In the early 1970s, Fela Kuti was establishing his unique style of music after initially focusing on high life and jazz in the ’60s. Fela was principally combining American jazz and funk with Ghanian high life and traditional Yoruba music. By 1973, he had much of the foundation for Afrobeat.

If there is a signature Fela Kuti song, it might be ‘Gentleman’, which opened an album of the same name. It features a distinctive, bold sociopolitical statement, earworm vocal melodies, and a swirling pool of rhythms, with guitars, horns, bass, percussion, and itchy-feet drums adding up to a world of music.

But before any of that has got underway – before Tony Allen’s hit his snare even once – Fela plays a saxophone solo. It’s hard to believe Fela had only just picked up the sax with Igo Chico having left the band. Fela plays with an intriguing mix of staccato, sustain, and bluesy phrases. When the guitars are introduced, Fela’s sustained cries contrast with their snap, then he energetically plays off the other horn players.

Both guitars—in the left speaker, a rhythm guitar playing chords, and in the right a picked single-note melody—play mostly on the offbeats. That picked guitar part remains the same throughout. John Frusciante, guitarist of Red Hot Chili Peppers, has talked about the value in learning Fela songs:

“I got Black President [a compilation album], and then I would learn the saxophone solos on the guitar. Now I’m much more into playing along with the guitar parts, because I find a lot of value in just playing five notes or six notes or ten notes or whatever it is, over and over and over and over, and thinking about the relationships between all the instruments. With Fela’s music you can really trip out on it. The relationships between all the parts…. Total mental exercises.”

It’s more than 8 minutes until Fela starts singing. Fela mocks Africans who conform to Western conventions and colonial influences. He tell us he’s not a “gentleman”, but rather “Africa man original”.

Allen has an unusual focus on his cymbals in this song, playing a supportive role behind the horns. His hi-hat pattern is constantly shifting. From 4:00, he expertly sets up the return of the horn riff with a drum roll, and his wash of cymbals then provide a bed for the horns to dominate.

Amid the scratchy guitar, the itchy-feet hi-hat, and the punchy horns, the electric piano is one instrument with a comparatively laid back feel. It’s mixed in the centre – in fact, all of Fela's instruments are: his keys, his horn, and his voice. Fela plays chords during his vocal and then towards the end of the song calls back to the intro’s melody, this time on the piano’s higher keys (11:48).

His son Seun Kuti, Egypt 80 (the band Seun took over from Fela), and Funmilayo Afrobeat Orquestra collaborated on a cover of ‘Gentleman’ last year. They made that piano hook a larger vocal part and built on Fela’s brief scatting.

Jazz and Afrobeat critic Chris May has called Gentleman one of the “first major masterpieces in Kuti’s canon.” It’s a great example of many of Afrobeat’s prime characteristics, as well as Fela’s unique personality.

Top image from Bandcamp.