Some of these comments are way off, I just want to address a bunch of them: 1.) This is a JAM, an end-of-show jam, and usually these kinds of onstage jams, especially when you put a bunch of superstars who don't know each other together, are often "messes", or aimless jamming. This is what it is, it's a chance to hear Ian Anderson and Jack Bruce play over some monster Fela grooves. It's for the novelty of it, and the fleeting moments where something musically happens. At least they weren't playing "I Shall Be Released"! 2.) Regarding Fela's "ramshackle" band, as someone commented. This was 1984! Fela had just been in jail for two years! Fela and his band had been attacked by 1,000 soldiers, beaten and tortured! The back up singers? Raped with broken bottles! Fela's mother? Thrown off the roof of the compound! They dragged Fela through the compound by his balls (literally) and smashed his mouth in! It's amazing he could play sax at all! It's amazing he had the courage to even play in public! Soon after this show, he'd be thrown in jail yet again until Amnesty got him out years later. You have to look at these people not as a band, but as an army, a musical army. Most of Fela's original band - the amazing Afrika 70 - left him in 1979. It's amazing he was able to replace them all. Some of these horn players are Fela's young sons! You have to look at them like you'd look at most rock musicians - most of whom are untrained - or even as a school marching band - not as seasoned jazz or prog-rock players (as Ian Anderson and Jack Bruce were), or some kind of tight outfit like James Brown's bands. 3.) Regarding Ian Anderson's comment, I seriously doubt Ian Anderson knew everything I just wrote about, otherwise he wouldn't be holding that band to the same "musical chops" standard that, let's face it, Jethro Tull had for itself. And to be fair, Fela could certainly have an attitude with people! We all know that, and we love that about him! Fela lived (and started his first bands) in England, during the 1960s, when the world was going Brit-crazy...maybe he harbored some kind of old resentments just from living there, who knows. Let's not forget Fela had been hanging out with Ginger Baker for most of the 1970s, and we know Ginger's got a spiteful, poison mouth regarding British musicians! So who knows if and what Baker had filled Fela's head about Jack Bruce and what appeared to be Jack Bruce's friend, Ian Anderson! Right? If Ian Anderson says Fela was treating him like he was "capitalist whitey", he probably was! And I can understand him having an attitude about it in an interview! He's not obliged to pay tribute, Fela's not an icon to him, and who knows what he'd say about it NOW, years later. Fela was never shy about saying what he thought about anybody, so....if Ian Anderson wants to bitch about him, as one artist regarding another, that's the way it goes. 5.) Regarding Anderson's assessment of Fela's music: Fela's music deals with hypnotic grooves. You don't find that in Ian Anderson's music. In Jethro Tull, the music moves around, as befits the style of prog rock. Compare Jethro Tull's "Thick As A Brick" and Fela's "Confusion Break Bones". They both are songs that take up an entire album. "Thick As A Brick" is like seeing a movie, or listening to a suite, like a piece of classical music, it goes through millions of tempos and key changes and styles and chord progressions. "Confusion Break Bones" is one long, undulating groove that hypnotizes the listener, as Fela sets up this harrowing, emotionally wrenching narrative, and weaves these musical themes through it. It's an intense experience listening to that album. Both albums. Two totally different - and valid - approaches to organizing sound. But with that in mind, it's no surprise that Ian Anderson might have been unimpressed with Fela's music, especially in a jam-setting; he was coming from a completely different place! And I'm sure Fela wasn't a fan of "Too Old To Rock And Roll, Too Young To Die"! (or...maybe he was!) (I think Anderson would be impressed by the bassline in "Confusion Break Bones", by the way, who wouldn't?!!) 6.) It was probably the organizers of the show who rushed in and forced them to get onstage with Fela, as opposed to Fela's people. So Ian's dig aside, I doubt Fela was "using" him to get publicity and might not even been happy about having them onstage with his band in the first place, who knows. Or maybe he was! As far as being a "con man", Ian might not have appreciated in that moment that Fela and himself moved in different circles. Anderson had a much cushier birth, and the "con man" vibe he might have gotten from Fela comes from having to navigate a much tougher environment, one in which your legitimate earnings from touring abroad can get you thrown in jail for "currency violation" (as it did for Fela, and he was sentenced to ten years). I've got a Fela story I can't tell here, but let's just say I'm not sure Anderson appreciated that Fela was a political agitator who used music as his weapon ("music is the weapon of the future", as he put it) as opposed to just a band looking to concoct their next album (a noble pursuit as that may be!) 5.) At the end of the day, you get to hear the unmistakeable sound of Ian Anderson's flute over Fela's Egypt '80 band. And Jack Bruce, who has gotten short shrift here. It's not the best thing ever.....but I certainly never thought I'd ever see or hear it! They don't gel, it's a little uptight, but whatever. I love both and am happy to see them together. (plus Jack Bruce!) What do I care if they didn't get along?!
