this new and incredibly heavy thing called Afrobeat. While playing and recording for Felas ´s Africa 70 (Nicholas appeared on all Fela s releases between 1971 and 1978), Mr. Addo-Nettey always had his own thing going on the side. He released two solo LPs for the Tabansi Label with theMartin Brothers Band from Portharcort, Nigeria: ''Mind Your Own Business'' in 1971 and ''Na Teef Know The Road ofTeef'' in 1973. The second one is a heavy afro-funk, that was recorded with Africa 70 musicians and singers in GingerBaker´s highly equipped Lagos studio, where many of Fela´s albums were recorded as well. Obviously, Fela was not amused at all about these kinds of things, even less when he heard how strong the ''Na Teef...'' album was. He reportedly said: Don t you ever, EVER play it again! And so it was. Despite being a killer record, ''Na Teef...'' remained undercover for more than 30 years. Until now.

Release Date: 2010-05-11, Vinyl, Soundway

The world is full of celebrity offspring, yet it is almost impossible to think of one who lives up to expectations to the same degree as Femi Kuti, son of Fela, the originator of Afrobeat and former Public Enemy No1 in Nigeria. His latest studio set, Day By Day, has been a long time coming. It is seven years since Fight To Win, four since the live Africa Shrine. He is also father to 7 children! This sabbatical also saw him learning a lot more about being a musician. Femi has learnt to play piano properly and gone back to the trumpet, his first instrument, which he gave up in favour of the sax. The benefits are immediately apparent on Day By Day. You can tell that the long lay off has inspired Femi. He is upbeat, enthusiastic and raring to go again.

The world is full of celebrity offspring, yet it is almost impossible to think of one who lives up to expectations to the same degree as Femi Kuti, son of Fela, the originator of Afrobeat and former Public Enemy No1 in Nigeria. His latest studio set, Day By Day, has been a long time coming. It is seven years since Fight To Win, four since the live Africa Shrine. He is also father to 7 children! This sabbatical also saw him learning a lot more about being a musician. Femi has learnt to play piano properly and gone back to the trumpet, his first instrument, which he gave up in favour of the sax. The benefits are immediately apparent on Day By Day. You can tell that the long lay off has inspired Femi. He is upbeat, enthusiastic and raring to go again.

Release Date: 2008-04-22, Audio CD, Phantom Sound & Vision