Antibalas Talks Afrobeat & Brooklyn Bowl Residency
Antibalas has been an essential NYC band since they came together around the turn of the century. This year, in a monthly series of concerts, they are unveiling new material, cross-pollinating with some guests like Angelique Kidjo. and basically opening up the well-oiled, high-powered machine that is their twelve piece band.
In the main (on NY1 today) video (above), Martin Perna and frontman Amayo discuss the residency and the polyrhythmic ecstasy that is Afrobeat but also compare it, somewhat surprisingly, to being in a military unit. That analogy speaks to the discipline that the form demands of its players.
Martin and Amayo were generous with their time at a practice space in Williamsburg the afternoon before their Brooklyn Bowl show on Thursday so I’m happy to offer a bonus vid. Enjoy the fellas speaking about James Brown influencing Fela Kuti or the other way around as well as the origins of Antibalas, the connections with Mark Ronson, Gabriel Roth, The Dap-Kings, and the first Daptone Records’ studios on 340 Grand Street (also in Williamsburg).