Fela Kuti being Fela Kuti, Ian Anderson being Ian Anderson, and Bruce jamming out on... piano. Three musicians I never expected to see jamming, especially like this. Thanks for the remarkable post!
Ian Anderson was actually at the bar, backstage after having done his stuff on this German programme, talking to Jack Bruce, whoo he had never met and who was one of his heroes. Suddenly these people came in saying he had to go on stage to jam with Fela Kuti. His flute was already packed , so he rushed to get it and had to assemble it on stage.
I read this guy's take on this jam session over a decade ago and all ways use to wonder what would he say now ? That thought bogged me , really , still wonder . What would he think of fela and his music now
Well it's not as bad as I expected having read Anderson's comments but I can certainly understand why he feels it wasn't good, with him and Bruce having been forced up on stage. But he does play well even though in the beginning he looks like he doesn't know what to do and not having his flute put together
If you want to see a true “out of his depth” jam, check out Rory Gallagher fail to get the (very simple) riff to Politician right (in neither 1, 4, or 5) when he played with Bruce.
Wow, much respect, and the whole thing did seem kind of a mess, but even Ian seems lost at the 4:20 mark. Either [based on previous comments] the Africans blew him off the stage, or, at some point he realized it was a mess and said to himself, fvck it. Africa is where a lot of Western music originated. Our jazz and our blues came from New Orleans, which came from the Caribbean, which came from Africa. Filtered through America into England. British/European 'progressive rock' would not exist without it. That being said...
IMe and Jack Bruce and everybody else,we all got dragged up there, and it was chaos. The people in the audience weren't impressed, they knew it was dead boring, a total waste of time." Ian Anderson got so bored after a while, he just lit a cigarette.
According to Ian Anderson: "So there was this bunch of untrained guys all very rough and ready and Fela Kuti who was a total con man. He couldn't play at all, it was just musical bullshit which he passed off as avant garde playing."
hahahahahahha........yeah Fela was easily intimidated..thats good comedy....man some of the comments on here are by some tull cultists......give it a rest ...it was a jam...no more no less.
you think Fela Kuti, the man who after being beaten within an inch of his life and had his house destroyed, sent the casket containing his mother to the doorstep of the man who ordered the attack, was intimidated by a flute solo?
@@lestrum That's true. And Bruce did sound okay till about two-thids of the way through... That's when I started squinting at the screen, trying to see 1983 Joolz Holland, thinking he must have muscled his way onto the stage and just joined in - as would become his wont - giving an ominous foretaste of televised jams to come. (For any piano players who haven't caught one of the several thousand episodes of UK music show Later...With, gone are the days when pub honky-tonk riffs were thought to provide a magic key to blend in with any jam - nowadays they're really only considered suitable for one kind of music.)
