Created by Marcos “Marquitos” Garcia, guitarist in Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, the album immediately blossoms, with the opening track ‘Mayombe’ establishing the album’s cheerful mood and contagious groove, and also the common structure of each song — reminiscent of Fela Kuti initially, then progressing with an electro edge that amid its looped melodies adds to the exuberant music.

Guitar licks, vocal hooks, and Marquitos’s Casio keyboard skits flirt with the well-programmed beats and pulsating Afrobeat rhythms. Hearing Manifest Tone Vol.1 in full delights the listener with unrestrained, jubilant sounds capable of stirring up a dancefloor or providing a motivating score to mundane household chores. Tagged inventive labels such as ‘electro-afrobeat’ or ‘future-vintage’ Chico Mann’s album has fused styles. A major strength of the album is the intercontinental spread of its influences, African, Latin American, and European, along with the diversity of modern-day New York & New Jersey.

The Afrobeat sound forged by Fela Kuti and Tony Allen is thriving in this millennium, continuing to build momentum as fans from all over the world hear original artists, or modern interpretations and in which Marquitos’s established band, Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, are a important part. Acts like Afrobeat Down or Nomo (check their excellent Nu Tones LP on Ubiquity) are also using Afrobeat sounds to create beautifully harmonic music with tremendous thriving energy. Femi & Seun Kuti have both played with their father’s original band, Egypt 80, and with their individual enterprise they also add to keeping Fela Kuti’s legacy alive and allowing the genre he created to progress and entertain.

Manifest Tone Vol.1 is a worthy ode to the past legends of Afrobeat and a quality contemporary release, already playlisted on Benji B’s 1Xtra show, Deviation and on Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide. The full album is due for release on Kindred Spirits on 6 February.

Links:
Kindred Spirits label
Chico Mann MySpace
Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra
Seun Kuti
Nomo
Fela Kuti