Not content to merely follow in his father's footsteps, Femi Kuti continues to expand his musical palette with his latest studio release, Day By Day, a hybrid of Afro-pop, jazz and urban influences. The album has been a long time coming: seven years since his last studio album Fight To Win and four years since the live Africa Shrine, on which he recorded early versions of three of the songs on this new album. Femi might shun the 24-minute diatribes favoured by his father - indeed "One Two" could be the shortest Afrobeat track ever - but in many other ways Day By Day is a return to the glory days of Nigeria's big bands, of wailing organs, frantic polyrhythms and behemoth horn sections playing against each other. Yet now the palette is broader. "Do You Know" and "They Will Run" are undeniably jazz. "You Better Ask Yourself," "Oyimbo" and "Eh Oh" carry the air of lost messages from Marvin Gaye or Curtis Mayfield. And then there is the title track, infused with gospel, suffering and ghostly echoes of work songs from the early 20th century. Classic Afrobeat, classic Kuti. You can tell that the long layoff has inspired Femi. He is upbeat, enthusiastic and raring to go again. "Everybody is back in training now," he smiles, "we have to re-establish my music. We have to come out and play it live, because the record industry is in such a bad shape, we are all suffering. Luckily," he laughs, "the African man is used to suffering."

'Day by Day' Album teaser


2009 North American Tour Dates
Jan 7 - 8 PM @ Paradise Rock Club - Boston, Massachusetts
Jan 8 - 9 PM @ Webster Hall - New York, New York
Jan 9 - 9 PM @ 9:30 Club - Washington DC, Washington DC
Jan 10 - 9 PM @ World Cafe Live - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 11 - 8 PM @ GlobalFest at Webster Hall - New York, New York
Jan 14 - 8:30 PM @ Club Soda - Montreal, Quebec
Jan 15 - 9 PM @ Opera House - Toronto, Ontario
Jan 16 - 9 PM @ Majestic Theatre - Detroit, Michigan
Jan 17 - 9 PM @ Metro - Chicago, Illinois
Jan 19 - 8 PM @ Boulder Theater - Boulder, Colorado
Jan 22 - 8 PM @ The Fillmore - San Francisco, California
Jan 23 - 9 PM @ House of Blues - West Hollywood, California
Jan 24 - 9 PM @ House of Blues - San Diego, California