Anderson's words in a later interview :" So there was this bunch of very untrained guys, all very rough and ready, and Fela Kuti, who was a total con man. He couldn't play at all,it was just musical bullshit which he passed off as avant garde playing. As far as I was concerned he just traded off being a black Africn militant, and all the critics were taking in by him. He didn't like me at all; to him I was 'capitalist Whitey', but he was happy to get me up there promoting his career.
@@FawleyJude It's in the book Minstrels In The Gallery"- a history of Jethro Tull (by David Rees) In the first part Anderson explains: "I was in the bar after doing my stuff.I was talking to Jack Bruce, who is one of my heroes, and I'd never met him before.I've always wanted to meet him, and here he was, so I was bending his ear at the bar.Suddenly these people came rushing in and said:"Quick, you have to go on-stage!" I said:"No, no, I've done my bit" but "No, you must come play with Fela Kuti, they are waiting for you!" Apparently they had actually announced that I was coming to play.Once that commitment had been made for me without my knowledge I had no option but to leg it up there.My shoelace was undone and I didn't even have my flute, it was in the case back-stage.I had to run and get it......Me and Jack Bruce and everybody else, we all got dragged up there, and it was just rumbling mess that went on and on until it ran out of steam."
I agree with Ian Anderson. I saw Fela Kuti at Glastonbury in 1984 and it was the most ramshackle, out of tune pile of rubbish I've ever seen. When Kuti played the keyboard it was like Les Dawson. Imagine the Glenn Miller Orchestra paralytic and you'll get some idea of just how bad it was.
+Wirralbloke, how can judge his music on just one show? :) The guy had 46 albums under his belt, and with more than 8 unreleased songs. To be honest with you, it is going to be very difficult to find his equal in today's or yesterday's musicians; he played the trumpet, clarinet, saxophone, piano, bass guitar, .... That is how he arrived to write the music notes of all his orchestra. The drummer was the only one to write his music notes.
As much as I love nearly everything JB has ever done, Fela is a hell of a lot more important than either Bruce or Anderson. If you don’t like what Fela does, or at least respect it, you’re missing a few points.
Some of these comments are way off, I just want to address a bunch of them:
1.) This is a JAM, an end-of-show jam, and usually these kinds of onstage jams, especially when you put a bunch of superstars who don't know each other together, are often "messes", or aimless jamming. This is what it is, it's a chance to hear Ian Anderson and Jack Bruce play over some monster Fela grooves. It's for the novelty of it, and the fleeting moments where something musically happens. At least they weren't playing "I Shall Be Released"!
2.) Regarding Fela's "ramshackle" band, as someone commented. This was 1984! Fela had just been in jail for two years! Fela and his band had been attacked by 1,000 soldiers, beaten and tortured! The back up singers? Raped with broken bottles! Fela's mother? Thrown off the roof of the compound! They dragged Fela through the compound by his balls (literally) and smashed his mouth in! It's amazing he could play sax at all! It's amazing he had the courage to even play in public! Soon after this show, he'd be thrown in jail yet again until Amnesty got him out years later. You have to look at these people not as a band, but as an army, a musical army. Most of Fela's original band - the amazing Afrika 70 - left him in 1979. It's amazing he was able to replace them all. Some of these horn players are Fela's young sons! You have to look at them like you'd look at most rock musicians - most of whom are untrained - or even as a school marching band - not as seasoned jazz or prog-rock players (as Ian Anderson and Jack Bruce were), or some kind of tight outfit like James Brown's bands.
3.) Regarding Ian Anderson's comment, I seriously doubt Ian Anderson knew everything I just wrote about, otherwise he wouldn't be holding that band to the same "musical chops" standard that, let's face it, Jethro Tull had for itself. And to be fair, Fela could certainly have an attitude with people! We all know that, and we love that about him! Fela lived (and started his first bands) in England, during the 1960s, when the world was going Brit-crazy...maybe he harbored some kind of old resentments just from living there, who knows. Let's not forget Fela had been hanging out with Ginger Baker for most of the 1970s, and we know Ginger's got a spiteful, poison mouth regarding British musicians! So who knows if and what Baker had filled Fela's head about Jack Bruce and what appeared to be Jack Bruce's friend, Ian Anderson! Right? If Ian Anderson says Fela was treating him like he was "capitalist whitey", he probably was! And I can understand him having an attitude about it in an interview! He's not obliged to pay tribute, Fela's not an icon to him, and who knows what he'd say about it NOW, years later. Fela was never shy about saying what he thought about anybody, so....if Ian Anderson wants to bitch about him, as one artist regarding another, that's the way it goes.
