Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra
Talkatif
(Ninja Tune ZENCD 66)

This 15-piece Brooklyn-based outfit has absorbed the sound (and spirit) of the late Fela Kuti's Afrobeat idiom, whipping up a potent sound on this seven-track CD, their second for Ninja Tune.  The group largely succeeds in absorbing Fela's powerful legacy, in both music and communal idealism ( a necessity for such a large outfit on tight tour regiments).  All the hallmarks of the style are in place: Tight guitar grooves, high-powered horns, complex polyrhythmic funk, and progressive lyricism.  The grooves are low and deep, musicians matching beats and horns perfectly, and the danceability is well worth hearing on those grounds alone - not to mention absorbing its liberating politics.  The sound is so reminiscent of Fela, though, during the vocal stretches one misses his commanding, riveting voice.  Otherwise, Talkatif hits a bullseye in adding to his legacy.