Chicago Afrobeat Project (CAbP) is coming to town tomorrow night. When they take over World Café Live (upstairs), you want to be there. Trust us, it will be hard to resist their Jenga-style tower of funk, jazz, and world music.
According to the band’s bio, “CAbP mixes traditional afrobeat with other dance-invoking musical motifs such as Chicago’s electronic house music, complex West African percussion rhythms and upbeat funk. At each performance, the polyrhythmic groove and sharp horn lines of CAbP stir up energetic momentum, sweeping listeners directly to the dance floor time and time again.”
Oh, the horns. We dig the horns. Last year, we had a musical awakening when our friend turned us on to this crazy, infectious sound called afrobeat. Wikipedia defines it as “a combination of Yoruba music, jazz, and funk rhythms, fused with African percussion and vocal styles,” but we like to think of it as music that leaves you no choice but to shake your ass. Founder Fela Kuti and musicians such as King Sunny Ade and Antibalas infuse the songs with political consciousness-raising lyrics.
Though CAbP stick close to traditional afrobeat, what struck us the most about their CD was the jazz inflections woven into each song. We’d get swept away in a jazzy riff, Zanzibar Blue style, only to be jolted back to the beat by the pulsating bass line and the band’s insistent horns. The wall of sound created by a 7 to 14-piece collective will knock your socks off. You have to see it to believe it.
Chicago Afrobeat Project
World Cafe Live, Upstairs (3025 Walnut Street)
Friday, December 8, 9:30 p.m.
$7 + $3 processing fee. Only $1 processing fee when purchasing with cash at the box office BEFORE day of show.
Image Credit: Photo courtesy of CAbP
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