'BODEDEREK

Fela Bandwagon contd... The world is watching and waiting for hits that will enhance and give the afro-beat genre a stronger foothold, keep it interesting until it gets passed on to the next generation. It's what Fela Kuti would have wanted.  I mentioned JK Brimah because Fela Kuti's personal and musical development wouldn't have been complete without the influence of JK. (A chapter is dedicated to JK in Fela's autobiography " This Bitch of A Life " written by Carlos Moore), the story is even more interesting when JK tells it. It annoys me that today's practitioners see JK (who is still alive and well) as an irrelevance, only good in their eyes when they want their undeserved validation. JK at a Party Other individuals who supported and encouraged Fela's musicality but today are given no credit, (especially during the years of strife and turmoil), were individuals like Tunde Kuboye , who ran The Jazz Club of Nigeria , promoted Afr...

Nigerian Celebrity and Star! I was in Royal company last Saturday night. In the same car as Salawa Abeni on her way to a gig!  Queen Salawa Abeni Queen Salawa permitted me to ride in her car after making sure I was aware of Yoruba traditions and protocols. She was very gracious indeed. So, there I was, cruising down the North Circular road, shoulder to shoulder with a Celebrity Singer . A Child Star and now a Queen . I felt privileged and lucky that I happened in the right place at the right time, not only to meet a woman of immense talent and culture, but to be actually in the same car with an actual African Queen . Queen Salawa Abeni was kind, dignified and courteous throughout the journey. I was pleasantly surprised that we had a lot in common. My love of music and African culture has made me aware of Salawa's career from when she was a little girl and a star on the Nigerian music scene so many years ago. A massive star in Nigeria, she has entertai...

Stories are all works of fiction. Names, characters, place and events are the product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events and places is totally coincidental They were kicking us good and proper. The fouls came at us relentlessly. Every time we were a goal up, it got worse and I got worried. The only one amongst us not particularly intimidated by this was Sol the centre half who gave back as good as he got. It only made things worse for the rest of us. I was looking for worthy opponents to play against whilst we were waiting for the crucial match against Monarchs. Someone suggested we go play sets as a unit and told us about a particular part of town where we could drop in to, wait our turn and then see how long we last out there. Stupidly, without checking it out first, I took us there. Now, hindsight as they say, is twenty twenty vision, I was wishing we weren't here. Sooner or later, someone is going to get hurt and I ha...