Afrobeat, makossa, highlife-jazz

Movement · late 1960s → · Lagos, Douala · Hybrids and world

In Lagos, in the late 1960s, Fela Kuti, who had discovered jazz in London and played highlife-jazz, invents afrobeat with drummer Tony Allen: Yoruba rhythms, highlife, funk and jazz brass. In Cameroon, Manu Dibango brings makossa to New York clubs with Soul Makossa (1972).

Where it comes from

• Soul jazz, boogaloo
• Fusion, jazz-rock, jazz-funk

What it gave rise to or influenced

• Renaissances (Los Angeles, London)

Artists

• Fela Kuti (1938–1997, saxophone, keyboards, vocals)
• Manu Dibango (1933–2020, saxophone, vibraphone)
• Tony Allen (1940–2020, drums)
• Ebo Taylor (1936–2026, guitar, piano, vocals, composition)
• Seun Kuti (1983, vocals, saxophone)

Tracks to start with

• Zombie — Fela Kuti & Africa 70 (1976)
• Soul Makossa — Manu Dibango (1971)
• Love and Death — Ebo Taylor (2010)
• Black Times — Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 (2018)
• Jam — New Cool Collective & Tony Allen (2006)

Sources

• EN : Afrobeat

Facts checked against these pages (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA). Method and licenses