5.) Regarding Anderson's assessment of Fela's music: Fela's music deals with hypnotic grooves. You don't find that in Ian Anderson's music. In Jethro Tull, the music moves around, as befits the style of prog rock. Compare Jethro Tull's "Thick As A Brick" and Fela's "Confusion Break Bones". They both are songs that take up an entire album. "Thick As A Brick" is like seeing a movie, or listening to a suite, like a piece of classical music, it goes through millions of tempos and key changes and styles and chord progressions. "Confusion Break Bones" is one long, undulating groove that hypnotizes the listener, as Fela sets up this harrowing, emotionally wrenching narrative, and weaves these musical themes through it. It's an intense experience listening to that album. Both albums. Two totally different - and valid - approaches to organizing sound. But with that in mind, it's no surprise that Ian Anderson might have been unimpressed with Fela's music, especially in a jam-setting; he was coming from a completely different place! And I'm sure Fela wasn't a fan of "Too Old To Rock And Roll, Too Young To Die"! (or...maybe he was!) (I think Anderson would be impressed by the bassline in "Confusion Break Bones", by the way, who wouldn't?!!)
6.) It was probably the organizers of the show who rushed in and forced them to get onstage with Fela, as opposed to Fela's people. So Ian's dig aside, I doubt Fela was "using" him to get publicity and might not even been happy about having them onstage with his band in the first place, who knows. Or maybe he was! As far as being a "con man", Ian might not have appreciated in that moment that Fela and himself moved in different circles. Anderson had a much cushier birth, and the "con man" vibe he might have gotten from Fela comes from having to navigate a much tougher environment, one in which your legitimate earnings from touring abroad can get you thrown in jail for "currency violation" (as it did for Fela, and he was sentenced to ten years). I've got a Fela story I can't tell here, but let's just say I'm not sure Anderson appreciated that Fela was a political agitator who used music as his weapon ("music is the weapon of the future", as he put it) as opposed to just a band looking to concoct their next album (a noble pursuit as that may be!)
5.) At the end of the day, you get to hear the unmistakeable sound of Ian Anderson's flute over Fela's Egypt '80 band. And Jack Bruce, who has gotten short shrift here. It's not the best thing ever.....but I certainly never thought I'd ever see or hear it! They don't gel, it's a little uptight, but whatever. I love both and am happy to see them together. (plus Jack Bruce!) What do I care if they didn't get along?!
Both great artists, different styles, but two musical giants.
Well said sir, nice piece.
Best comment here.
Michael Goodman thank you for the low-down on the ho-down.
Amazing comment. @willizblog might even consider adding it to the notes for the video
It’s stuff like this video that really makes UA-cam such a great medium
I agree with you brother...totally afree... if it wasn't for UA-cam I wouldn't have known about Fela Kuti
Facts
@@louisotieno4712 ...or that Jack Bruce - truly great bass AND voice - could play keyboards, "passably"...
** " It's all good... "
Thanks for some positive thoughts, brother. The entire internet is full of childish bickering. 2) You're right...
Fela Kuti being Fela Kuti, Ian Anderson being Ian Anderson, and Bruce jamming out on... piano. Three musicians I never expected to see jamming, especially like this. Thanks for the remarkable post!
Yes
I really don't seem to care how they came together because it was a wonderful Jam session. I love it. :)
250%
Great! ♥️🤍♥️
who cares how they got together on stage or why,the point is the music and it was good.
