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Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra
Since 1998, the Brooklyn-based cooperative (“anti-bullets” or “bulletproof” in Spanish) has carried the Afrobeat torch ignited by the late Nigerian singer and activist Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. Their sound combines highlife, jazz, funk, and traditional West African rhythms informed with messages of political and spiritual evolution. The band has spread its four-alarm Afrobeat inferno to festivals and world-class venues in over fifteen countries.

Antibalas’ broad cultural and musical background mirrors the diversity of
their New York home. Members trace their family roots to Europe, Africa,
Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and the Caribbean. Their musical
pedigree is equally broad, encompassing jazz, funk, dub, improvised music, and traditional percussion from Cuba and West Africa.

Over the years Antibalas has sought out and performed with the original
contributors to the afrobeat legacy now spread out across North America and Europe, including drummer Tony Allen to trumpeter Babatunde Williams, saxophonist/singer Femi Anikulapo-Kuti, drummers Jojo Kuo and Ola Jagun, Nico Addey, guitarist Oghene Kologbo, and keyboardist Dele Sosimi.

Antibalas has opened for James Brown, No Doubt, Wyclef Jean, Trey Anastasio and more. They have appeared at many of rock’s best-known venues: Irving Plaza in New York, the Fillmore in San Francisco, and the Metro in Chicago.
Their festival appearances are widely varied, from jazz festivals like
Montreux (02), Newport (02) and Istanbul (02). They rocked audiences at multi-genre festivals such as Bonnaroo (03), Bumbershoot, England’s Big Chill and Denmark’s Roskilde as well as inmates at New York’s Rikers Island Prison. In October 2003, they stole the show at the Womex World Music Expo in Seville as the only group to represent all of North America.

The band began its career with a bang, starting the popular Friday night
“Africalia!” concert series dedicated to celebrating Afrobeat, funk, and
other diasporic music. The event, which developed a cult following, ran
weekly for eighteen months until a police raid forced the club to close in
April 2001.

Antibalas’ first two albums, “Liberation Afrobeat Vol. 1,” (2001) and
“Talkatif” (2002) appeared on the UK-based Ninjatune label. Later,
Antibalas collaborated with Baaba Maal and Taj Mahal on “Red Hot & Riot” (MCA), a tribute to Fela intended to raise money for the African AIDS epidemic, followed by “Who Is This America” (2004, Ropeadope).

The Antibalas horn section has been featured live with Burning Spear, TV on the Radio, and Sinead O’Connor, as well on records such as TV on the Radio, Medeski. Martin and Wood’s “Uninvisible.” (Blue Note) and in sessions with Grammy-winning producer Charlie Dos Santos (Los Van Van, Barbarito Torres).

Antibalas has appeared on numerous afrofunk compilations alongside giants of African music such as Fela, Hugh Masakela, and Manu Dibango. Their 2003 remake of the salsa classic “Che Che Cole” featuring vocalist Mayra Vega, continues to be an international dancefloor killer and dj favorite.

Antibalas has received tremendous support from public and college radio in the US, Canada, and the UK, with live interviews and performances on
NPR’s “Fresh Air,” “World Café,” and “Morning Becomes Eclectic,” as well
as frequent airplay from the BBC’s Gilles Peterson.

Despite years of relentless touring, the band’s New York roots remain
strong. They share in a studio, rehearsal space, and offices in Bushwick,
Brooklyn, with the Daptone Records family including Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Sugarman Three, and the Budos, whose members frequently appear onstage and on record with Antibalas. They have lent their support over the years to many local and international progessive and radical organizations, most recently to War Resisters League and Doctors Without Borders, and appear at block parties and parks from the Bronx to 127th street in Harlem to Prospect Park, Brooklyn.

Antibalas’ latest album is “Government Magic,” a 5-song EP, the first in a
series of releases from last year’s Excello sessions, where the group got
together to record songs culled from years of heavy touring. The EP includes“Che Che Cole” “Out with the New, In with the True,” “Go Jeje,” and its dub alter ego (Antibalas’ first dub version) “Dub Jeje.”

Summer 2005 will include festival performances in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, Toronto Jazz Festival, and heavy touring in France, Spain, and Belgium in July, followed by recording sessions in September 2005 with John McIntyre (Tortoise, Stereolab).

click here for detailed band timeline.

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Antibalas... Insurrección Musical
Antibalas es la nueva generación del Afrobeat, ritmo creado por el lider musical y politico nigeriano Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Esta banda de 14 o más músicos pega duro y contundente con ambas manos. Sus monumentales arreglos de vientos y lineas de bajo nadan sobre ritmos polyritmicos que juntos con letras que retan y atacan el sistema capitalista, incitan la insurreción en Inglés, Yoruba y Castellano.

Antibalas salió a la calle en Mayo de 1988 con miembros de The Soul Providers, The Daktaris y King Changó. Esta unión de latinos, blancos, afro-americanos, africanos y asia-americanos vive en Nueva York, regados en los condados de Brooklyn, Manhattan, Bronx y Bayonne, NJ.

Antibalas tiene varias presentaciones mensualmente en otras salas y en beneficios para el Berthold Brecht Forum, CHARAS/El Bohío, New York Zapatistas, Partido Verde, Rainforest Relief y numerosas otras organizaciones progresivas y radicales.

Antibalas ha llevado su música y mensaje a travez de las fronteras, tocando no solo en los Estados Unidos sino tambien en varias giras por Canada y Europa. La Experiencia de ver a Antibalas en vivo, de acuerdo a sus leales seguidores, es una experiencia religiosa.

Cúidate y baila!

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