Dele Sosimi Afrobeat Orchestra

A concert by the Dele Sosimi Afrobeat Orchestra, presented at Blue Note London in central London. The project is built around afrobeat, the Lagos-born style associated with Fela Kuti.

Afrobeat was developed in Lagos in the late 1960s and early 1970s by Fela Kuti, combining highlife, funk and jazz with long, repetitive grooves and horn arrangements. Dele Sosimi, a Nigerian keyboardist, played in Fela Kuti's band before going on to lead his own projects, and the Dele Sosimi Afrobeat Orchestra carries that tradition forward under his name. The group's music draws directly on the style's rhythmic and harmonic roots.

Blue Note London, on Saint Martin's Lane, is a venue that mainly hosts jazz concerts. Its programme of jazz and related music makes it a natural setting for afrobeat, whose roots in jazz and funk are close to the club's usual repertoire. The night suits listeners interested in the lineage that connects Lagos bands of the 1970s with the wider jazz tradition.