A lot of musical talent going on here. If I was in that audience, I would have been boogieing out of my mind.
Me too. I really can't understand some of the comments here.
Ian Anderson was actually at the bar, backstage after having done his stuff on this German programme, talking to Jack Bruce, whoo he had never met and who was one of his heroes. Suddenly these people came in saying he had to go on stage to jam with Fela Kuti. His flute was already packed , so he rushed to get it and had to assemble it on stage.
I think Ian did quite well, considering that he didn’t have a jazz background.
@@caryheuchert Ian didn't have a jazz background? lol. His entire flute style comes directly from Rashaan Roland Kirk.
@@caryheuchert ....and P.S. This isn't jazz. Fela has as much jazz background as Ian does. This is Nigerian Afro-beat.
Incredible fusion of talent!!!
It's nutty
Wow !
I read this guy's take on this jam session over a decade ago and all ways use to wonder what would he say now ? That thought bogged me , really , still wonder . What would he think of fela and his music now
well, thats about as awesome as it gets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This deserves a million plus views
thank yo so much mind blowing. jb. my bro. and ian. wow just wow and kuti what a stew
Jack Bruce!!!!
Just found this video. Great Jam ! Thanks for posting .
This is a great jam session. Good collabo
Thank you Willy for your Tull Collection :) My chilhood favorite band
Viva Ian Anderson!!
Turns up that this afrikan jam is King Solomon's Marbles ,By P.Lesh. Thank You.Chris
Super! Thanx! \O/
Brilliant jam.
But one is missing, Ginger Baker
The problem with jams areoften that people play but don"t listen and give space foer eachother . Less orth to be more !
It has some patchy moments and the look Anderson gives Fela at one point is priceless but glad it's up there. Ok overall.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW
This is superb and would have been even more so if Tony Allen was still in Fela's band at the time.
That was my question..who is was the drummer...
A SPECIAL TREAT!!!!
love the cacophony!
I saw
Well it's not as bad as I expected having read Anderson's comments but I can certainly understand why he feels it wasn't good, with him and Bruce having been forced up on stage. But he does play well even though in the beginning he looks like he doesn't know what to do and not having his flute put together
If you want to see a true “out of his depth” jam, check out Rory Gallagher fail to get the (very simple) riff to Politician right (in neither 1, 4, or 5) when he played with Bruce.
Just your description made me laugh.....in fact, I can't stop laughing! :D
They took this one down from UA-cam unfortunately I loved it.
You would of thought Rory wrote the song actually amazing guitar work!
Ian needs a big hat!
Wow, much respect, and the whole thing did seem kind of a mess, but even Ian seems lost at the 4:20 mark. Either [based on previous comments] the Africans blew him off the stage, or, at some point he realized it was a mess and said to himself, fvck it. Africa is where a lot of Western music originated. Our jazz and our blues came from New Orleans, which came from the Caribbean, which came from Africa. Filtered through America into England. British/European 'progressive rock' would not exist without it. That being said...
Lost ? no. totally Ignored by this weird little dude, yes.
Exactly
Nice horn section from about 4:19 on. I don't particularly like Felas soprano tone but the rest cooks along. for a jam. Lots going on.
They can do no wrong!!!
yeah this a case of this is my ball im running with it, no collaboration going on by fela.
really 0_0
Acid Jazz????
well bugger me! so thats what a claghorn looks like
IMe and Jack Bruce and everybody else,we all got dragged up there, and it was chaos. The people in the audience weren't impressed, they knew it was dead boring, a total waste of time." Ian Anderson got so bored after a while, he just lit a cigarette.
SOUNDS LIKE A SMALL CAGE WITH LOTS OF BIRDS INSIDE , RYTHM AND GROOVE , GUESS THESE GUYS WERE OVER RATED 😄
A bit like throwing all your left over food for the week in to a pot, warming it up and eating it!.
