Antibalas

Friday, December 07, 2012 (8:00 PM - 2:00 AM)   |   Crocodile Cafe 2200 2nd Ave Seattle WA (Downtown)

Antibalas
Kexp 90.3FM & The Crocodile Present
Antibalas


"Rhythm is what makes a good Afrobeat record," says Gabriel Roth, Daptone Records co-founder, producer and connoisseur of all things funky. "Not just the rhythm section, but the rhythm of the horns, the rhythm of the vocals, the rhythm of the keyboards, everybody's rhythm. It's not just being about being right or wrong in your rhythm, or being good at it, but it's about feeling something the same way, swinging the same way, anticipating things the same way, and hitting things the same way - everybody hearing music the same way, and being able to turn all those instruments into one voice.

"Antibalas is the only band that can do that, right now. That's why they're still at the front of the scene, after all these years."

Fourteen years after their first gig, and five since the release of their last album, 2007's Security, Antibalas - Afrobeat's premier second-wave ensemble - are back with their fifth full-length release. Simply titled Antibalas, the album is both a blazing reaffirmation of the NYC band's collective musical strengths, and a hard-hitting continuation of their funkified excursions into what Antibalas founder and baritone saxophonist Martn Perna calls "our vault of esoteric sounds and knowledge."

"We kicked around a couple of different titles," Perna explains, "but we could all agree on Antibalas. We're always who we have been, and this is what we are and what we're about, without any frills. If you've never heard any of our albums before, this is the one to listen to."

"Musically, it's our best playing as a band," says trumpeter Jordan McLean. "We're having more fun together, we're all breathing in sync, the structures of the compositions and the overall sound are tighter, and the band is sounding better than ever."

Recorded over a two-week period at Daptone's House of Soul Studios in Brooklyn with Roth at the helm, Antibalas is the first Antibalas full-length to be released on Daptone, which - given Antibalas' deep- and long-running ties to the label - brings things kind of full-circle for the band. Antibalas has shared past and present members with several outfits in the Daptone stable (such as Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Menahan Street Band and The Budos Band), while Roth was an original member of the band, and produced the first three Antibalas albums. "Making this record was like going back and playing basketball with all your high school buddies, or something," says Roth.

The "family reunion" feeling on Antibalas is further bolstered by the return of original guitarist Luke O'Malley, who contributed "Dirty Money," the album's effervescent opening track. "Luke O'Malley has an amazing sense of music," says tenor saxophonist Stuart Bogie, "and 'Dirty Money' is a perfect example of that. But he's also such a hilarious and inspiring person, who leads with just kind of a blind energy into everything he does. He's very much a reason why everyone in that room is there."

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Friday, December 07, 2012 (8:00 PM - 2:00 AM)
Crocodile Cafe 2200 2nd Ave, SeattleWA (Downtown)


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