Afrobeat

Melodic and hard-hitting horn lines create a lyrical flow to the music of Chicago Afrobeat Project, undercut by a hypnotic, driven rhythm section.  Complex call-and-response percussion songs are dispersed throughout the dynamic live performances. This is a band that will keep you moving on the wide open dance floor all night!

The Cedar is now fully air-conditioned for your year-round comfort!

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“As a performer, Seun is far more of a chip off the old block than Femi, and with a gruffer and more streetwise sounding vocal delivery. And with his dad’s old band Egypt 80 behind him, he’s a force to be reckoned with.” —BBC

Afro-Peruvian tradition collides with modern production techniques to create an infectious hybrid. (Jason Bentley, Morning Becomes Eclectic, KCRW)

Like Gotan Project at their best, this Afro-Peruvian outfit takes the rhythmic and melodic forms of its traditional music and make something wholly vital and contemporary out of them. Muscular, idiosyncratic grooves. (The Independent, UK)

With their unique fusion of Afro-Peruvian soul with dub, salsa, hip-hop, Afrobeat, breakbeat and house music, Novalima has earned raves from trend-setting DJs and journalists and has developed a wide following across the globe.

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"...an ultra-funky intertwining of infectious grooves with melodic phrases, even when they are at their most experimental. Despite the music’s complexity, it remains uncluttered and spacious...If you are into classic funk like Parliament Funkadelic, the Meters ...you should find Orgone intoxicating. In addition to the funk, R&B and jazz elements, the band exhibits an adventurous rock ‘n’ roll twist...This is one hell of a band." (RELIX magazine)

Tickets go on sale at 12 noon Fri Jan 28 from the Cedar Ticketline (612-338-2674 ext 2), from hard-working Cedar volunteers in the front lobby during shows, from Cedar outlets (Electric Fetus and Depth of Field), and online at Ticketweb.

All Cedar shows are all ages. Students with ID may gain discounted admission for tickets purchased at the door.

On Oct 15, 2010, afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti would have been celebrating his 72nd birthday, if he hadn't died prematurely from an AIDS-related illness on Aug 2, 1997. We are left with an incredible body of recorded work (45 albums are being re-released by Knitting Factory Records), the hit Broadway musical FELA!, and a growing slew of bands who have taken their inspiration from Fela and together keep the afrobeat movement vital. Tonight, celebrate Fela's life and music, and kick up a sweat with Chicago Afrobeat Project, and DJs Paul Harding and Danny Sigelman. NEW: Enter at the door with your ticket to win a Zombie batch set of six Fela CDs (value $60), courtesy of Knitting Factory Records!

Tickets are on sale now from the Cedar Ticketline (612-338-2674 ext 2), from hard-working Cedar volunteers in the front lobby during shows, from Cedar outlets (Electric Fetus, Irish on Grand, Homestead Pickin' Parlor, and Depth of Field), and online at Ticketweb.

All Cedar shows are all ages. Students with ID may gain discounted admission for tickets purchased at the door.

“There is no question that Tony Allen is a genius, one of the greatest percussionists in the history of popular music.” —Guardian Read more »

Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars started playing music together in West African refugee camps while their homeland was racked by years of bloody warfare. Since then, audiences around the world have embraced the band and their utterly extraordinary story. On their latest album, Rise & Shine (Cumbancha, March 2010), the All Stars’ sound, as well as their biography, evolves further; the music finds them “establishing an identity based as much on skill, imagination and charisma as on their undeniably touching story” (The Los Angeles Times).

With media attention fluttering around Broadway’s debut of the new musical FELA!, co-produced by Jay-Z and Will Smith, the spotlight on afrobeat music has never been brighter. This is good news for Chicago Afrobeat Project who, after celebrating its 7th year on the music scene, returns to Minneapolis for one pulsating night of deep-beat dance and funk. Read more »

Born Sunday Adeniyi, King Sunny Ade has been perfecting his Nigerian juju beats for more than four decades and achieved legendary status. The son of a church organist, Ade knew from a young age that music was his life's passion. He left grammar school in the 1960s, started a band and hasn't looked back since. He's played in many groups over the years and founded his own label. Read more »