The Best of the Black President-Best of Fela Reissued by The Knitting Factory

As I mentioned in my article in the Huffington Post about FELA! the Broadway show about the Black President, The Knitting Factory is re-mastering and re-releasing all 45 Fela Kuti titles - his entire catalog - in unique digi-packs with the original artwork over the next 18 months. The reissue series marks the first time that all of Fela's titles will be released on vinyl in North America, as well as the first official release of the entire Koola Lobitos catalog, Fela's 1960s highlife band.

The first release, the Best of The Black President, comes with a dvd, A Slice of Fela. This dvd is jam-packed with amazing concert footage, segments of documentaries, and interviews with Bill T. Jones, Carlos Moore, and Sahr Ngaujah. As someone who considers himself pretty knowledgeable about Fela Kuti, I gained a lot of insight and information about Fela's life and music from the footage on that dvd, a reason to get the re-issued album alone.

Fela, and afrobeat, have been picking up considerable steam over the last several years due to the work of several artists and dj's like Antibalas, Akoya, Rich Medina, and host of other people too numerous to name here (see my Afro-links section). This reissue series will only give that revival a serious kick in the ass. Get T-Shirts, tracks, ringtones, and a whole bunch of other Fela related goodness here.