Fela Kuti: Music Is the Weapon

Filmed during a brief period of relative peace for Nigerian activist and prolific "Afro-beat" musician and composer Fela Kuti, who was more accustomed to torture and arrest at the hands of his nation's on-again/off-again military dictatorships, Music Is the Weapon finds the artist recording and touring in the early ‘80s, making some of the best music of his life. Capturing his tireless, pro-democratic spirit and inspired fusion of funk and jazz, this excellent documentary features a number of Kuti's colleagues speaking about his unflagging talent in the face of terrible odds, but the film also has generous samples of his performances of songs such as “ITT,” “Army Arrangement,” and “Power Show,” presented in PCM stereo. The late Kuti, who died in 1997, has been often likened to Jamaica's Bob Marley, and this program--with both English and French versions of the film included on the disc--shows why. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)