Search - Fela Kuti, Roy Ayers :: Music of Many Colors

America meets Africa

The Delite Rancher | Phoenix, Arizona | 10/05/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Music of Many Colors" is a collaboration between Roy Ayers and Fela Kuti. The project bridges the Atlantic Ocean, joining the Nigerian inventor of Afrobeat with an American perpetrator of Soul, Jazz and Funk. While the two performers share double billing, this is by and large a Fela album. Indeed, the project features two long songs, the hallmark of Afrobeat in the 1980s. Thematically, the album is soaked with Afrocentricity. The first piece is '2,000 Blacks Got to Be Free.' Clocking in around nineteen minutes, this is Ayers' primary contribution. In addition to lead vocals, his vibes are all over this one. He both holds the fort down and performs some serious improvisation. The other song is 'Africa, Center of the World.' This eighteen minute jam slows things down as a contrast to the fast tempoed initial track. Being Fela's primary contribution, the Nigerian steps out on vocals and shines with his saxophone work. Roy Ayers' vibes add a deliciously dark, narcotic sound. The lyrics of this song discuss the African diaspora and Pan-Africanism. For the most part, this material sounds like any Fela album from the time period, but with the addition of the vibraphone. As a whole, it's a good project but not great. In the end, Fela has better albums out there ("Zombie" & "O.D.O.O") and Ayers has more successful material ("Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival" and "West Coast Vibes"). "Music of Many Colors" is an interesting but non-essential collaboration. At this point, the release has become out-of-print. While deserving to be in-print, "Music of Many Colors" is not worth the high prices ($30-$60) that the marketplace sellers are currently offering it for. While jam packed with groove, this is one that most listeners can live without."