Fela Kuti - Open & Close (1972; 1996) [FLAC]

Fela Ransome Kuti & Africa '70 - Open & Close
Label: Stern's Africa - STCD 3010
Format: CD, Album, Remastered
Country: Europe
Released: 1996
Originally issued by Kalakuta Records in 1971
Genre: Jazz, Funk / Soul
Style: Afrobeat


Tracklist:

1 Open & Close 14:54
2 Suegbe & Pako (Part 1 & 2) 12:31
3 Gbagada Gbogodo 9:18


Personnel:

Fela Kuti - tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, electric piano, vocals
Tony Njoku - trumpet
Igo Chico - tenor saxophone
Lekan Animashaun - baritone saxophone
Ohiri Akigbe, Tutu Sorunmu - guitar
Ayo Azenabor - bass guitar
Tony Allen - drums
James Abayomi - percussion
Isiak Olaleye - shekere
Henry Koffi, Akwesi Korrantin, Tony Kupoliyi - congas


Review by John Dougan, allmusic.com

Another long-thought-lost gem from the Fela Anikulapo Kuti archives, Open & Close was originally released in 1971 and, in the manner of He Miss Road and Fela's London Scene, is a total groove-fest loaded to the gills with raucous horn blowing, ferocious percussion (once again, Tony Allen take a bow), and song lengths over ten minutes. By this point, Fela could do no wrong when it came to recording; Afro-beat dissenters will claim that there is a trance-inducing similarity to much of Fela's '70s recorded output, that the grooves aren't enough to make the songs distinctive enough on their own. That's true of some of his later recordings (like in the mid- to late '80s), but at this point he was still breathing fire and the band was in top form. Perhaps the distinguishing factors of records like Open & Close and some of Fela's other '70s releases are that as much as he liked to ride a groove, he also liked to disrupt it, twist it and turn it, reshape it, only to bring it back to its original shape. There was less of that later in his career.