According to Ian Anderson: "So there was this bunch of untrained guys all very rough and ready and Fela Kuti who was a total con man. He couldn't play at all, it was just musical bullshit which he passed off as avant garde playing."
Kuti seemed intimidated by Anderson and made every effort to crowd into Anderson's attempts at second and third solos!
what a twit.
hahahahahahha........yeah Fela was easily intimidated..thats good comedy....man some of the comments on here are by some tull cultists......give it a rest ...it was a jam...no more no less.
you think Fela Kuti, the man who after being beaten within an inch of his life and had his house destroyed, sent the casket containing his mother to the doorstep of the man who ordered the attack, was intimidated by a flute solo?
It was the piano player that ruined it, no question. Everyone else was great.
Jack ruined it??
I do get the point. Towards the end Bruce went off a bit but can't be entirely blamed for the cacophony towards the conclusion.
@@lestrum That's true. And Bruce did sound okay till about two-thids of the way through...
That's when I started squinting at the screen, trying to see 1983 Joolz Holland, thinking he must have muscled his way onto the stage and just joined in - as would become his wont - giving an ominous foretaste of televised jams to come.
(For any piano players who haven't caught one of the several thousand episodes of UK music show Later...With, gone are the days when pub honky-tonk riffs were thought to provide a magic key to blend in with any jam - nowadays they're really only considered suitable for one kind of music.)
Ian Anderson was being very ladylike in his statement about Fela Kuti. Why didn't he stand up like a man, and refuse to play with him?
Anderson's words in a later interview :" So there was this bunch of very untrained guys, all very rough and ready, and Fela Kuti, who was a total con man. He couldn't play at all,it was just musical bullshit which he passed off as avant garde playing. As far as I was concerned he just traded off being a black Africn militant, and all the critics were taking in by him. He didn't like me at all; to him I was 'capitalist Whitey', but he was happy to get me up there promoting his career.
this guy thinks it otherwise: ua-cam.com/video/E4Jnl4jERqE/v-deo.html
also this fella: ua-cam.com/video/tABl5cVKJhM/v-deo.html
Where was this interview? I couldn't find it, and it really doesn't sound like the way Ian Anderson speaks.
@@FawleyJude It's in the book Minstrels In The Gallery"- a history of Jethro Tull (by David Rees)
In the first part Anderson explains: "I was in the bar after doing my stuff.I was talking to Jack Bruce, who is one of my heroes, and I'd never met him before.I've always wanted to meet him, and here he was, so I was bending his ear at the bar.Suddenly these people came rushing in and said:"Quick, you have to go on-stage!" I said:"No, no, I've done my bit" but "No, you must come play with Fela Kuti, they are waiting for you!"
Apparently they had actually announced that I was coming to play.Once that commitment had been made for me without my knowledge I had no option but to leg it up there.My shoelace was undone and I didn't even have my flute, it was in the case back-stage.I had to run and get it......Me and Jack Bruce and everybody else, we all got dragged up there, and it was just rumbling mess that went on and on until it ran out of steam."
This is garbage.....at least Ian and Jack are playing in tune............thumbs down
I agree with Ian Anderson. I saw Fela Kuti at Glastonbury in 1984 and it was the most ramshackle, out of tune pile of rubbish I've ever seen. When Kuti played the keyboard it was like Les Dawson. Imagine the Glenn Miller Orchestra paralytic and you'll get some idea of just how bad it was.
+Wirralbloke, how can judge his music on just one show? :)
The guy had 46 albums under his belt, and with more than 8 unreleased songs.
To be honest with you, it is going to be very difficult to find his equal in today's or yesterday's musicians; he played the trumpet, clarinet, saxophone, piano, bass guitar, .... That is how he arrived to write the music notes of all his orchestra. The drummer was the only one to write his music notes.
As much as I love nearly everything JB has ever done, Fela is a hell of a lot more important than either Bruce or Anderson. If you don’t like what Fela does, or at least respect it, you’re missing a few points.
so you can hear horns i guess.